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Issue 11 February 2020

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Professor Dr Kanwal Ameen Leading Home Economics University To New Horizons
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Professor Dr Kanwal Ameen Leading Home Economics University To New Horizons

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The College of Home Economics has recently been converted into University of Home Economics. That has created a number of opportunities as well as challenges for the institution. Sehrish Khan talked to UHE VC Kanwal Ameen about what lies ahead for this young university in the years to come.

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What challenges did you face after taking charge of University of Home Economics (UHE)?

I joined on May 31, 2019 as the first VC of UHE, which has a long and rich history as a subject specific college. The transition in the status of an academic institution from a college to a university includes changing the philosophy and mindset of its academicians and staff who have worked as college functionaries for decades. It includes working on quality of academic programs, faculty development, enriching research culture and infrastructure, and generating funds to name a few. Hence, the need to expand horizons, enhance quality, promoting strengths and streamlining the work patterns are being addressed to raise its value as a university.

The foremost agenda is hiring of PhD faculty in all areas and introducing specialized degrees in allied subjects keeping in view the market needs for women graduates

 

UHE is a newly chartered university, what is your plan to make it one of the leading universities in Pakistan and where do you see it in the next 5 years?

As I have mentioned, a lot needs to be accomplished to become a leading university for women in Pakistan. I am working hard in every direction with the support of the existing faculty. We still have not received any government grants for this year and financial stability is urgently required for recruiting the desired faculty and staff. Foremost agenda is hiring of PhD faculty in all areas and introducing specialized degrees in the allied subjects keeping in view the market needs for women graduates. 

What new programs or disciplines do you intend to introduce in the university?

There has been a six-year long generic degree of Home Economics with or without mention of any one of five specializations. I made extensive deliberation with the heads and faculty members of all departments on the future programs and also sought feedback from the market. As a result, we are developing our courses as BS four-year programs in specialized areas such as Home Economics, Food and Nutrition; Art & Design; Textile and Fashion; Interior Design; Hospitality Management and Tourism; Human Development and Family Studies; Sociology, and so on. The faculty is working on giving them final shape to present in the Academic Council.

Students depend on teachers for learning, and teachers generally take the textbook-based learning method. As a result, we hardly nurture independent lifelong learning skills

 

What are your views about the current teaching methods considering the fact these methods have changed in developed and developing countries of the world?

In the developed world, the term teacher has been replaced by the term ‘instructor’. We are generally still using non-participative and non-creative methods. Creative and analytical thinking is not induced by our system right from the early years of education. Students depend on teachers for learning, and teachers generally take the textbook-based learning method. As a result, we hardly nurture independent lifelong learning skills from the early school years right up to college/university level. However, the situation is different among some private sector and public sector institutions regarding availability of the prerequisites for implementing modern sophisticated learning methods. Our youngsters do well in taking international examinations. 

Artificial intelligence and virtual reality have been adopted by universities all over the world. What is your take in this regard?

I would say that these have not been ‘adopted all over the world’. Again, the economic and digital divide among the rich and the poor countries, intuitions, and individuals plays a major role in adopting high tech environment.  

Infrastructure of educational institutions and especially your university needs to be upgraded. Are these positive things in the pipeline?

Very much of course! The building of the college is almost 70 years old, it needs renovation. We need to build more blocks including academic research center for research students. First priority of my tenure is to improve the present condition of the university. There are a lot of dimensions to convert a college in to a university; infrastructure, faculty, workshops and training for existing faculty and hiring new competent faculty. 

Does your university have an outreach program to facilitate students who are good in studies but not financially strong? Do you offer scholarships and fee discounts to deserving students?

We do help students who can not pay their fee and are good in studies. However, more need-based scholarships will be offered once we get our grants from the government.

What are your plans to develop your university? For example many varsities have opened sub campuses in other cities, do you have any such plan? 

As I said, there is an immediate need to develop this institution into a good university first. We would like to get colleges affiliated with us at this stage instead of opening sub campuses of our own. 

Libraries in developing countries are affected by the ongoing information and communication technology (ICT) developments. How do you think Pakistan is managing the challenges and opportunities in this changing scenario?

There is a lot of awareness among the library and information professionals in this regard. University libraries are at the forefront of adopting the ICT infrastructure and services. The information and library professionals are upgrading their ICT skills and the curriculum has also incorporated the emerging technologies. Still, a lot needs to be accomplished in all kind of libraries, specifically college, school and public libraries. The ICT needs to be incorporated not as a vogue but in order to provide outreach knowledge services and 24/7 access beyond walls.

The big issues are lack of infrastructure and competent faculty in emerging areas such as digital archiving, research data management services, and information and knowledge management in a hybrid environment

 

In your opinion, what is the present scenario of Library Information Study programs in Pakistan and what are the basic issues regarding quality library and information studies education. Suggest some possible measures for quality assurance in this regard?

That’s a long question, but a pertinent one. Education programs have grown in quantity and quality compared to the past. The big issues are the lack of infrastructure and competent faculty in emerging areas, such as digital archiving, research data management services, information and knowledge management in a hybrid environment, and so on.However, the growth in international quality research has gone considerably up since 2005. The post-graduate research program started in 2005 at the Department of Information Management, University of the Punjab, is highly acclaimed in Pakistan. I headed that department for nine years and during that time all faculty got PhDs, and three got post-docs in the US. I have a record of producing 12 PhDs, and still supervising eight students. The department has had the highest number of publications in Impact Factor Journals in areas of social sciences. Nevertheless, universities need to focus more on producing quality graduates than on quantity. The consideration of mere quantity measures for allocation of grants and other facilities is not appropriate. It is affecting the quality. The education system lacks imparting social, communication and lifelong learning skills. They must be included in every subject.

According to Vision 2025 plan, the Pakistani government aims to improve Pakistan’s score on the World Bank Institute’s Knowledge Economy Index from 2.2 to 4.0. Why is it that we are lagging so far behind?

The score obviously will improve when we improve on those parameters of Knowledge Economy Index pillars: Economic Incentive and Institutional Regime, Education, Innovation, and Information and Communications Technologies. Nothing grows in isolation but in harmony with related parameters. Pakistan is struggling in all directions, from the war on peace to economic to educational reforms and many more challenges. Our focus on the aims, sound planning, sincere commitment, honesty, innovative mindset and facilitation in all directions can make us reach whatever realistic score we set for ourselves.

Prime Minister Imran Khan recently met founders and CEOs of both local and international tech giants to discuss digitization and technology transfer in the country. What is your take on this plan?

As I said, harmony of our people and systems with the innovative thinking, provision of the desired digital skills is a must. Digital literacy is far more important than it seems, otherwise implementation would bring more hurdles and chaos than efficiency and effectiveness in performance. 

What are your expectations from current government? Do you think they can bring “Real Tabdeeli” in education sector?

It depends how one defines Tabdeeli. There are many great things about Pakistan as a country which we must cherish and love. As a nation, we have grown into a complicated society with several dichotomies at national, economic, religious, socio-cultural and political level. At the individual level, we don’t practice those good deeds which we expect from our fellows. So, to bring Real Tabdeeli in a short span of time is quite hard. If we get delivered merely 30% of the promises we were made, I would like to call it a success of the PTI.

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Our House Is On Fire!
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Our House Is On Fire!

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LETTER S

wedish teenager and now the quintessential global face of the urgent call for climate action, Greta Thunberg, addressed the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos on January 21, 2020. It was the schoolgirl’s second appearance at WEF, last year being the teenager’s breakaway year as a global climate action icon.  The Swede first hit the headlines in 2018 when she went on School Strike for Climate in her hometown, calling on the Swedish government to reduce carbon emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement. She protested outside the Swedish Parliament every day for three weeks missing school while she did so.Ever since, Greta’s name has become synonymous with climate activism, as she has been known to make some of the world’s most powerful leaders, especially US President Donald Trump, uneasy with her straight talking jibes. 

At Davos this year, she reminded world leaders that she had called for panic. “One year ago I came to Davos and told you that our house is on fire. I said I wanted you to panic. I’ve been warned that telling people to panic about the climate crisis is a very dangerous thing to do. But don’t worry. It’s fine. Trust me, I’ve done this before and I can assure you it doesn’t lead to anything.”

Rebuking world leaders for their inaction over the climate crisis, Geta said, “Let’s be clear. We don’t need a ‘low carbon economy’. We don’t need to ‘lower emissions’. Our emissions have to stop if we are to have a chance to stay below the 1.5-degree target. And, until we have the technologies that at scale can put our emissions to minus, then we must forget about net zero. We need real zero.”She also put forward some demands to the World Economic Forum and participants that included top companies, banks, institutions and governments.She called for an immediate halt to all investments in fossil fuel exploration and extraction,An immediate end to all fossil fuel subsidies, and an immediate and complete divestment of fossil fuels.In her concluding remarks, she shamed the world leaders yet again.

“Our house is still on fire. Your inaction is fueling the flames by the hour.”

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Climate Catastrophe: The Time For Action Is Now

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While students around the world, notably Greta Thunberg, are coming out in droves to press their leaders to take concrete action to slow down the effects of climate change, not much thought is given to the idea in Pakistan. It is because our youth doesn’t exactly know what dangers lie ahead. Ashraf Jehangir Qazi explains the urgency and why we all need to act beginning now to save this planet of ours.

Letter According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS) – a collection of eminent scientists, academics and intellectuals – the world is facing unprecedented challenges today. They include impending climate catastrophe; the risks of nuclear conflict; overpopulation; the melting of the ice-caps at the poles, Greenland and major mountain glaciers; the rising level and acidity of the seas and oceans, floods and droughts, the spread of new and incurable diseases, the loss of cultivable land and coastlines, dying of thousands of animal species and eco-systems; the lack of food and water; the prospect of massive increases in the number of climate refugees; and the lack of democratic good governance that is able to identify, prioritize, manage and address all these challenges peacefully, cooperatively, and efficiently – nationally, regionally and globally.All this adds up to the greatest existential crisis ever faced by human society. Nothing matches it. Not the Biblical floods, the Mongol invasions of the 12th century; the Black Death of medieval Europe; the Genocide of the Native Americans in the 16th and 17th centuries; the Great Famines in Ireland, Bengal, China, Ukraine, etc; World Wars I and II, the Holocaust, and African civil wars and famines in recent times; etc. Not even all these calamities put together.

We are faced with the greatest existential crisis ever faced by human society. Nothing matches it. Not the Biblical floods, or the great famines or the World Wars.

The BAS has a conceptual Doomsday Clock. When it strikes midnight, human society as an organized entity will end. It began in 1953 after the hydrogen bomb tests of the US and the USSR with seven minutes to midnight. During the Cuban Crisis of 1962, the DDC showed two minutes to midnight! It registered the same time when Trump was elected in 2016. Climate catastrophe can push the DDC to strike midnight! Leaders who take this in their stride are not leaders.Those who have the mandate, authority, power and responsibility to ensure this existential challenge gets the urgent and overwhelming priority it demands, but refuse to do so on some political, security or economic pretext or the other, are no friends of their people. They deserve the outrage of their people whose children and grandchildren are being condemned – in most cases before they are even born – to actual hell on earth. In Pakistan, the 10 billion Tsunami tree plantation program, if on target, will be a success story.

 

Understanding Catastrophe

What is climate catastrophe? It is the accumulated and progressive destruction of the earth’s capacity to sustain current human society. More than 95 percent of the climatologists and related scientists of the world agree that this process has already begun and is well advanced. They also agree that unless the world takes specific urgent actions on an unprecedented scale, the process will become irreversible within the decade we have just entered. The world’s greatest villain in this respect is President Donald Trump of the US. He denies climate change and says it is a “liberal hoax”. Yet, he builds high sea walls for his golf courses on seafronts in Ireland and elsewhere! He is the lying hoax.

A Climate Emergency requires a Climate Jihad, which includes audited and accounted programs of essential actions over the whole course of the decade.

Although Pakistan’s contribution to climate change is negligible because of its industrial underdevelopment, it is the 7th most vulnerable country to the perils of climate catastrophe. Its current population growth rate is trending towards over 500 million by the end of the century, which would be disastrous. If it does not immediately and urgently address the perils of climate change, its population will trend towards ZERO by the end of the century! Tree plantation is important but not sufficient. Much more has to be done. Taking piecemeal measures, attending conferences at home and abroad, endorsing international recommendations without legislating and implementing them, and making climate policy statements while failing to allocate the very considerable resources required to meet climate obligations because of “more immediate” demands, etc. define the extent of national irresponsibility towards the threat of national demise.

A Climate Emergency that requires a Climate Jihad, which includes audited and accounted programs of essential actions over the whole course of the decade must be discussed in detail in parliament and every other forum, passed into law with a consensus or near consensus, and implemented as the overarching national priority. Every other national priority, domestic and external, must conform to this overall existential imperative if we are to avoid an unforgivable betrayal of our own children and grandchildren. The basic knowledge and information about the existential threat of climate catastrophe and what needs to be done is available in great detail. No excuse for dereliction of duty on any pretext can now be acceptable. Only when this knowledge is internalized and put into practice by “leaders” can meetings and recommendations of scientists and activists make a difference on any meaningful scale.

 

Young Voices 

Greta Thunberg, a 15 year old Swedish school girl, has shaken the world with her heroic campaign to challenge the conscience of irresponsible political leaders the world over, in order to get them to take the hundreds if not thousands of decisions that they know can no longer be delayed. Yet, they delay them because of various considerations. Her small, but hugely significant booklet, “No one is too small to make a difference”, is a must read for every student in the world above the age of ten. It is also a must read for their parents and elders and for so-called political leaders, legislators, senior military officials, opinion-makers, and, yes, prayer imams who have seldom, if ever, mentioned the subject of climate change in their khutbahs. Greta’s booklet (just 68 pages) should immediately be translated into Urdu with necessary explanatory notes and distributed by the millions.Greta does not claim to be an expert at her age. She derives her knowledge entirely from the existing and updated scientific consensus on the subject and from UN and other international reports that consistently show that the climate catastrophe is far worse and more imminent than was thought even a few years ago.

 

There are other books that call for essential reading and should be translated and discussed at all levels of society. Fortunately, Pakistan has a number of very well informed scholars and scientists who can play key role in developing climate change policies.Some of these seminal books on climate catastrophe that I would like to see much more widely read in Pakistan include Naomi Klein’s two books: “On Fire – the (burning) case for a Green New Deal” and “This Changes Everything”; Bill McKibben’s “Falter – has the Human Game begun to Play itself out?”; Elizabeth Colbert’s “The Sixth Extinction – an unnatural history”; and David Wallace-Wells’ “The Uninhabitable World – a story of the future”.As has been observed by many scientists the future is already here. The way forward is a Pakistani Green New Deal (PGND) which envisages legislating and implementing a host of social, political, economic and technology transformations. Without a GND, Naya Pakistan will remain an idle dream. GND is indeed expensive. But not implementing it is fatal.As young Greta warns the world is on fire. This is no time to be calm. It is time to panic and get done what has to be done before it can no longer be done.

 

The writer is a former ambassador to the US, India and China and head of UN missions in Iraq and Sudan.

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The State And Its Education Expenditure Or The Lack Of It

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Pakistan’s allocation for education is nothing to write home about really. But worryingly, the center and the provinces seem incapable of fully spending what little they decide to spend for uplifting a sector most important for national progress. Ammar Sheikh gives the details of what has been going on with respect to educational expenditure in the last few years.

LETTER For each successive government, education has apparently been a top priority. In theory at least. And within the realm of education, getting out-of-school children in Pakistan back to schools and increasing and easing access to higher levels of education have proven to be major challenges. While all political leaders at the helm of country’s affairs claim to have a special place in their hearts for educating the people of this country, facts and figures often suggest that that special place is probably too special to be revisited once it has been set up.Given the repeated claims of our leaders, it might be pertinent to assess what the federal and provincial governments in Pakistan actually allocate to the education sector and how much of that amount is actually utilized. Makes for a compelling study.

Budgetary Allocations

According to Public Financing in Education Sector 2019 report produced by the Academy of Educational Planning and Management at Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, the federal and the provincial governments have enhanced their education budget in the last five years, or between 2014-15 and 2018-19, precisely.The federal government’s allocation for education increased from Rs 93.407 billion in 2014-15 to Rs 131.150 billion in 2018-19, an increase of 41% over the years. On the other hand, provinces increased the budgetary allocation for education by 47% in the same period. 

According to Public Financing in Education Sector 2019 report, the federal government raised its education budget by 41% between 2014-15 and 2018-19, while provinces increased the budgetary allocation by 47%

Punjab increased the allocation for education from Rs 259.628 billion in 2014-15 to Rs 383.254 billion in 2018-19, an increase of 48%. Sindh, in similar vein, made an increase of 41% from Rs 146.262 billion in 2014-15 to Rs 205.655 billion in 2018-19. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province upped the allocation from Rs 106.835 billion in 2014-15 to Rs 168.199 billion in 2018-19, an increase of 57%, while Balochistan increased its budgetary allocation for education from Rs 45.765 billion in 2014-15 to Rs 63.261 billion in 2018-19, an increase of 38%.

 

The Number Game

But despite the apparent increase in budgetary numbers, the actual percentage share for education out of the entire budget has declined in all but one province. And there too, the education budget saw no real term increase.In Punjab, the percentage share of education from the overall budget decreased from 24% in 2014-15 to 19% in 2018-19, whereas it went down from 21% to 18% in Sindh. The percentage share of education budget against the total budget of Balochistan decreased from 21% to 18%. However, the net allocation for education in terms of percent of total budget remained the same in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 26%.Even with this allocation, a major chunk of the education budget remains reserved for recurring or running expenses.

In Punjab, the percentage share of education in overall budget decreased from 24% in 2014-15 to 19% in 2018-19, whereas it went down from 21% to 18% in Sindh. In Balochistan, it decreased from 21% to 18%. However, the net allocation remained the same in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 26%

In Punjab, almost all of the budget for 2018-19, a whopping 91%, went to recurring expenses, the most among all provinces. Similarly, Sindh allocated 88%, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that allocated 87% of its total education budget for recurring expenses. Balochistan earmarked 83% of the total for recurring expenses while the federal government earmarked 66% of its total education budget for recurring expenses in 2018-19.The overall ratio of development versus recurring budget allocation in provinces during 2018-19 was: 1:8 in Punjab;

1:10 in Sindh;

1:7 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 

1:5 in Balochistan.

 

Primary Focus

All provinces have given to the school segment of the education generously, with primary to higher secondary segments getting most allocation.Punjab allocated 86.33% of its education for primary to higher secondary education. It was followed by Balochistan allocating 81.94%, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 80.94% and Sindh 77.42% of their respective budgets to primary to higher secondary education. Among all the provinces, Balochistan allocated the highest share of it education budget, 15.97%, for higher education. Sindh set aside 14.11%, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 11.18%, and Punjab only 9.67% of the total budget to higher education. The federal government allocated a major share of its education budget, around 82% of the total, to higher education, mainly because of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and the fact that after the 18th Amendment, provinces get their own finances for education.Punjab and Sindh both allocated just 2% of their education budget for technical and vocational education, whereas Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan allocated only 1% percent share of its education budget for the same. Provinces allocated less than two percent for other sub-sectors, such as teacher education, special education and literacy and non-formal education.

 

Utilization

Governments in Pakistan are known to make only hollow promises regarding the importance of education, but what is truly more worrying is the fact that whatever little allocations they manage to make, those in power have consistently appeared incapable of utilizing those allocations to the full.According to the report, all provinces couldn’t spend the money they earmarked for education sector during 2017-18.

According to the report, all provinces couldn’t spend the money they earmarked for education sector during 2017-18. Sindh had the highest rate of under-utilization at only 29%

Sindh had the highest rate of under-utilization among all the provinces. It managed to spend only 29% of the education budget in financial year 2017-18.In 2018-19, Punjab utilized Rs 334.256 billion against an allocation of Rs 356.500 billion (94%), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa utilized Rs 130.252 billion against an allocation of Rs 155.977 billion (83%). Sindh utilized Rs 145.863 billion against an allocation of Rs 204.775 billion (71%) and Balochistan utilized Rs 47.570 billion against a Rs 53.925 billion-allocation (88%).In a separate report, it was found that in the first six months (July-December) of the FY2019-20, a total of Rs 42.9 billion was allocated for development projects for the education sector in Punjab. Of the total, only Rs 15.33 billion or 35.73% was released until December 2019.

 

Per Student Cost

At the national level, Pakistan spent Rs 20,145 in 2017-18 per student, the report noted. It found that the highest per student cost was in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, which spent Rs 38,293 in 2017-18. Balochistan was a close second with Rs 37,957, Gilgit-Baltistan spent with Rs 30,207 per student, Islamabad Capital Territory spent Rs 27,498, Sindh Rs 23,760, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa spent Rs 22,333 on every student, FATA Rs 20,903 and while Punjab spent Rs 16,069 per student in the period mentioned.However, the report said that the average per student cost at the national level increased from Rs 18,885 to Rs 20,145 in the last four years i.e. 2014-15 to 2017-18.

 

Takeaway

Per the report, what Pakistan needed was realistic targets and pragmatic implementation and monitoring mechanisms. Furthermore, there was also a need to ensure timely release of funds to initiate activities in time and to accomplish those activities within given timeframe, it suggested. The report said the gap between allocation and expenditure required due attention of relevant authorities at both the federal and provincial levels. For this, it noted that there was a need to involve all stakeholders for the timely release of funds as well as capacity building of education managers, institutions, organizations and departments. “The regular, smooth, and fair utilization of budget requires interaction and coordination between various departments of regions and provinces. It is important to figure out what are the causes of poor utilization of budget. The present and previous data indicate that there is a dire need to develop a robust financial management system for education sector,” the report added. 

While the discussion above and the report’s recommendations bring several key problem areas to light, it remains a fact that many such remarkable reports lay buried in dust in the darkest corners of offices concerned with education across Pakistan.What we need is someone wielding true power actually read such reports and see what a catastrophe our education sector is headed to and then take concrete action. In absence of the same, we can only assume nothing will change much by the time the next big report is rolled out.

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