Doctoral Education and Doctoral Education and Nation Building- Nation Building- Perspectives from PakistanPerspectives from Pakistan

Dr. Nelofer Halai

President, Pakistan Association for Research in Education (PARE)

Associate Professor, Aga Khan University

Institute for Educational Development

2

PAKISTAN

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.

44

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.

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%

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

Improving Research & Learning

Teaching is predominantly through rote-memorization even at the Masters level;

Little understanding of research and research methods–descriptive survey is the dominant method in the social science;

Publication record of faculty is extremely limited.

12

13

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

18

Overall Structure of the AKU-IED PhD Program

1.Course Work 2.Internship3.Proposal Writing and Defense

1. Data Collection

2. Writing Thesis & Defense

Entry Point

Year 1 and Year 2 Year 3 and Year 4

4 Week Pre-session

Coursework

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;

Challenges

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

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

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.

23

Raising Epistemological Issues

The doctoral program is helping to raise questions such as:

What counts as knowledge? Whose knowledge counts?

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?

25