It is globally an undeniable fact that ranking of a university depends on how much attention it pays on ameliorating its research segment. How many research scholars does it produce annually? How much is it careful towards checks and balances in the ways the students come through? How much is it looking after the policies, planning and quality of education it promotes to students at a greater extent?
It is globally an undeniable fact that ranking of a university depends on how much attention it pays on ameliorating its research segment. How many research scholars does it produce annually? How much is it careful towards checks and balances in the ways the students come through? How much is it looking after the policies, planning and quality of education it promotes to students at a greater extent?
These are the questions that if a university does not give someone a chance to ask it, definitely it is, then, such a type of university that is tied in the thread of top ranked universities across the globe. Now, at global level, universities are highly batting their eyelid at research segment to stand frequently within the top ranked universities. But “standing front of all” is a challenging game which is out of someone’s hands.
Every country has its own policies and strategies of offering higher education to their youth. Conflation of the factors like economy, society, culture, rules and regulations, government policies, infrastructure, serving people, employee range and balanced budget distribution differentiate the countries in providing higher education. Backwardness and forwardness among the nations in terms of research range depends on these aforementioned factors. If the above factors in a country are faulty then, without an iota of doubt one can argue it backward in making education research based and qualitative one too. Quality of education undoubtedly relies upon research standard.
Thousands of universities around the globe have, now, been providing youth with higher education for a good length of time. But more or less relies on their policies and many other factors like infrastructure, teaching faculty, and budgetary system and accommodation facilities. To a university, less the issues it has then; greater the quality of education it gives to youth. Research is likely a backbone of education.
A good deal of universities may rapidly be producing research in a chunk of quantity but; by contrast, some would have been directing their eyes and ears on producing scanty research. This may discrepantly be argued as former segment of universities only pays attention on quantity and while; later does so on quality. According to this mention, quantity based research can entirely be said vague, unbelievable, impure, and useless while using it as reference. On the flip side, quality based research can frequently be turned to its purity, usefulness, believable and can greatly be referenced. Least research does not matter but how much pure it is, this is the important thing. These things can be the factors of being back and forward in the rank.
Almost exactly, a pure and reliable research is something freed from the plagiarism misfits. Being rush towards the plagiarism offence one goes to become a so-called researcher. Plagiarism in research is like a cancer which gradually aggravates the country’s educational standard. This misfit can lead someone offender and imprison him too and, besides, the institution with which he is concerned can also be called wrongfully. Quantity based research can also be said that are just copied and pasted one. But quality based research freed from plagiarism, copy and paste sounds loudly.
As for Pakistani universities are lacking in research section, have a number of snags which are pulling them back. At least one can ask or think; why we are back in research? Billions dollars like this question is valuable.
Collective hampers in the way of research begins from Leaving up the degrees especially of doctorate which is a grave fault in our country, Pakistan. In last year, Higher Education Commission (HEC) had visited most of the universities across the country. HEC, then, frequently closed these programs therein from a good deal of institutions just because of knowing the faults within those of the institutions. Nearly 200 cases of leaving up the degrees were found. It mentioned that over 170 students had left their degrees due to suffering from many of their pitfalls their different issues. Now, the question is; whyPakistan is going back in research? Many of the reasons are behind this phenomenon.
Phil Baty, the editor of the Times Higher Education, once, had argued that the country (Pakistan) just spends over 2 per cent of its GDP on its higher education. Which is lesser than India, Iran andBangladesh spends on expanding their higher education. Thus, it has promised to expand its GDP more than this as 4 per cent by the upcoming year 2018.
Undoubtedly, it is believed and can easily be said that Pakistan is one of the fastest growing population countries in the world. It has the largest youth population around the globe. It has over 50 million youth population of 10-24 years old youth. 2025 vision Pakistan has promised to enroll its young people more than the current proportion. By the contrast, it is promised to expand the enrollment of over 15000 students in doctoral programs. And also has committed to spend 12 percent of its GDP in 2025 vision plan.
Lack of institutional collaborations with one another is also a hamper in the way of producing more and more researchers. Usually, here in the country (Pakistan) to pursue M.Phil and PhDs is to have the purpose of getting promotion in the official scale. In most of the countries, there is the good number of those who are already serving as teaching faculties; their purpose of pursuing the doctoral degrees is only because they want to get promotion in their degrees. This also declines the status of research in the country.
To some extent, people pursuing doctoral degrees are from poor families. They just have the purpose of getting a good job. Poverty is a gruesome tragedy with them. They cannot afford to produce their quality based research and hence, they just want to shake off the degrees as early as possible. Besides, the current proportion of enrolled youth in doctoral programs in different disciplines around the country is suffering from conflation of diverse facilities-related problems. System in universities is too slow.
An iota of students having doctoral degrees, turn their service towards research institutions and organizations and; the chunk number of them goes to serve the academic section and they inter into the teaching faculties. That’s why; large proportion pays attention on teaching but not on research. Least number of students turns to become good researchers and after joining research institutions and organizations when they fail to see any privilege being offered them, frequently they just kick their service off. And hastily, the ground of research turns close at most.
Therefore, the frequent collaboration of institutions, government, universities, organizations and people with one another is indispensable to expand the ground of research segment of our quality education. Each and every university in the country must bat its eyelid at ameliorating its research sphere, as soon as possible.
The Writer is a Freelance Columnist and an M. Phil Scholar at Media and Communication Studies, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, he can be reached at Email:rameezalimahesar@gmail.com