What is wrong with our campuses?

The Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) often makes both good and bad news. 

It won accolades from national and international education circles when it appeared among the top 500 world universities on Times Higher Education World University Rankings this year. That is a big achievement as only three other Pakistani universities shared the ranking with the QAU.  

This year, the university also has been in the spotlight for bad reasons. 

First, it was the increasing number of students using drugs; then it hit the headlines that its land was being grabbed by certain mafias. Now, since October 4, the university has been hogging the media attention for students’ strike for the acceptance of their demands. An umbrella of ethnic and political students – the QAU Students’ Federation – had called the strike against a fee hike, the expulsion of students from the university and worsening conditions of academic activities and boarding complexes. 

After several days of the federation’s protest, the university management expressed willingness to resolve their demands; consequently the fee hike was withdrawn and students groups were invited to the university syndicate meeting on last Friday. 

The university, however, played a dirty role by excluding the Baloch Council, the QAU Students’ Federation part, from the meeting. It angered the Baloch students who returned to the protest camp. The university called in the Islamabad police to stem the wave of protest and got 70 students arrested. Soon, the social media was abuzz with scenes of police using high-handed tactics, leaving several of the Baloch students injured. 

What was the need to unleash brutality on a group of student exercising their constitutional right to protest and speech freedom?

Were the students armed or did they pose a threat to the university peace or administration?

If the answer to the above questions is ‘no’, it is the failure of the university administration to handle the protest well. If the answer is otherwise, it is the failure of the whole system which has turned the places like university campuses into protest venues and violent politics.  

The protesting students should realise that higher education is an expensive commodity all over the world. Pakistani students often do not realise that they are lucky to get a university education at no price. Similarly, they should know that the university campus is not for ugly, violent politics. What we have been seeing over the decades is that some political and religious elements use the university students for their political interests.  

But the core problem lies at the door of the university administrations. 

University corridors often make scenes for teachers’ politics and fighting among teachers’ factions. Most of the classes are taken without any planned objectives; teachers teach students to pass them whereas students also study only to pass the examinations. Universities, ideally places of learning and research, have become degree and diploma factories. On average, a university student should study 60 hours a week. Our students, however, on average study (or cram the course) 60 hours altogether and that only during the examination week and pass.    

It will be heartening to see if students resort to protest against unprepared teachers and a lack of course guidelines on campuses. Teachers should be seen perturbed at students’ performance in the classroom. An ideal situation will be when students and teachers are engaged in heated debates and discussion on pure academic issues. 

That objectives will only be achieved when the job market demands good quality human resources and policymakers demand result oriented academic activities.

These dream objectives can be achieved, when students, teachers, and managers sit and talk out the issues. 

Talking to the Baloch students would be the first step in the right direction.