Editorial
From
the Editor: Akhtar
Mahmud Faruqui
A Pakistani Ivy University in the Making?
ABC’s
Nightline program sometime back was as usual a pack
of distortions about a country that remains steadfast
in its support for the US. Entitled ‘The most
dangerous country in the world,’ the program
focused on the emotional outbursts of a diehard
segment of Pakistan society and the fulminations
of misguided pacifists known for their opposition
to Pakistan’s nuclear program. It conveniently
ignored the country’s march in different fields
and the progressive nature of Pakistan society.
It was a willful and wanton attempt to smear the
image of Pakistan.
Yet, there was one positive comment that seemed
to have unwittingly slipped from Ted Koppel’s
lashing tongue: Some of the world’s best schools
are in Pakistan! As the compliment was paid - grudgingly
or ungrudgingly - the ABC camera panned across a
classroom full of young boys and girls. Their uniforms
looked familiar. Was it a Beaconhouse School chapter?
I was not sure. Yet the compliment - ‘some
of the world’s best schools are in Pakistan’
- reechoed in my ears, and justifiably so. My own
son, Jahanzeb, had studied at the PECHS Chapter
of Beaconhouse. He was later to win a full university
scholarship and excel in studies on migration to
the US, thanks to the excellent school education
he had received in Pakistan.
Blissfully, the Beaconhouse School System has seen
a marked growth in recent years. Its branches dot
the country’s landscape and their number is
fast multiplying. Founded by Mrs.Nasreen Kasuri
and Mian Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, the System is
the largest private network of schools with 40,000
students This wholesome trend testifies to the fact
that private schools today play a complementary,
nay, catalytic role in strengthening the education
sector in Pakistan. They have a chain reaction effect
and in this enterprise Beaconhouse’s example
stands out, thanks to the painstaking strivings
of Mrs. Kasuri who has been at the helm of the School
System since its inception.
A write-up in Pakistan Link this year furnished
a fresh proof of Beaconhouse’s sustained growth:
“With the largest private network of schools
in Asia, it was only a matter of time before the
Beaconhouse School System was ready to take the
quantum leap into the higher education sector. The
Beaconhouse National University Foundation (BNUF)
has been recently established with the express purpose
of setting up the Beaconhouse National University
at Lahore.”
The Foundation and its Boards of Trustees and Directors
comprise members whose commitment to education and
idealism are exemplary: Dr Moeen Qureshi (former
Prime Minister of Pakistan), Dr Malik M. Hasan (Chairman
and CEO, Healthnet and Founder Malik & Seeme
Hasan School of Business - CSU- in the US), Lord
Robert Maclennan (Member, House of Lords, United
Kingdom), Dr Parvez Hassan (Founder Member, Lahore
University of Management Sciences - LUMS), Mr. Kasim
Kasuri (Founder and CE of Beaconhouse -Informatics),
Mr. Shamim S. Khan (Principal, Aitchison College,
Lahore), Mr. Shahid Hafiz Kardar (eminent economist
and former Finance Minister, Govt. of Punjab), and
Mrs. Nasreen Kasuri (Founder and CE Beaconhouse
School Systems).
There were
more heart-warming details: “Some live on
traditions, we create them. What do we offer? Exciting
programs in School of Visual Arts, School of Liberal
Arts, School of Social Sciences, School of Architecture
and Design, School of Information and Technology,
and School of Media and Communication”.
In the United States, the Hasan Family Foundation
is responsible for the promotion and publicity of
the Lahore-based Beaconhouse National University.
Dr Malik M. Hasan and Mrs. Seeme Gull Khan Hasan
of the Foundation make an enterprising couple: together
the two form the vanguard of any effort aimed at
promoting the Pakistani community in the US or the
cause of Pakistan at Capitol Hill. They rub shoulders
with President Bush and the First Lady and are an
asset to Pakistan and the Pakistan-American community.
The Malik and Seeme Hasan School of Business (CSU)
in Colorado is a living testimony to the couple’s
innate stirring to promote education. Thanks to
Mrs. Hasan’s initiative, I found myself seated
in Mrs. Kasuri’s Lahore office to learn more
about the Beaconhouse National University.
“Pakistani expatriates are a target community,”
she says. Young Pakistani boys and girls living
in the US or the UK can study at the University
and gain familiarity with the Pakistani culture
and traditions during their stay in Lahore. They
can have an “in-depth look at the cultural
diversity of this part of the world. We will have
special courses for them. They could return to the
US, the UK, or wherever they come from after spending
a few semesters at the Beaconhouse National University.
I see no problem in the transfer of credits earned
during their stay at the BNU,” she confidently
claims. The University would also be an ideal place
for students hailing from the SAARC countries, Mrs.
Kasuri opines.
The interview is interrupted by a call from a Sindh
branch of the Beaconhouse. The principal has been
threatened by the parents of a student who has not
done well in a test. Mrs. Kasuri promptly assures
her of the school’s support in a soft but
firm tone. “The school is behind you,”
she says. There is no display of affectations, no
admonitory grunts, no high-sounding sermons. I realize
what makes the Beaconhouse such a singularly important
institution in the country.
A number of accomplished academics share Mrs. Kasuri’s
zest to establish the BNU. Professor Saleema Hashmi,
who has been associated with the National College
of Arts for 30 years, is one of them. She furnishes
her views with rare perspicacity: BNU offers Pakistani
Americans the opportunity “to discover something
they know second-hand to know as first-hand, and
to tap into the rich cultural, emotional and intellectual
reservoirs of the country.
“We are hoping they earn credits in the US.
Once the American universities have a look at the
courses offered by BNU, I see no problem in the
transfer of credits. Speaking for my own schools,
this could happen immediately.” BNU is “a
new vision, a fine vision that encourages an inter-disciplinary
approach which is lacking in Pakistan.
“There is no liberal arts university in the
country. Subjects are offered but students cannot
cross-register. BNU will offer students the opportunity
to study different subjects which are not available
in other universities. Kuch khwab hae. Itnae saal
fanoon lateefa maen guzara,” she says. The
present period is the most exciting one in the history
of Pakistan arts - younger artists are making a
name in the international world!
She talks of a “long, painful journey in gathering
a young dynamic faculty.” Daughter of a distinguished
Pakistani, late Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Mrs. Hashmi is
hopeful that the “finest artists will be associated
with our strivings.”
Another devoted lieutenant of Mrs. Kasuri is Mrs.
Navid Shahzad who is demonstrably inspired by the
Beaconhouse founder. “What is distinctive
about Mrs. Kasuri is that she instinctively grasps
the crux of the issue and does not hesitate to entrust
someone with responsibility. I was given a complete
carte blanche and never treated as an employee.”
Navid, who taught poetry and drama at the Punjab
University for thirty years, joined Mrs. Kasuri’s
group in 2001. She prepared the feasibility report,
planned eight schools which will be operational
in three phases: the “first six are up and
running,” she says.
“We are in the process of making history,”
Navid exuberantly claims. The BNU is patterned on
the American system of education. It would facilitate
inter-disciplinary studies. The faculty members
would also comprise scholars from abroad. “We
are trying to attract Fullbright scholars to serve
as faculty members.” BNU will be an “innovative,
progressive, and dynamic university with a strong
base in liberal arts.”
“Pehli martaba Pakistan maen aek degree offer
ho rahi hae. Theater, TV aur film maen yeh aapni
naueat ki pehli degree hae,” she declares
in chaste Urdu. Navid speaks English with enviable
perfection but chooses to talk in Urdu. Lahore is
the cultural center of Pakistan. No one can deny
that the people of the Punjab have played an all-important
role in the farogh (promotion) of Urdu.
“Adab ham sari zabanon maen parhatae hain.
Comparative Literature ka mazmoon ham introduce
kar rahaen haen. ‘Literature and the visual
narrative’ pehli martaba MA kae liyae offer
kiya ja raha hae.” Another subject ‘Literature
and the dramatic performance’ will be taught
by Madeeha Gauhar and Zia Mohyeddin. Post-colonial
literature will also be under spotlight. In 2004,
the Department of Women Studies (Gender Studies
in US) will make its debut.
The University courses will have special attraction
for students from the Gulf, Malaysia, and SAARC
countries. Pakistanis who find it difficult to make
it to the US in the post-9/11 period would also
find the BNU curriculum of singular appeal. As for
Pakistani Americans, the University possesses a
special attraction. “BNU offers expatriate
children the opportunity to retrace their roots.
They should explore their roots.”
Even mainstream American students could be tempted
to study at BNU. “As a super power, Americans
are isolated and insulated from the rest of the
world. They must see our true face which they can
do only if they come here. Who will teach them calligraphy?
Lahore is one of the oldest civilizations of the
world. The American has a curious mind. Let him
discover what we have to offer. We are looking to
forge bridges. Good for both. Every American is
not a bully. America must send its ambassadors out.
We also need to tell the world that we are not monsters,”
observes Navid.
Dr. Isa Daudpota, an IT expert who belongs to a
distinguished family of educationists of Sindh and
is an outstanding academic in his own right, speaks
candidly about the BNU. “The effort is to
impart quality education over and above what is
offered by other universities. The closest to us
is LUMS but we offer a more diverse menu. We are
offering subjects which are not taught in different
universities.
“The way to teach would be different. There
will be more open discussions. Indeed, it would
be discussion-based education giving a student the
chance to design his/her course. BNU will be closer
to an American Arts University.”
The University will offer training in ‘Films
and Media,’ a subject that has suddenly come
to attain primacy in educational institutions in
recent years with the launching of several TV channels.
With the Beaconhouse National University graduates
entering the scene a wholesome change is likely
to take place. Better presentations, better scripts,
better talk shows, better techniques, and better
producers. A more professional outfit altogether.
The BNU is a non-profit organization. The Kasuri
family is represented as a minority on its Board,
an exceptional arrangement, that speaks volumes
of its sincerity and commitment to promote healthy
traditions and speedy growth. It is for Pakistanis
- both within and without - to benefit from the
University which has the making of a great institution.
If PINSTECH (Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science
and Technology) could win accolades and be described
as ‘best of both the worlds’ by the
TIME magazine, thanks to the vision of the late
Dr. I.H. Usmani, Chairman, PAEC, would it be too
much to expect that the BNU would emerge as the
equivalent of an Ivy institution - if not today,
ten years hence? If some of the best schools of
the world are in Pakistan, why shouldn’t we
strive to establish some of the world’s best
universities in the country? (Repeated) -afaruqui@pakistanlink.com
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