QUALIFICATION is a result of dedicated efforts applied over a defined period at some educational institution intending to achieve some specific degree program objectives. In formal education, students are typically exposed to various subjects sequentially. This approach aims to augment and refine their existing knowledge by incorporating the most current and pertinent definitions, descriptions and explanations of diverse phenomena.
The qualification holder is considered an expert in the domain with an expectation to become a solution provider in resolving daily problems or become an expert in adding new knowledge. In Pakistan, these qualifications can be earned through public or private institutions which offer various degree programs in different modes. The full-time qualifications are offered in morning, evening and weekend shifts. Some universities offer these qualifications online or in distance mode. The major requirement of all qualifications is to follow the National Qualification Framework (NQF) which is developed by the HEC wherein four levels of qualifications are given for the higher education sector which mostly include two years ADE, four years BS, two years MS/MPhil and PhD programs. Every level has some specific learning outcomes which should be met by the qualification holder. The higher education institutions mostly follow the HEC curriculum and programmes offered by their ideal University. In this regard, every university follows some specific university for academic, operational and research matters. Public sector Universities mostly follow their parent or oldest universities in the region i.e. province and subject-specific universities ie Medical, Engineering, Agriculture, etc. also practice similarly.
In some of the cases, the HEC NQF and international good practices for respective qualifications are not given priority at Universities which results in mismatched qualifications with job skill requirements of the market. This is because some universities use catchy nomenclatures for qualifications without the proper curriculum designing and content delivery required by the potential employer. When such deviations occur at the institutional level then graduates are left with a piece of paper which is considered as receipt of their fee submitted over the year. The whole process from entry to graduating is described in a manner that Coolies used to share when the industrial revolution was in place around a century ago. They used to tell fictional stories about their job, living, background, etc. The graduates without proper qualifications takeaways start sharing stories with peers and juniors about how they got admission, grades in subjects, hostel accommodation, scholarships for a year and many other major achievements. This makes their qualification to coolie fiction as they used to describe the struggle, they did during their academic journey but the same is just Coolie Fiction.
As far as responsibility is concerned, the whole higher education ecosystem is responsible for this, which includes the admission process, teaching and learning, assessment and finally the process of awarding degrees. The admission process becomes questionable when proper information is not provided about the admission formula and the lists of applicants are not displayed wherein all details about who applied and how was he evaluated. It is also not publicly shared how sports, disability, minority and other quota seats were distributed. What was the matrix used during the interviews of the graduates etc. and how was the final admission list prepared? Every admission aspirant at universities will be interested to know all such information for the sake of transparency and fairness.
Those who managed admissions are now engaged in the next level of task, that is who is a teacher for each subject. Student starts investigating how to manage each teacher to secure good marks. They spend time with departmental staff and seniors to seek basic information about how a particular teacher assesses papers, does he likes jokes, does he has a pleasant personality or is boring, who are his friends, how he evaluates papers and all other such queries for managing a qualification. However, the desired task for students should be to get hold of the course contents not trying to manage passing scores other than actual academic exercise. A student with little intelligence, good looks and good presentation of their personality become shining stars of their class and those who have some poor background remain silent and sad during the teaching & learning processes. This divides a class into multiple social classes of students. The teachers should be trained enough to cover that social divide and treat all students of various social backgrounds at the same level. They should motivate and encourage the underprivileged ones to shine through hard work in academics rather than in other acts of social influence.
For developing a quality teaching and learning ecosystem, the university administration, department authorities, faculty peers and staff at all levels must collectively work together for producing students with better qualifications rather than an individual who is well versed in all tricks of trade which nothing but coolie fiction. Our whole work environment needs to be faculty and student-friendly. There is a need to have a justified workload for every faculty member which will ensure that students will be able to get quality content during lectures and faculty members will have sufficient time to interact with students. They should be free from any worries related to their career progression and justified distribution of benefits as well as access to further education may also be provided. The quality of graduates can be improved if the University adopts transparency in admissions, promotes high-quality teaching focused on academics rather than charm and creates a supportive environment for faculty and disadvantaged students to prevent “degree factories” that churn out under-qualified graduates.
—The writer is Director at Higher Education Commission, Islamabad.
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