Rameez A Mahesar
BEYOND any shade of doubt, it is a globally recognized fact that the students are the powerful assets of a nation but if these assets go balky, the development of nations per se becomes at best the hanging matter. This becomes worrisome matter pointedly in the education sector of the countries. In the past, the eligibility criterion to land on the lecturer jobs in the universities was only 16 years of education and the vacant posts were is being filled purely on the basis of transparent merit. Now, this supplanted with the criterion ie MPhil only.
Here I am asking some questions, which are; was not the 16 years of education enough for the mentioned post? Has it ever been tried to investigate how many students annually are getting admission and how many of them are receiving MPhil degrees? Has it ever been asked how soon the degrees are being awarded to the students? Have any progress and improvement in the education sector ever been avouched only after the aforesaid criterion is evolved? Does MPhil witness the level of knowledge? Cannot the people holding 16 years of education teach well at university level? Cannot people holding 16 years of education produce research, bring innovation and contribute as well towards society?
As far as the admission system is concerned, the questions are; is getting admission in the MPhil programs as easy as it is set? Are the admission fees for MPhil programs as affordable to students as fixed? Is the number of PhDs in the departments enough to guide every student enrolled in the MPhil programs? Are the monthly allowances fixed for students enrolled in the MPhil programs? If yes, are these allowances being proffered to them equally and timely? If not, then why?
As far as the time duration for MPhil programs is concerned, the duration is two years but hardly a little ratio of students can get the degree in four years and a good deal of them leave the degree to pursue and some receive the degrees after 5 years. Who is accountable for the time the students consume inoperably more than the time set for the degrees? It is the blessing for the students if they receive their MPhil degrees within the timeframe. On the other hand, the publication policy has also been aggravated. If an MPhil student submits his/her paper to a recognized journal of a university, their paper either is rejected or delayed only because the journal has to give that opportunity to faculty members of the respective university, this malpractice not only exasperates the quality of papers but also drowses the students’ enthusiasm to put themselves at pains in executing research.
Also, the students and faculty members must submit their papers as well as get them published in any of your recognized journals otherwise their contributions will never be counted whenever they will appear in the interviews for the posts of higher ranks or will apply for their promotions, is this policy lucrative form any account? Besides, the publication frequency for the research journals is almost biannual. This is a great gap in the publication process that puts the bar in the endeavours the scholars, students and teachers of different ranks perform. Why not the publication frequency for all the recognized journals is set quarterly? So that the research can greatly be contributed as well as all the quality papers from teachers and students can equally be given spaces in the journals.
There is a dire prerequisite of the reforms to be brought in the education sector. Policy for the different teaching ranks must be revised and all the questions put back should also be produced before competent authorities to see how complex is the policy to comply with. If the higher degrees are indispensably required in the age of globalization, then the policy for sole authorship in the contributions must be made. A proper number of publications along with MPhil or PhD degrees must be set, not just the degrees but also paper contributions must be required.
As far as the landing on the job of lectureship in the universities is concerned, the eligibility criterion should be 16 years of education not MPhil. We cannot realize how worrisome are the challenges being faced by students during MPhil programs. They face the music of lack of resources and facilities along with unemployment pitfall. The hefty expenses during the research theses is another gruesome issue that is not bearable for the majority of students. Think over the issues I have conferred here questions about and questions are necessarily asking for the answers to be secured to.
—The writer is a Researcher at SBBU-SBA and a member of Russian Research Journal.
