Allama Iqbal open university

Name Kiran ijaz

Registration no 0000281911

Course 828

Program ma teacher education

Semester autumn 2022

Assignment no 1
 ***Question no 1***

Evaluate the contribution of higher education in socio-economic development. Support your answer

with the help of relevant data?

Answer:

Contribution of higher education in socio-economic development:

The processes of reforming higher education are now becoming crucially important for social life as well

as business and economics. On the one hand, reforms of higher education are associated with more

general problems of reforming the public sector, and on the other, it is aimed at optimizing and increasing

the efficiency of specific universities. Reorganization, unification and change of organizational structure

at universities is carried out in a specific institutional environment. The specific characteristics of

institutional environment are typically determined by national, regional, historical, cultural, legal, and

other social factors that influence the structuring of recurring social interactions. Theoretical and research

tools of interpretive institutional economics provide an opportunity to analyze the qualitative aspects of

the reform and organizational changes in reorganized universities and Higher Education Institutions.

Human society

The education system is developed and evolved by the human society and vice versa. Therefore,

education is considered as an important investment for both human as well as economic growth and

development that influenced by the settings where it exists. Customs and traditions, beliefs and faith

collectively affect and affected by the education system. However, the pace and pattern of the factor of

permanence and change continues is determined by the society.

Human society is a combination of monetary and non-monetary factors and hence both are to be

considered whenever an activity is planned or taking place. Education is one such activity which both the

way affects and gets affected. It has multifaceted impacts on the society and its economy. It induces

economic growth and development positively on one hand and reduces poverty creating a cohesive social

and politically stable environment which attracts investment. On the whole, it makes workforce

comparatively more dynamic and productive, more socially polite.

The economic growth of a country requires both physical and human capitals. The human capital works

as a soul animating the physical capital of the country. It is not only necessary for the strong and viable

economy but equally important for the political stability and a conducive social environment and thus

“sustainable growth and development of economy is dependent on it.

Formation of human capital of a society

Education plays a major part in the formation of human capital of a society and hence provides a strong

foundation for the socio-economic development of the country by raising the efficiency and productivity

of the individual members and turns them as skilled manpower, ensuring a sustainable economy.

Tool for poverty alleviation

It is commonly considered tool for poverty alleviation, increasing economic growth, people

empowerment, cherishing personal earnings, encouraging a friendly and flexible environment paving way

for a competitive economy. Furthermore, it provides for the new generations strategies coping the

complexities of economies in future.

Provide skills, knowledge and capabilities

Education provides for none other than the skills, knowledge and capabilities through which the

individuals have to be nurtured and developed in order “to produce the required manpower in adequate
quality and quantity”, which signifies a key objective of the educational institutions at all level such as

schools, colleges, universities.

Education speaks not only for the productivity of labor market but equally provides that scarcity of

sufficient and required skills proved sometimes as one of the vital constraints for the economic growth of

nations. This is very true for the poor countries where workers have no basic literacy as well as numeracy

skills consequently such nations also face the deficiency of having experts in various fields.

Increase Employability

Applicants are faced with a highly-competitive job market, in which their qualifications might not be

enough to secure the kind of work they desire. As the economy moves further toward competency-based

recruitment, with its focus on skills and experience over pure academics, graduates and established

professionals must be armed with the tools they need to find and succeed at work.

Higher education institutions are critically important here. Universities should be proactive in arranging

opportunities for current students to develop industrial expertise through work experience and internships.

In addition, technological and workplace skills training should be taught adjacent to an academic

curriculum. Further, it can be beneficial to offer mentoring opportunities to help prepare expectant

graduates for a competitive job market.

Knowledge really is power, but it’s not just about formal academic qualifications. Broad employability

skills help graduates give employers precisely what they need: technologically-minded workers who are

flexible, organized, and resourceful.

In addition, universities are ideally-placed to offer employability training to people looking to change

careers or apply for new roles, who need an update to their existing skills. Advanced courses for

experienced professionals also represent an exciting intersection for higher education and industry.

Collaborate Between Education and Business

In the last decade, there has been substantial growth in the number of research deals between companies

and universities.

Businesses, which have been reducing their spending on early-stage research for more than 30 years, have

increasingly turned to universities to perform that role, as they provide access to the best scientific and

engineering minds in specialized areas. Meanwhile, reduced government support of academic research

has made universities more receptive to private investment and industrial collaboration.

There are also substantial benefits for wider society, thanks to advances in life sciences, communications,

engineering, and more. In short, this kind of partnership has the potential to benefit all sides enormously.

Universities and companies both favor long-term collaboration over one-off contracts. A transactional

model, whereby a lengthy period of negotiation prefaces each research project, is not desirable for either

side. Instead, continuous connections are preferred, allowing ongoing early-stage research which can

rapidly be transformed into commercially-viable products that contribute to economic growth.

It’s helpful for universities and their collaborative partners in industry to be geographically close in order

to create research hubs that attract the best academics and continued industrial investment.

In micro-economic terms human capital theory relies on the implicit understanding that through education

the individual acquires competences and skills whose essential characteristic is the ability to be

transferable and negotiable on the employment market and which also have a transactional value and a

direct bearing on individuals‘ average income throughout his live. The average earnings of individuals are

closely related to their educational attainment. In particular, those with a bachelor’s degree earn

substantially more than even those with some college education. Relative to those with a bachelor’s

degree, a postgraduate degree provides nearly as large a boost in earnings. The higher salaries that

educated entrants are able to command on the job market represent both the interest on the capital they

have invested in education and the fact that they have become more productive by having invested,

regardless of the type of education they have received. However, rapid changes in employment
conditions, the future macroeconomic environment, technical innovation and skills obsolescence are

amongst the variables that throw into question the full validity of the human capital model applied to the

individual.

Supply Side and Demand Side Determinants

Literature documented various determinants as a study by pointed that sex of household head, educational

level, age and income as found to affect positively to food security whereas household size has negative

influence on household food security. A similar analysis by in South Africa conducted an econometric

analysis and found that per Aggregate production, fertilizer application, cattle ownership and access to

irrigation have positive effect on household food security whereas farm size and household size have

negative effect on household food security. In sum, there are a number of supply side and demand side

factors that contribute to raise or reduce the household food security. Household size and average

education level are the leading factors that affect food security. Former has a negative while later

possesses a positive relationship with food security as more years of education shift the attitude of people

and brings productivity. Further factors mentioned by literature include access to markets and livestock

population. On the other hand side, there are supply sides determinants including per capita land holding

and technological development as leading factors of food security in developing countries, while among

others include farm size, which affects positively to te food security of households in long run and short

run. A similar study by [16] highlighted various determinants that lead to problem of food insecurity in

poor countries. Major of these factors include social and political dimension, macroeconomic and

political instability, trade policies, disasters, inadequate education, poor health, and the absence of good

governance.

Economic Benefits

The occurrence of public spends on education in Pakistan at different level such as urban/rural and

provincial level studying the data of the Pakistan Social Standard Living Measures Survey 2004- 2005by
utilizing the three step Benefit Incidence Approach methodology. The study finds that public level

expenditure on education at all levels in Pakistan is progressive. However, some inequalities were also

observed in the portion of different earning groups’ benefit from the stipulation of educational services

and facilities shaped by the public expenditures.

 ***Question no 2***

Explain different functions of universities? Explain importance of each function. How, in your

opinion, universities in Pakistan are performing these functions?

Answer:

Different functions of universities:

1. Universities are unique kinds of global institutions

Universities are institutions intended to be durable and enduring. When wisely designed, governed and

financed, they are unique entities in our American democracy and in our global society. Universities are

neutral conveners, assemblers of talent, and unmatched idea factories where the passion, creativity, and

idealism of great minds, young and old alike, can be applied to problem-solving and advancing our

societal and economic well-being.

2. Universities must adapt and innovate

Contemporary universities have a responsibility to transcend traditional disciplinary limitations in pursuit

of intellectual fusion, and develop a culture of academic enterprise and knowledge entrepreneurship. They

must also be prepared to begin delivering higher education at scale – in a manner that bestows status upon

universities based upon the outcomes they achieve and their breadth of impact rather than the exclusivity

and quality of their incoming freshman class.

3. Universities must embrace their cultural, socioeconomic and physical setting

It is imperative that universities be socially embedded, thereby fostering development through direct

engagement. Universities must work creatively and be willing to take risks to become even greater forces
of societal transformation.

4. Universities must focus on the individual

Universities need to foster student success by becoming student-centric – rather than faculty-

centric. Successful universities will be those capable of being nimble, anticipatory, imaginative and

reactive. They must provide unique environments that prepare students to be “master thinkers” able to

grasp a wide array of skills and comprise the most adaptable workforce the world has ever known.

5. Universities must become effective partners for global development

Only through the proliferation of networks between like-minded alliances can transformation occur at the

scale that is immediately needed in order to advance our present global knowledge economy. Our

communities must open their eyes to this imminent future and transform their thinking to see universities,

not as self-indulgent “people factories,” but as valuable idea generators with vast influence and the

potential to manifest technologies and concepts that can change lives the world over.

Change is not easy. Modification and growth in large, complex institutions that are part of an increasingly

global system of commerce, trade and interchange can be particularly challenging. But innovation and

adaptation are needed now more than ever before in our international higher education infrastructure and

in our global development institutions. We must work together to build what we need, not simply

replicate what has existed before, and I welcome your ideas and feedback on the role of universities in

advancing global development.

Functions of University

The functions of a university shall include

1. The functions of a university are to do all things necessary or expedient in accordance with this Act

and its charter, if any, to further the objects and development of the university.

2. Without limiting the generality of subsection, a university

a. shall provide courses of study, conduct examinations and award degrees and other qualifications,

b. shall promote and facilitate research,

c. may establish by incorporation in the State or elsewhere, or participate in the establishment of, such

trading, research or other corporations as it thinks fit for the purpose of promoting or assisting, or in

connection with the functions of, the university,

d. may collaborate with educational, business, professional, trade union, Irish language, cultural, artistic,

community and other interests, both inside and outside the State, to further the objects of the

university,

e. shall maintain, manage and administer, and may dispose of and invest, the property, money, assets

and rights of the university,

f. may collaborate with graduates, convocations of graduates and with associations representing

graduates of the university both inside and outside the State,

g. may purchase or otherwise acquire, hold and dispose of land or other property, and

h. May accept gifts of money, land or other property on the trusts and conditions, if any, not in conflict

with this Act, specified by the donor.”

The universities have trained the intellectual pioneers of our civilization the priests, the lawyers, the

statesmen, the doctors, the men of science, and the men of letters. They have been the home of those

ideals which lead men to confront the confusion of their present times. The Pilgrim Fathers left England

to found a state of society according to the ideals of their religious faith; and one of their earlier acts was

the foundation of Harvard University in Cambridge, named after that ancient mother of ideals in England,

to which so many of them owed their training. The conduct of business now requires intellectual

imagination of the same type as that which in former times has mainly passed into those other
occupations; and the universities are the organizations which have supplied this type of mentality for the

service of the progress of the European races.

There is one great difficulty which hampers all the higher types of human endeavor. In modern times this

difficulty has even increased in its possibilities for evil. In any large organization the younger men, who

are novices, must be set to jobs which consist in carrying out fixed duties in obedience to orders. No

president of a large corporation meets his youngest employee at his office door with the offer of the most

responsible job which the work of that corporation includes. The young men are set to work at a fixed

routine, and only occasionally even see the president as he passes in and out of the building. Such work is

a great discipline. It imparts knowledge, and it produces reliability of character; also it is the only work

for which the young men, in that novice stage, are fit, and it is the work for which they are hired. There

can be no criticism of the custom, but there may be an unfortunate effect prolonged routine work dulls the

imagination.

The expansion of universities is one marked feature of the social life in the present age. All countries have

shared in this movement, but more especially America, which thereby occupies a position of honor. It is,

however, possible to be overwhelmed even by the gifts of good fortune; and this growth of universities, in

number of institutions, in size, and in internal complexity of organization, discloses some danger of

destroying the very sources of their usefulness, in the absence of a widespread understanding of the

primary functions which universities should perform in the service of a nation. These remarks, as to the

necessity for reconsideration of the function of universities, apply to all the more developed countries.

They are only more especially applicable to America, because this country has taken the lead in a

development which, under wise guidance, may prove to be one of the most fortunate forward steps which

civilization has yet taken.

Schools of education
The universities are schools of education, and schools of research. But the primary reason for their

existence is not to be found either in the mere knowledge conveyed to the students or in the mere

opportunities for research afforded to the members of the faculty.

Both these functions could be performed at a cheaper rate, apart from these very expensive institutions.

Books are cheap, and the system of apprenticeship is well understood. So far as the mere imparting of

information is concerned, no university has had any justification for existence since the popularization of

printing in the fifteenth century. Yet the chief impetus to the foundation of universities came after that

date, and in more recent times has even increased.

The justification for a university is that it preserves the connection between knowledge and the zest of

life, by uniting the young and the old in the imaginative consideration of learning. The university imparts

information, but it imparts it imaginatively. At least, this is the function which it should perform for

society. A university which fails in this respect has no reason for existence. This atmosphere of

excitement, arising from imaginative consideration, transforms knowledge. A fact is no longer a bare fact:

it is invested with all its possibilities. It is no longer a burden on the memory: it is energising as the poet

of our dreams, and as the architect of our purposes.

Civilization

The universities have trained the intellectual pioneers of our civilization - the priests, the lawyers, the

statesmen, the doctors, the men of science, and the men of letters. They have been the home of those

ideals which lead men to confront the confusion of their present times. The Pilgrim Fathers left England

to found a state of society according to the ideals of their religious faith; and one of their earlier acts was

the foundation of Harvard University in Cambridge, named after that ancient mother of ideals in England,

to which so many of them owed their training. The conduct of business now requires intellectual

imagination of the same type as that which in former times has mainly passed into those other
occupations; and the universities are the organizations which have supplied this type of mentality for the

service of the progress of the European races.

There is one great difficulty which hampers all the higher types of human endeavor. In modern times this

difficulty has even increased in its possibilities for evil. In any large organization the younger men, who

are novices, must be set to jobs which consist in carrying out fixed duties in obedience to orders. No

president of a large corporation meets his youngest employee at his office door with the offer of the most

responsible job which the work of that corporation includes. The young men are set to work at a fixed

routine, and only occasionally even see the president as he passes in and out of the building. Such work is

a great discipline. It imparts knowledge, and it produces reliability of character; also it is the only work

for which the young men, in that novice stage, are fit, and it is the work for which they are hired. There

can be no criticism of the custom, but there may be an unfortunate effect prolonged routine work dulls the

imagination. The result is that qualities essential at a later stage of a career are apt to be stamped out in an

earlier stage. This is only an instance of the more general fact, that necessary technical excellence can

only be acquired by a training which is apt to damage those energies of mind which should direct the

technical skill. This is the key fact in education, and the reason for most of its difficulties.

Career building

The way in which a university should function in the preparation for an intellectual career, such as

modern business or one of the older professions, is by promoting the imaginative consideration of the

various general principles underlying that career. Its students thus pass into their period of technical

apprenticeship with their imaginations already practised in connecting details with general principles. The

routine then receives its meaning, and also illuminates the principles which give it that meaning. Hence,

instead of a drudgery issuing in a blind rule of thumb, the properly trained man has some hope of

obtaining an imagination disciplined by detailed facts and by necessary habits. Thus the proper function

of a university is the imaginative acquisition of knowledge. Apart from this importance of the
imagination, there is no reason why business men, and other professional men, should not pick up their

facts bit by bit as they want them for particular occasions. A university is imaginative or it is nothing - at

least nothing useful.

Research

It is in respect to the provision and utilization of these conditions for an efficient faculty that the two

functions of education and research meet together in a university. Do you want your teachers to be

imaginative? Then encourage them to research. Do you want your researchers to be imaginative? Then

bring them into intellectual sympathy with the young at the most eager, imaginative period of life, when

intellects are just entering upon their mature discipline. Make your researchers explain themselves to

active minds, plastic and with the world before them; make your young students crown their period of

intellectual acquisition by some contact with minds gifted with experience of intellectual adventure.

Education is discipline for the adventure of life; research is intellectual adventure; and the universities

should be homes of adventure shared in common by young and old. For successful education there must

always be certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must either be new in itself or it must be

invested with some novelty of application to the new world of new times. Knowledge does not keep any

better than fish. You may be dealing with knowledge of the old species, with some old truth; but

somehow or other it must come to the students, as it were, just drawn out of the sea and with the freshness

of its immediate importance.

Summary

The modern university system in the great democratic countries will only be successful if the ultimate

authorities exercise singular restraint, so as to remember that universities cannot be dealt with according

to the rules and policies which apply to the familiar business corporations. Business schools are no

exception to this law of university life. There is really nothing to add to what the presidents of many

American universities have recently said in public on this topic. But whether the effective portion of the
general public, in America or other countries, will follow their advice appears to be doubtful. The whole

point of a university, on its educational side, is to bring the young under the intellectual influence of a

band of imaginative scholars. There can be no escape from proper attention to the conditions which - as

experience has shown - will produce such a band.

 ***Question no 3***

Discuss the role of various organizations in development and growth of higher education in

Pakistan.

Answer:

Role of various organizations in development and growth of higher education in Pakistan:

Move towards Change in Higher Education

The importance of higher education in developing countries was brought out in the World Bank-

UNESCO (2000) report prepared by the “The Task Force on Higher Education and Society. Higher

education experts from 13 countries concluded in their 135- page report “Higher Education in Developing

Countries: Peril and Promise” that without more and better higher education, developing countries (i.e.

home to over 80% of the world’s population) will find it increasingly difficult to benefit from the global

knowledge-based economy without improving the efficiency and resources for higher education. The

Task Force ‘Peril and Promise’ put a strong emphasis on higher education and suggested that,

Urgent action to expand the quantity and improve the quality of higher education

In developing countries should be a top development priority each

Developing countries make it a national priority to debate and determine what it

Can realistically expect its higher education system to deliver

The report broadly outlines the case for higher education reform, addresses the barriers and suggests

various ways of overcoming them. While ‘Peril and Promise’ generally identified the situation of higher

education in developing countries, the report prepared by The Boston Group an informal think tank of
US-based expatriate Pakistani scholars – as its ‘Contribution to the Task Force on Improvement of Higher

Education in Pakistan’ highlighted the section of problems in Pakistan’s higher education sector. TBG

report on ‘Higher Education in Pakistan: Towards a Reform Agenda’ relies in considerable measure on

the ideas presented in ‘Peril and Promise’ and makes a useful contribution by focusing on the situation in

Pakistan.

TBG identified three key areas for reform

❖ Institutional Reform: the challenges of governance;

❖ Curricular Reform: the challenges of pedagogy;

❖ Fiscal Reform: the challenges of fiscal solvency.

Reform and Expansion of Higher Education

Pakistan was one of the first countries, in the developing world, to support the Task Force

recommendations and considered how it could be applied to the local context. According to D. Bruce

Johnstone, many of the recent elements of higher educational reform in Pakistan were contained in the

influential Task Force Report. Since its inception in 2002, as a fully autonomous and powerful body, the

HEC has successfully launched a “unprecedented number of systematic reforms directly aimed at the

worst and most immediate issues plaguing the higher education sub-sector (HESS), or, more exactly,

universities” (WB 2006: ii/9). These reforms can be classified under the following categories:

Quality Assurance, with an emphasis on human resource development (e.g. expansion of the indigenous

and foreign PhD programs), introduction of a new service structure for faculty members (tenure track

system), definition of criteria for establishing HEIs, standardization of the four-year undergraduate,

MPhil, and PhD programs, computerization of universities, and creation of the digital library;

Equity, with a substantial scholarship program and support to institutions located in less-developed areas;
Relevance, with a focus on engineering, science, and technology programs;

Research, with the research grant program, the fellowship program, and the university linkage program;

and Resource Allocation (funding formula). In order to expand the quantity and improve the quality of

higher education system, HEC also developed a Medium-Term Development Framework (MTDF) for

2005-2010 – a systematic process of implementation of the five-year agenda – to respond to the growing

demand of the 21 century in the wake of globalization. In this regard, HEC reform agenda identified the

following key areas for improvement:

1. Faculty Development,

2. Improving Access,

3. Promoting Excellence in Learning and Research, and

4. Ensuring Relevance to the Economy.

For each of these four core strategic aims/targets, the MTDF defines clear objectives and lists relevant

programs (or physical targets) to achieve them, accompanied by appropriate Indicators (will put in the

appendix at the end). Likewise, these strategic aims/targets are also supported by well-integrated three

cross-cutting themes:

1. Developing Leadership, Governance and Management

2. Enhancing Quality: Quality Assessment and Accreditation, and

3. Physical and Technological Infrastructure Development.

According to the Chairman of HEC, Pakistan needs to have at least 300-400 PhD level faculty members

in each university and 50-100 PhD level researchers in each research institute, before it can be regarded as
a “genuine university. He further mentioned that, the advanced countries have 2500-3000

scientists/engineers per million population, whereas Pakistan has only about 120 scientists/engineers per

million population engaged in Research and Development (R&D). Therefore, Pakistan needs to target a

similar per million population figure (a total of 500,000 PhD level scientists by 2025) in order to

participate in a knowledge economy. To promote R&D activities, the HEC have launched massive

scholarship programs and have also awarded 5,837.

PhD scholarships over the past four years. About 2,600 scholars have already been sent to top world

universities (for example in USA, Europe, and China) and 69 scholars have proceeded abroad under

Cultural Exchange Program in year 2007-08. Thus, the government is targeting 1500 PhDs every year by

2009-2010 (Education: News & Events August 2006) in order to create a force of researchers needed for

promoting excellence in learning and research that could improve the future quality of students, faculty

and institutions.

All these initiatives indicate that, higher education in Pakistan has only recently received more ambitious

emphasis than ever before and, over the years of reform, has also gained more certain directions and

objectives targeted towards training and development of faculty members in different areas. As all

development starts with human development, recent researches revealed that investment in faculty

development (for example; pedagogical methods, technology-based teaching tools and basic research

skills) improves the performance of student as well. In this regard, HEC has also taken an important task

of professional development on its agenda through the establishment of ‘National Academy for Higher

Education’ (NAHE) and ‘English Language Teaching Reforms’ (ELTR). This is a major effort by HEC,

under its ‘Learning Innovation Division’ that was established in 2003,

to develop comprehensive teaching-learning material according to international standards in order to

facilitate and professionally empower the local faculty.

In short, the realization of the Government, regarding the importance of higher education, has ultimately

begun the reform process and “these positive reforms already have benefited the universities” (WB 2006

ii/10) in creating a viable culture of scholarly inquiry. HEC has brought a revolutionary change through

helping universities to nurture the teaching and research culture by fostering a learned international
 ***Question no 4***

.Analyze the programs and provisions of Higher Education as envisaged in recent education

policies of Pakistan.

Answer:

Programs and provisions of Higher Education as envisaged in recent education policies of Pakistan:

Access to higher education shall be expanded to at least 5% of the age group 17-23 by the year 2010.

Merit shall be the only criterion for entry into higher education. Access to higher education, therefore,

shall be based on entrance tests. Reputed degree colleges shall be given autonomy and degree awarding

status. Degree colleges shall have the option to affiliate with any recognized Pakistani university or

degree awarding institution for examination and award of degrees. To attract highly talented qualified

teachers, the university staff will be paid at higher rates than usual grades. Local M.Phil. and Ph.D.

programs shall be launched and laboratory and library facilities will be strengthened. Split Ph.D.

programs shall be launched in collaboration with reputed foreign universities and at the minimum, 100

scholars shall be annually trained under this arrangement. All quota/reserve seats shall be eliminated.

Students from backward areas, who clear entry tests, would compete amongst themselves. In order to

eliminate violence, all political activities on the campus shall be banned.

Capital investment

Higher education today is recognized as a capital investment and is of paramount importance for

economic and social development of the country. Only higher education can produce individuals with

advanced knowledge and skills required for positions of responsibility in government, business, and other

professions. In the light of these requirements, the policy had forwarded the following “guidelines” for

the improvement and development of higher education in future.

Guide Lines

1) Preservation of Islamic values and cultural identity of the nation.

2) Producing highly qualified manpower for meeting the needs of the country.

3) Ensuring the access to quality higher education on merit,

4) Contribution to the advancement of knowledge and prosperity of the nation.

Objectives of Higher Education

The following objectives were set in the policy for higher education.

1) To inculcate Islamic Ideology and moral values and preservation of our religion and cultural heritage.

2) To equip the individuals with the latest knowledge and technology.

3) To provide sufficient base of scientific knowledge to every student and to enable him/her to

contribute towards nation building efforts.

4) To provide intellectual facilities and develop capabilities of individuals to, enable them to play

effective role in society.

5) To produce highly educated and technically skilled manpower as required for the country.

6) To facilitate access to higher education, to advance learning and to generate knowledge.

Policy Provisions/Program

The following policy provisions/program had been laid down in the policy for the improvement and

development of higher education in. future:

1) Access to higher education would be expanded to at least 5 percent of the age group.

2) Merit would be the only criteria for entry into higher education.

3) New disciplines emerging sciences would be introduced in the public sector universities.

4) Through provision of adequate-students support service, better teachers and good management, the

wastage rate would be reduced.

5) Selected disciplines at major universities would he transformed into “Centers of Advanced Studies

and Research”.

6) Allocation of resources to professional education would be enhanced.

7) Institutions of professional education would be encouraged to generate internal resources.

8) Reputed degree colleges would be given autonomy and degree awarding status.

9) The libraries and laboratories, of universities and colleges would, be strengthened to meet the

international standard.

10) Curricula at university level would be revised for all stages.

11) M. Phil arid Ph. D programs would be launched on a large scale in the Centers of Excellence and

other universities departments.

12) Linkage programs with foreign universities would be developed to promote international cooperation

and academic mobility.

13) A system of assessment of teacher’s performance would be introduced for the improvement of

teaching learning process.

14) A Teachers Service Training Academy would be established for improving in-service training.

15) The government would initiate a program to utilize the services, of the Pakistanis serving in

developed countries in various institutions.

16) Extensive guidance and counseling services would be provided to students in higher institutions.
 ***Question no 5***

Compare and contrast the objectives and strategies of higher education of USA and UK.

Answer:

Objectives and strategies of higher education of USA and UK:

Higher education system in United Kingdom:

Not all higher education institutions have the right to use the title ‘university’, which is regulated by law.

There are two routes to securing this right:

• Under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, the Privy Council is responsible for approving the

use of the word ‘university’ (including ‘university college’). Prior to 2005, there was an additional

requirement of research degree awarding powers.

• Institutions may also obtain approval for the use of the word ‘university’ in their names under the

provisions of the Companies Act 2006.

Since 2005, institutions that have taught degree awarding powers and at least 4 000 full-time equivalent

students, of whom at least 3 000 are registered on degree (including Foundation Degree) level courses

have also been permitted to apply to use the title ‘university’. Following on from the proposals set out in

the White Paper Higher Education: Students at the Heart of the System (BIS, 2011), the requirement was

reduced to 1 000 full-time students and subsequently, in 2012/13 ten long-established specialist

institutions, which were mainly former arts, agricultural or teacher training colleges, gained university

title.

Institutions that award taught degrees but which do not meet the numerical criteria for university title may

apply to use the title ‘university college’, although not all choose to do so.

Other Higher Education Providers

Higher Education Institutions

A higher education institution (HEI) is defined as i) a university, or ii) an institution conducted by a

higher education corporation, or iii) a institution designated as eligible to receive support from funds

administered by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) (aside from Further

Education Colleges, which are defined below). At present, all English HEIs with the exception of the

University of Buckingham and the University of Law receive support from funds administered by

HEFCE and are listed here. HEFCE directly funds 128 HEIs.

There are over 700 colleges and other institutions in the UK which do not have degree awarding powers,

but which provide complete courses leading to recognized UK degrees. Courses at these institutions are

validated by institutions which have degree awarding powers. These other providers of higher education

programs may use other institutional titles such as ‘college’. The use of such titles is not regulated by law.

Further Education Institutions

Higher education programs are also provided in over 250 further education colleges, ranging from those

with fewer than 50 students to those with nearly 4000 (see the article ‘Institutions Providing Adult

Education and Training’). Such programs are normally designed and approved directly by a higher

education institution with degree awarding powers, under a formal recognition arrangement. Some short-

cycle programs are awarded by a national awarding body. Higher education provision in further education

institutions may either be funded directly by the Higher Education Funding Council for England

(HEFCE), or alternatively via a franchise arrangement. A franchise arrangement, which can cover all or

part of a program, means that a student is registered at a higher education institution, which receives the

funding and is responsible for quality assurance. The HEI then passes a proportion of the funding to the

further education college providing the teaching.

Alternative Providers
Higher education is also provided in an increasing number of independent private institutions, including

both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, which receive no direct government funding. Also termed

‘alternative providers’, these are defined as any provider of higher education courses which: is not in

direct receipt of recurrent funding from HEFCE or from equivalent bodies in the Devolved

Administrations; or does not receive direct recurrent public funding (for example, from a local authority,

or from the Secretary of State for Education); and is not a further education college.

First Cycle Programs

First cycle programs include bachelor’s degrees with honors the largest group of higher education

qualifications and other qualifications at Level 6 of the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in

England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ). See the article on ‘Bachelor’.

First cycle programs also include Foundation Degrees, Diplomas of Higher Education and Higher

National Diplomas and other qualifications at Level 5 of the FHEQ

The FHEQ also includes some higher education qualifications at a lower level. Higher National

Certificates, Certificates of Higher Education and other qualifications at Level 4 of the FHEQ

Branches of Study

The largest group of higher education qualifications at this level is bachelor’s degrees with honors – often

known as honors degrees. Bachelor’s degrees can also be awarded without honors, in which case they

may be known as ‘ordinary’ or ‘pass’ degrees. Programs leading to a bachelor’s degree are normally of

three or four years’ duration for full-time students. Three years is more common, but four-year programs

are more common for languages and for ‘sandwich’ courses that include a year abroad or a work

experience year. Most, but not all, higher education institutions (HEIs) use credit-based systems in the

design and management of curricula and the standards of qualifications, and share a common

understanding of credit and usage of 120 credits to denote a volume of learning that a learner will spend,

on average, to achieve the specified learning outcomes in an academic year. Bachelor’s degrees with
honors have a typical total volume of at least 360 credits, and bachelor’s degrees awarded without honors

have a typical total volume of at least 300 credits.

Degree awarding institutions are responsible for the design of their own programs and awards (see the

‘Introduction’ to this topic). The number of different courses offered is very high, running into tens of

thousands, though the number has reduced in recent years. Programs typically focus on a particular

subject area, but there are also combined studies programs involving two, or possibly three,

specializations. There is also normally choice within each program. Typically, a relatively fixed menu of

modules covers the core knowledge of the subject, and is combined with a menu of options in the more

specialized aspects of the subject area.

Note that the terminology used in this area varies considerably, as higher education is a diverse sector

made up of autonomous providers which use different approaches to the definition of academic

regulations. Some of these different approaches can be summarized as follows:

1) A student registers on a course made up of compulsory modules and optional modules that leads to

the award of a qualification.

2) A student registers on a program made up of compulsory modules and optional modules that leads to

the award of a qualification.

3) A student registers on a course that awards credit that can be counted towards a qualification.

For a more detailed consideration of the variety of interpretations and models that exist across the sector,

see the December 2011 report by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), What is a Course … or

Program or Route or Pathway or Learning Opportunity…

Although many institutions offer courses across the full range of subject areas, some specialize in certain

fields, such as music, art or business. Institutions which were originally set up as, for example, institutes

of technology, but which subsequently gained university title, tend to retain a strong focus on their

original specialism. Additional funding is available to encourage diversity, for example for specialist
colleges and certain subjects identified as strategically important but vulnerable because of low student

numbers.

Admission Requirement

Admissions Policies and Entry Requirements

Institutions determine their own admissions policies and the minimum entry requirements for each

program. For bachelor’s degrees, the minimum entry requirement is usually two or three General

Certificate of Education Advanced-level (GCE A level) passes, as well as a minimum number of General

Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) passes at grade C or above. These remain the most common

form of entry qualification held by young entrants to higher education. A wide range of other

qualifications is acceptable for entry. They include the International Baccalaureate and some vocational

options such as GCE A levels in applied subjects and excel BTEC National Qualifications.

There is a points scoring system establishing agreed comparability between different types of

qualification across the whole of the UK – the UCAS tariff.

Alternative Access Routes

The Access to Higher Education Diploma provides another route for mature entrants. See the subheading

‘Access to Higher Education’ in the article ‘General Programs’ in the ‘Adult Education and Training’

topic.

Most institutions also welcome applications from mature candidates who have had appropriate experience

but may lack formal qualifications. Many institutions give credit for prior study and informal learning

acquired through work or other experiences: Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) or Accreditation of

Prior Experiential Learning (APEL).

Fair Access and Widening Participation

Fair access and widening participation are government policy objectives.

Widening participation is defined by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) as improving under-

representation at a national level; it covers not only young people from low income backgrounds but all

those from groups under-represented in higher education, taking into account issues facing disabled

students, ethnic minorities and part-time and mature students.

Fair access is defined by OFFA as equality of opportunity for all those who have the potential to benefit

from higher education, irrespective of their background, schooling or income. The term is often used with

reference to admission to the most selective institutions.

See the ‘Introduction’ to this topic for how these policy objectives are conveyed to HEFCE through the

annual grant letter and see HEFCE’s widening participation webpages for how these policy objectives are

implemented by HEFCE.

Control of Student Numbers

Overall student numbers for the higher education sector are planned by the Government and the Higher

Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Based on Government guidance, HEFCE sets each

institution a limit – or ‘student number control’ – on the number of students it may recruit. The purpose of

these targets is to enable the Government to control the level of publicly funded student loans and grants

for fees and maintenance. Not all students are included in the student number control. In line with

Government aims to encourage popular and successful universities and colleges to expand and to improve

student choice, universities and colleges are permitted to recruit as many students with high grades

(currently ABB or above at A level, and certain equivalent qualifications) as they wish, outside of their

student number control. HEFCE has developed an ‘exemptions list’ of entry qualifications and grades

which are exempt from the student number control. Information on the student number control and the

range of exempt qualifications and grades is available on HEFCE’s website.

Curriculum
Institutions have the autonomy to design and develop their own programs of study. The Quality

Assurance Agency (QAA) provides subject benchmark statements explaining the core competencies at

honors degree level in a range of disciplines, which are intended to assist those involved in program

design, delivery and review.

Objectives and strategies of higher education in USA

1. To Develop a Sense of World Citizenship:

Mutual contacts are developing fast in this scientific age. The citizens of a country are coming into

contact with others in one respect or other.

In such a situation national citizenship alone will not help, therefore, as in other countries, one of the main

aims of American education is to arouse an interest and curiosity in the wide and varied knowledge of the

world with an open mind, shunning a narrow outlook.

The American citizen can establish relations with the citizens of other countries only if he possesses a

many-sided knowledge about them. By doing so, on the one hand he will gain maturity of mind through

the knowledge of the world, and on the other he will develop international understanding to become an

able world citizen.

2. To Develop a Sense of Co-operation:

In the public sphere, there are people of different talents. They require human virtues for closer co-

operation amongst each other. These human qualities are love, sympathy and co operation.

The citizens of today must have faith in humanity, equality and co-operation in order to lead a happy life.

So the other aim of American education is to develop qualities of humanity and co-operation so that a

person may strive for collective, social progress by co-ordinating old and modern knowledge wisely.

3. To Introduce Vocational Point of View in Education:

The purpose of American education is to prepare a citizen for life. In the modern age, the vocational point

of view is considered very important, so provision has been made for vocational and technical education

along with general education.

A number of multi-purpose technical schools have been established in U.S.A. Guidance centres have been

established for providing vocational guidance to students.

Through these schools and centres the students are given vocational guidance according to their interest,

aptitude, need and ability, and they are trained accordingly. Thus the trained student not only improves

his economic status, but also contributes significantly to the economic development of the country.

4. To Develop the Qualities of Citizenship:

America is a democratic country. The success of democracy depends on ideal citizens. Efforts are made in

U.S.A. to develop qualities of ideal citizenship from the beginning.

Qualities like tolerance, knowledge of one’s rights and duties, respect for the views, and rights and duties

of others and the spirit of selfless social service are developed in the people there. The citizens are

educated to behave according to the accepted social ideals.

5. Provision for All Types of Education:

For success of democracy the citizens should be fairly well educated. Just as freedom is the birth right, so

is education. There are three main characteristics of American educational system – (1) Universal (2)

Compulsory (3) Free. Most of the schools in America fulfill the needs of the common people and they are

managed by specific communities.

Education is compulsory for the boys and girls from 7 years to 16 years of age. At some place, this limit

has been raised to 17 and 18 years while at some other places, the lower age limit has been reduced to 4
or 5 years. Thus in America, education is compulsory from 4-5 years of age to 17-18 years for both boys

and girls.

The purpose of compulsory education was the spread of literacy along with expansion of education and to

bring maximum number of boys and girls under compulsory attendance.

This law is called as the ‘Law of Compulsory Attendance’. Earlier people strongly opposed this law and

claimed that the law was against ‘Parental Rights’. But that opposition died when better sense prevailed

and the people accepted the Law of Compulsory Attendance. And so education became universal.

According to census reports, around the middle of the present century, the student community was 1/5 of

the total population. Education is not only compulsory in America but it has been made free also by

extending educational facilities. All the elementary schools in the country offer free education. Free

education had begun in America in the nineteenth century.

⭐The end ⭐