Doctoral Education and Nation Building- Perspectives from Pakistan

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Doctoral Education and Nation Building-
Perspectives from Pakistan

• Dr. Nelofer Halai
• President, Pakistan Association for Research in
  Education (PARE)
• Associate Professor, Aga Khan University
• Institute for Educational Development

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PAKISTAN
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Higher Education Institutions

• One University at the time of independence in
  1947
• Now more than 70 Universities or Degree Awarding
  Institutions (DAI) in the public sector and about
  60 in the private sector.

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Higher Education Strategy

• The Medium-Term Development Framework 2005-2010
  of HEC
• Access to Higher Education
• Faculty Development
• Excellence in Learning and Research
• Relevance to National Priorities.

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Improving Access

• Enrolment rate in higher education of eligible
  population of ages 17-23 has now risen from a low
  of 2.6 to 4.7 in 2009
• This still compares unfavorably with India at
  11, Malaysia at 32 and South Korea at 68

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Faculty Development

• Poorly qualified faculty only 1700 out of 7000
  have a PhD
• Each of the 70 public universities need at least
  300-400 PhD trained faculty

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Improving Research Learning

• Teaching is predominantly through
  rote-memorization even at the Masters level
• Little understanding of research and research
  methodsdescriptive survey is the dominant method
  in the social science
• Publication record of faculty is extremely
  limited.

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Infrastructure to Support Research

• There is not sufficient availability of
• Funds, equipment, libraries and other material
  resources
• Policies and procedures
• Trained human resources
• System of information management and retrieval.

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Doctoral Education in Pakistan

• Doctoral education has been neglected over the
  last 60 years
• Less than 50 PhDs are qualified every year from
  22 public universities (Hussain, 1997)

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Need for AKU PhD Programs

• Contribute to the research output in Pakistan and
  the region
• Open up and develop novel fields of inquiry and
  synthesis not present previously
• Develop the next generation of researchers and
  educators.

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Aim of AKU-IED PhD Program

• The program is designed to graduate high
• quality researchers in education who have
  multiple competencies and will be leaders in
  their fields.

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• This aim is achieved by
• Providing rigorous course work and exposure to
  cutting edge research
• Developing analytical and synthesis skills
  derived from designing and completing a
  dissertation
• Nurturing the ability to meet the research needs
  of developing countries
• Providing a scholarly environment.

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Overall Structure of the AKU-IED PhD Program
Year 1 and Year 2
Year 3 and Year 4
1.Course Work 2.Internship 3.Proposal Writing
and Defense

1. Data Collection
2. Writing Thesis Defense

4 Week Pre-session Coursework
Entry Point
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Successes

• It is a strong rigorous program
• Admitted 14 students in 3 cohorts
• Supervision committee include scholars of
  international repute
• Two have graduated
• Both have gone back to their workplace in school
  systems

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Challenges

• Academic Sustainability
• Financial Sustainability
• Under-Prepared Students
• Tightly packed program
• Lack of Community.

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Nation Building Local Knowledge Systems

• The newly industrialized nations must develop
  their own scientific systems and academic
  institutions. They cannot, in the long run, rely
  on others to produce all the research that is
  needed for emerging technologically based
  industries.
• Altbach, 1992

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Fitting into the Larger System- Nationally and
Internationally

• Making links with international universities
• Collaborate with national institutions
• Linking with and influencing HEC policies and
  procedures.

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Raising Epistemological Issues

• The doctoral program is helping to raise
  questions such as
• What counts as knowledge?
• Whose knowledge counts?

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Raising Quality Assurance Issues

• Will quality assurance processes allow the North
  to direct knowledge generation process?
• Will this stifle the development of new and local
  ways of knowing?

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Thank you