“dependent” even in education?

Society Business and Career
1

http://www.dawn.com/2006/12/01/top16.htm](http://www.dawn.com/2006/12/01/top16.htm)

given all the other geo political menacing going on, does this makes
sense for educational revivalism in a far off country by the world’s
super power?

just how far does the octopus reaches out and into other lands, with its
ever spreading tentacles?

unfortunately, we cannot trust these collaborations between the two countries given their other Conflict of interests.
& the scale of one’s schemes, as well as the mishandling at the receiving end.

this is one more attempt at making the disparity wedge in education far more wider.

if only, everyone knew that this kind of “collaborations” suit the petty
motives of only a few

if only, the receiving end knew that there is something called
self-reliance in sustaining the fountain of knowledge

if only, people were cognizant of the facts

if only, people at the sending end were honest & the narrated
collaboration was not on monetary basis, but on intellectual -exchange
basis.

why the heck, the infrastructure does not get financed by the country’s
own treasury money? it’s about time that the nation offered such
collaboration projects rethinks its own systems, before signing onto a
new “pledge”.

as much as i would never doubt the sincerity and the good will, in a
collaborative project in academia being from academia - in this case -
between two nations and their countries, (given the history and the
factors behind their respective problems or interests), this is so not a
good idea.

no nation should have to take nothing for which other countries advance
only their own agenda to make the former obligated to “r e f o r m” its
systems to match those of the latter’s.

who needs a two year’s college anyway (like most US-style community colleges are like)?

instead, Pakistan needs affordable, higher educational system for all students, in life and physical sciences as well as Research and Mathematics,
filled with highly qualified professors and diligent students.

the glamour of a posh research lab or a college premises is NO Guarantee that the brains there in are just as well-flourished.

any comments?

dushi

2

Re: “dependent” even in education?

Although I agree in principle with what you say about self adequacy esp. when it comes to education since it is momentous to the future of the country as a whole… but at the same time, in order to attain those far-reaching positive consequences, you always need to start somewhere.

The truth remains that people in our country are still far from giving the right level of respect to higher pursuits in academia. For the masses, their concept of education stops at “engineering” or “medicine”, and lately there has been somewhat of a surge in information technologies related training due to the quicker payoffs in such careers.

It will take some time to get over this mindset and until then, collaborations with smaller community-college type schools abroad may pan out to be a reasonable short-to-intermediate term initiative to help the country – in say over the next 10 to 15 years. I say this more so in light of capitalizing on the offshoring trend. These community colleges typically specialize in providing a quick pathway to practical skillsets that are valued by employers. With a workforce that has such skillsets, the country may be able to avail more outsourcing opportunities… and again, like I said, this will benefit the country in the near to medium term…

Also, over the natural course of progression, I foresee that people who would have acquired their diplomas and degrees from these colleges will realize that in order to move up the corporate ladder, they need to go for an advanced degree for which they’ll need to go back to school. This may in turn lure in more investment from actual universities abroad. In the ideal world, this would mark the penultimate state of achieving self-reliance. Having learnt “best practices” from these institutions, others in the country may take it upon themselves to instigate their own educational projects in the country.

I know this sounds like a long process, but this is how I envision the evolution to a point in time when we’ll be able to tell apart simple training programs from authentic education initiatives, and when universities and academia will get their due recognition.

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Re: “dependent” even in education?

i concur with you, Umar, 100 % in your vision of what might enable people back home to become more
science driven and trained.

i just feel that we do not own up to our own self sufficiency demands and necessity to be self reliant.

education is indeed a universal enterprise, but what i fear is that in the haste of learning something, getting support for something in sci or eng, even, we must not become conveniently dependent. if it should be this way, then the ratio in cross exchange must be upped, if you will.

originality and ownership is knowledge is what i am advocating. collaboration is good, indeed. but still, capitalising will make education a far fetched dream for the common lot, unless the state takes it on itself to provide access to education for all citizens, free of huge costs. & at the same time, academia must be integral in its character and mission.

dua ker saktee hoon. i hope things get better in the right direction, because to me, education & human intelligence sought there from, to accomplish life-constructive aims, is the only weapon. & we better not lose it.