Pakistan's
Newest Rhodes Scholars
By Ahmad Faruqui, PhD
Danville, California
Asma
Aleem and Ali Farid have been elected to the Rhodes
scholarship. Both are graduates of the acclaimed
Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).
I had an opportunity to interview them about their
award, what they plan to study at Oxford and their
career plans.
I also asked them to comment on the state of Pakistan's
educational institutions and on whether military
rule was good for the country. I honestly did
not expect to hear much from them, since the interviews
were conducted by e-mail. Both surprised me with
the promptness and depth of their responses. Every
year, the Rhodes program selects two applicants
from Pakistan for advanced study at Oxford University
in a program of their choosing. The Rhodes philosophy
is to invest in individuals rather than in specific
projects.
The selection process begins more than a year
in advance. There is an open call for applications
from which 10 are short-listed. Applicants must
have an undergraduate degree and be Pakistani
citizens under 25 years old. The two winners are
selected after being interviewed by the Rhodes
Selection committee headed by Wassim Sajjad. The
selection criteria are designed to key in on individuals
who are capable of effectively utilizing the Rhodes
experience in their home country. Intellectual
distinction is a necessary but not a sufficient
condition for election. In any given year, about
250 scholars are in residence at Oxford from a
wide range of countries.
The largest contingent is from the US, which sends
32 scholars, followed by Australia and Canada
with 11 each. India sends six. Since 1977, both
men and women have been selected for the program.
Asma cites the strong Rhodes tradition at LUMS
for sparking her interest in the program. She
intends to pursue a master's degree in Management
Research and then go on to get a doctorate. Ultimately,
she sees herself working on development projects
with a technology focus. Ali wants to spend a
year at St. John's College and then work as an
economist in the financial sector. Both are very
proud of their LUMS education. Ali credits the
"LUMS culture based on integrity, honesty and
hard work" for making his time there a truly rewarding
experience.
I asked Ali and Asma why Pakistan had failed to
develop engineering schools that compare with
the Indian Institutes of Technology, which were
initially modeled after the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology and have become world-class centers
of excellence in their own right. Asma's primary
comment was that while Pakistani universities
may boast of good teaching standards; they lack
in research. In addition, "The top schools tend
to lag in program diversity because of the lack
of popularity of non-lucrative degrees." People
are still focused on engineering, medicine, and
IT. But as these fields become saturated, a shift
will begin toward the social sciences, arts and
humanities. Anticipating such a shift, some universities
are expanding into these fields.
For example, LUMS recently expanded its undergraduate
program to include accounting, finance and law.
But, while private institutions like LUMS meet
world standards, they remain beyond the reach
of many. Most public institutions are plagued
by lack of funding and dwindling standards. Asma
faults government policies that don't allocate
sufficient funding to the higher education sector
and the manner in which these scarce funds are
spent. Ali says that the returns from education
are low in Pakistan and this prevents the universities
from being not able to attract good students.
When asked why Pakistan did not become an economic
tiger, Asma said that social and economic development
is a long-term process and "unfortunately in a
country where no government is certain of its
own short-term future, let alone its future in
the medium- to long-term, no one has taken the
time to think and invest in the long-term future
of the country." Ali's position was that Pakistan
needs major reforms in its economic, judicial
and financial systems in order to become a tiger.
Asma added, "In a time of economic consolidation
across the globe, our region is ravaged with war
in Kashmir and Afghanistan. It is imperative that
we resolve the issue of Kashmir peacefully and
channel the millions spent on that one conflict
for the betterment of our own country." She also
expressed hope that freer trade would develop
between Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Iran and
Pakistan. Then came the question of why India
had advanced so much further in its information
technology (IT) industry than Pakistan. Ali's
take was that Pakistani universities don't equip
students with strong mathematical skills. Asma
cited India's political stability as the main
reason why its IT industry has been able to attract
the global outsourcing business. She added that
Pakistan also has a talented and highly educated
IT workforce but lacks the infrastructure that
encourages the development of IT hubs.
She said the reason Bangalore has become India's
Silicon Valley was that it has successfully absorbed
the IT workforce and met the high quality standards
that are imperative for competing in the international
IT market. Both felt that Pakistan needed to offer
foreign companies the guarantee that their investment
would be safe and prove to the world that the
country is politically stable and economically
sound. It was difficult not to ask these two young
people whether they thought military rule was
good for Pakistan. Ali responded, "Absolutely
not. There is no rule of justice and law in Pakistan
because of military rule." Asma's response was
more guarded: "In an ideal world, you would want
democratic rule. However, for a young country
like Pakistan that has been damaged by generations
of corrupt politicians, a ruler who provides political
stability and strengthens the country's economy
has to be regarded a good thing." But she was
quick to add, "Military rule is only beneficial
as long as it works towards creating the conditions
necessary for democracy to survive and thrive."
The risk, as history has shown us, is that the
military would assume a long-term role in politics,
thereby corrupting the nation's most vital institution.
Both had some advice for others who aspire to
the Rhodes scholarship. Asma said, "Focus on your
goals with passion and believe in your abilities
and talents," while Ali said, "Try to be an all
rounder." Pervez Hoodbhoy has recently critiqued
the state of higher education in Pakistan. Rote
learning is widespread and the spirit of critical
inquiry is missing. A research culture, so evident
on Indian and Iranian campuses, is singularly
absent. But as this conversation with Ali and
Asma bears out, there is room for hope. - E-MAIL:
FARUQUI@PACBELL.NET
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