The High-Intensity Entrepreneur

Article titled “The High-Intensity Entrepreneur” by Anne S. Habiby and Deirdre M. Coyle, Jr. has appeared in Harvard Business Review and is creating waves in academic and industrial circles. The article presents the case of entrepreneurship in the developing world and the important role it is playing in moving the sluggish economies of the countries forward. The inspirational stories on entrepreneurship are not only coming from Silicon Valley, Cambridge Research Parks and other traditional seats where knowledge is being generated, but also coming from Beirut, Saudi Arabia and yes from Pakistan too. The article motions Pakistan’s Air Blue success story.

There are so many other successful entrepreneurship examples in Pakistan. We only have to look around. In these times of dooms and gloom, our economists and writers can identify the best growth companies and given them a little visibility. That will help education and industry in Pakistan. And we will have something to look forward to.

I suggest you read The High-Intensity Entrepreneur (subscription required) and see what is the central idea and how we can use it in our own settings.

The Nizam Sahib, I think I know

By Prof. Dr.I. R. Durrani

Prof Dr Nizamuddin is a man of iron clad discipline, inexhaustible patience, colossal ideas and insatiable illusions

His devotion is to his word. His power is of seduction. He goes to seek out problems where they are. The impetus of inspiration is very much part of his style. Invincible patience. Iron clad discipline . The force of his imagination stretches him to the unforeseen.

The essence of his own thinking could lie in the certainty that in undertaking academic work, it is fundamental to be concerned about individuals. That could explain his absolute confidence in direct contact. He has a language for each occasion and a distinct means of persuasion according to his interlocutors. He knows how to put himself; at the level of each one , and possesses a vast and varied knowledge that allows him to move with facility in any media. One thing is definite: he is where he is, how he is and with whom he is. Prof Dr. Nizamuddin, our [UOG] Vice Chancellor is there to win. His attitude in the face of defeat , even in the most minimal actions of every day life , would seem to obey private logic; he does not even admit it, and does not have a minute’s peace until he succeeds in inverting the terms and converting it into victory.

His supreme aide is his memory and he uses it , to the point of abuse, to sustain speeches or private conversation with overwhelming reasoning and arithmetical operations, of an incredible rapidity. He requires incessant information , well masticated and digested. Responses have to be exact , given that he is capable of discovering the most minimal contradiction in casual phrase. He is a voracious reader of papers and faces alike.

He does not lose any occasion to inform himself . His vision of the future integrated with an autonomous community is capable of moving destinies. Nizam Sahib knows Pakistan inside out, although he has more affinity with the US, where he has profitably spent most of his professional career; he knows the Pakistani people, their power structures , the secondary intentions of the governments; all this has helped him to handle the incessant torment of blockade.

He has never refused to answer any question, however, provocative it might be , nor has he ever lost his patience. In terms of those who are economical with the truth , in order not to give him any more concerns than those he already has: he knows it. But gravest are the truths concealed to cover up deficiencies , because alongside the enormous achievements that sustain the office of the Vice Chancellor, there is a colossal bureaucratic incompetence , affecting daily life , and particular domestic happiness.

When he talks with the students and ordinary workers in the University, his conversation regains expressiveness and crude frankness of genuine affection. They call him Nizam Sahib . They address him informally , they argue with him, they claim him. It is then that one discovers the unusual human being that the reflection of his own image does not let us see. This is the Nizam Sahib, that I believe I know. A man of austere habits and insatiable illusions , with an old fashioned formal education of cautious words and subdued tones, and incapable of conceiving any idea that is not colossal. The University of Gujrat is fortunate that the benediction in the form of the presence of Nizam Sahib will continue for a further four years. One can only wonder , what miracles will be wrought in the time to come!

Related: UOG

Author: Dr. I. R. Durrani is Director, faculty of Basic Sciences in University of Gujrat.

A cameo of a man of vision

By Prof. Humayun Ghauri

“The two things that can satisfy the soul are a person and a story; and even a story must be about a person.” opines G.K Chesterton. Today I intend to explore the profile of a person; Prof Dr Mohammad Nizamuddin the vice chancellor, University of Gujrat. He is a legend in his own life time. His life is a progress and not a station. He conjures up great visions and is perpetually on the move; always in practice; scaling ever new heights. He keeps his associates and affiliates also on the move, towards achievements; towards pinnacle of glory. His motto appears to be in Browning’s words “the best is yet to be”.

Grafted on to the budding University of Gujrat (UOG) by the government, earlier on, as the Vice Chancellor, in Sept 2006; he has shaped history with his stupendous courage, matchless brain power, unflappable will and iron determination.“The brave find a home in every land” says a proverb.

This son of the soil initiated his higher education at university of Karachi way back in 1965 by earning his MA in sociology /social work. He was later on groomed in the best possible universities of USA .In 1969 he passed his MA in demography /social science, from the University of Chicago with flying colors. In 1979 he successfully achieved his PhD from university of Michigan, by bringing out his thesis on “the impact of community and program factors on the fertility of rural Pakistani women,” which he based on Pakistan fertility survey data under the supervision of professors Yuzuru Takeshita and Frank M. Andrews. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Nothing great is produced suddenly, since not even the grape or the fig.” 

His traineeship was again conducted in many prestigious universities of USA. In 1968 John Hopkins University on survey methods; in 1969 university of Chicago; 1977 university of Michigan; 1978 university of Chicago. He was left no raw diamond by them.

He has achieved to his credit fellowship of Carolina population center – university of North Carolina (1979-1984) and fellowship of Battle Memorial Institute at Seattle, Washington (1977-1981). He co-chairs International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) since 2003 to present. He wields membership of three remarkable international associations: International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) 1979 to present; International Association of Survey Statisticians (IASS) 1980-to present; Population Association of America (PAA) 1977 to present.

His academic appointments inter alia include Clinical Professorship and Program Directorship at Columbia University since 2003.

His honors include: Ford Foundation Fellowship of PhD studies at the University of Michigan (1976-1979); USAID – SIDA Fellow ship for master studies at university of Chicago 1968-1969; merit scholarship university of Karachi 1962-1965.

He holds 37 years of national and international experience in the field of Population, Public Health and Development; 23 years in the United Nation System ; for several years in Academia and in Research Institutions. His jobs prior to coming to Pakistan have been mostly in prestigious international institutions ,and he has moved around the world, besides USA in countries like Egypt, Uganda, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Jordan, Somalia. His publications of international standard are more than thirty, by now. In the words of Socrates, “Fame is the perfume of heroic deeds.”

With a curriculum vitae (CV) spanning to the size of a booklet, he has proved his worth by being tested and tried in many a situation around the world ; with credentials of a progressive intellectual ,matchless administrator; disbursing his academic excellence around the world and simultaneously adding on to the reservoir of his knowledge, experience and expertise. In the words of George Eliot, “strong souls live like fire hearted suns to spend their strength in furthest striving action.”

It is no less than a miracle that this gem of a man; with sterling qualities of head and heart; is available in the UOG as helmsman to steer the ship of UOG towards new horizons of creativity, growth and development. It is his undoubted genius in tandem with the blessings of God almighty that within a short span of four years, he has propelled the UOG unbelievably rather miraculously on the way to his destined goal of a world class university . Kudos to his accomplishments. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s worlds, “when we see a soul whose acts are all regal, graceful and pleasant as roses, we must thank God that such things can be, and are …”

What has been his modus operandi? It is an admixture of dedicated committed work combined with diligence; spiced with emotions of love and devotion. His strategy has been to select a galaxy of scholars, whom he singlehandedly inspired and enthused with a spirit of honest labor, devotion to duty, conscientious work; thus harnessing their intelligence, creative skills, expertise and dexterity towards the rich growth of the UOG. Again according to Emerson “There can be no excess to love, none to knowledge none to beauty, when these attributes are considered in the purest sense. The soul refuses all limits .It affirms in man always an optimism, never a pessimism...”

Dr Nizam is charismatic in the sense that with the available resources and stuff at hand, he is conjuring up a myth of a grand design: symbiosis of knowledge and research; interspersed with high ideals, spirituality and humanism; shaping them up into a mosaic of modern paradigm.

In Dante’s words,

Love kindled from virtue; if its flame be shown

Of power to light a kindred flame will prove.

In spite of all the honors heaped on to him; as a person he is simple unassumingly simple; of course kind hearted, benign, charitable, and compassionate, but all the same gracious and generous .Therein lies his greatness as a person . In the words of Shakespeare, “some are born great some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Of the three phrases of Shakespeare, the terminal one speaks of Nizam’s greatness.

Research activities have shaped his aesthetics towards novelty, newness, innovation and invention .He is always ready to introduce new initiatives, new drives, new strategies and tactics into the Academia. In a way he is an iconoclast; in that his approaches to running of university are very novel, if not unique. Bypassing traditional canons, he thrusts into professional business with dramatically original innovative moves. In Cervantes words “diligence is mother of success; and experience constantly verifies its truth.”

In spite of all his qualities as a pragmatic intellectual, the basics streaks and traits of his character remain mystical. This towering figure of a great humanist, wields an element of respect and love in his heart, for all and sundry .A pleasant smile of confidence and generosity, on his face goes, a long way in dispelling fear and gloom from a jittery, problem- ridden person. He not only reinvigorates confidence in individuals but simultaneously moves his available resources for the redress of grievances of the complainants and in most cases comes to offer viable solutions to the problems. He is a great troubleshooter .It is all because “Love never fails.”

He wields a fantastic balance between Idealism and Realism. “Sky is the limit”, may be his vision but his metaphysics is always firmly grounded in natural probabilities. He himself is like a tall, luxuriously grown, shady tree whose roots are firmly rooted in the soil. In the words of Keats “A thing of beauty is a joy forever”.

Establishing a public sector university with 10 faculties and 27 departments, including a medical college, and an engineering Faculty, Faculty of law, School of Art and Design; short of a basic infrastructure (which is still in the making), is no mean achievement, judged by any standard .Today UOG stands head and shoulders above many others; a tangible reality; directing its future gaze, “To be a world class university”.

Dr Nizam is a person of Immaculate professional competence embedded with the best possible skills and traits of character. I find him already a legend-a person so inspiring, so motivating, so considerate, so kind and so affectionate. He has the heart of a lion; immensely courageous and bold, with an iron will to move heaven and earth, in achieving his targets and academic goals.

In Chaucer’s words,

“The god of Love, the god of Love, ah me!

How mighty and how great a lord his he!

There is no power on earth that can withstand

The miraculous men work at his command.”

In spite of his preoccupations with administrative affairs, he has not divested himself from teaching activities. It is so inspiring to visualize him meeting his M Phil class teaching Philosophy of Social Sciences and his MPS students, Demography of Aging. But all the same he does not believe in dispensation of knowledge alone, but has a passion for creation of new knowledge through research. That is the ultimate goal towards which he always persuades and directs his students; and in this process multiplies his research skills among others; and this remains the crux of his creative endeavors. He in a way says, “Go back to life; to nature, to society, to the perpetual womb of all creation”. This is where theoretical knowledge is embedded into Reality through the practice of Research, and thereby renovate and reshape itself a new. This is the shaping power of his imagination and intellect; which ultimately finds its way in writing and publishing research based new books-the store house of real wisdom which may be used by present and subsequent Governments in shaping policies on social issues; rectifying wrongs in the best interests of populace and Govt. at large “Truth is always the strongest argument” says Sophocles.

Dr Nizam is a democrat and believes in democratization of Education. He believes in delegating authority at different levels; creating platforms where all can participate in corporate management. An Arabic proverb reads: “Liberty enkindleth love: Love refuses no labor and Labor obtained whatsoever it seeketh.” 

Dr Nizam is a marvelous brain; a brainy intellectual who always brain storms before taking any direction for action. He is the magnet brain of UOG who magnetizes other brains that come his way. It is the real mystique of his power-the power to wield influence over others and get things going the right way; which in his vision is no other than the practice of best possible academics in the university based on research and innovation .This practice takes the seven ships of wisdom and knowledge of UOG towards a world class university. Dr Nizam is a movement unto himself- a man of passion for progress and the will to power, to achieve the impossible. He is a beacon light for others at this university.

In the words of Goethe, 

“There can none but Man

Perform the Impossible

He understandeth :

Chooseth and Judgeth:

He can Impart to the

Moment, duration. ”

Author: Prof. Humayun Ghauri is assistant professor, English literature, University of Gujrat

Women education

Read how women earning more doctoral degrees than men?

College Admissions' Secret Strategy

Grades and SATs are set in stone, but a last-minute admissions trick is more important than ever. Marc Zawel on how "demonstrating interest" can get you into your first-choice school.

For high-school seniors now applying to college, most of the important pieces of the admissions process—grades, extracurriculars, standardized tests—are in the past. They can’t be changed.

But as fall application deadlines loom, one relatively simple strategy remains on the table. It’s called “demonstrated interest” and, utilized correctly, it can give applicants a last-minute leg up on the competition.

Demonstrated interest is exactly what it sounds like. It can range from attending an information session on a college campus to sending a thank-you note after your admissions interview. And although schools vary when it comes to how much weight they give it, data show that admissions officers are increasingly relying on this factor in making decisions.

A report put out by the National Association for College Admission Counseling found that the percentage of colleges rating demonstrated interest as a “considerably important factor” increased from 7 percent to 21 percent from 2003 to 2006. It’s held steady at about 20 percent since that time. In 2008, the last year data were available, that 20 percent made demonstrated interest more important than class rank and the interview.

Why would colleges value something as simple as a thank-you note so strongly? Kent Barnds is the VP of enrollment, communication and planning at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. He considers demonstrated interest important for two key reasons: yield and retention. “It’s clearly an efficiency if we can focus our attention on students that want to come here and are most likely to persist.”

Article - Zawel College Thank You Getty Images

Barnds and his committee rate all applicants on a demonstrated interest index. Admitted students that score the highest (“strong and sincere interest”) enroll at a rate of more than 60 percent. Meanwhile, admitted students rated on the low end of the index (“wondering why this student applied”) enroll at a rate of only 13 percent. Using the index helps Augustana more accurately forecast its enrollment numbers—balancing the number of offers it makes with its target class size.

“Demonstrated interest separates the contenders from the pretenders,” said one college counselor at a prep school in New York.

But the importance of demonstrated interest in admissions decisions does vary by college. “Demonstrated interest is not important to us, our yield just doesn’t make it necessary for us to take it into account,” said Tom Parker, the dean of admission and financial aid at Amherst. This is probably, he said, because highly competitive colleges have higher yields simply by nature of their competitiveness.

Even at a school that doesn't track interest like Amherst, however, Parker still recommended that applicants take the steps to do so. “You would be foolish not to,” he said.

“Demonstrated interest separates the contenders from the pretenders,” said Michael Acquilano, the assistant head of upper school and college counselor at Staten Island Academy, a prep school in New York. “Interviews, campus visits, attending regional receptions, meeting with college reps at fairs or high school counseling offices, electronic correspondence—all of these demonstrate interest.”

But students must strike a delicate balance. “Too much contact screams desperate; too little contact can sometimes be interpreted as though the student views the institution as a backup,” said Sara Shapiro Harberson, vice president for enrollment management and dean of admission at Franklin & Marshall.

Harberson cautioned that the interest must be genuine. “Reach out with a purpose of learning something meaningful about the academic program, student experience, or application process,” she said. “If you’re just showing interest for the sake of it, admission professionals see right through it.”

And admissions officers also warned that going overboard with interest could do more harm than good. “Do not camp out on the admissions office lawn or corner the admissions dean in the men’s or women’s room,” said Dan Lundquist, an educational consultant and former director of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania and Union College. “It happened to me!”

Five Tips for Demonstrating Interest

1. Take all opportunities to demonstrate interest

Visit the college, attend an information session, take a tour, conduct an interview, meet an admissions officer at a college fair or local presentation or participate in an online chat. You want to make every effort to show a sincere and serious interest in the school. Importantly, don’t forget to sign in whenever you can—even if you’re already on a mailing list—as colleges track attendance and interest at specific events.

2. Focus on demonstrating interest at the schools where it counts most

Recognize that some colleges consider demonstrated interest more important than others. Generally, Augustana College’s Barnds said that it is schools in the “magic middle”—those under pressure to nail down the right enrollment but also just selective enough that they don’t want to make unnecessary offers of admissions—that are the most likely to consider it.

3. Students should demonstrate interest—not parents

In many cases, parents today are just as involved (if not more involved) in the admissions process. But admissions deans are clear that only interest directly from a student is considered, which means that emails, calls, or letters from parents to the admissions office play no role in ultimate decisions.

4. Make interest undeniable and clear in your application

The most effective way to demonstrate interest, according to Franklin & Marshall’s Harberson, is by “putting in the very best effort in your application.” She encouraged applicants to add a statement in the essay or attach a separate note, indicating the school as a top choice. “State your interest and show it in the most important piece of your candidacy—the actual application.”

5. Don’t become a pest

“You want to express interest in a school, but you don’t want to go overboard,” said Risa Lewak, author of Don’t Stalk the Admissions Officer. “Even if you are the perfect candidate, you undermine your case by doing something that is construed as inappropriate or annoying.”

Related post: Rejection letter

Marc Zawel is the co-founder and CEO of EqualApp, an affordable online college admissions counseling program that provides lessons, application tools, community features and support services.

How to Write Less Badly

Michael C. Munger

Most academics, including administrators, spend much of our time writing. But we aren't as good at it as we should be. I have never understood why our trade values, but rarely teaches, nonfiction writing.

In my nearly 30 years at universities, I have seen a lot of very talented people fail because they couldn't, or didn't, write. And some much less talented people (I see one in the mirror every morning) have done OK because they learned how to write.

It starts in graduate school. There is a real transformation, approaching an inversion, as people switch from taking courses to writing. Many of the graduate students who were stars in the classroom during the first two years—the people everyone admired and looked up to—suddenly aren't so stellar anymore. And a few of the marginal students—the ones who didn't care that much about pleasing the professors by reading every page of every assignment—are suddenly sending their own papers off to journals, getting published, and transforming themselves into professional scholars.

The difference is not complicated. It's writing.

Rachel Toor and other writers on these pages have talked about how hard it is to write well, and of course that's true. Fortunately, the standards of writing in most disciplines are so low that you don't need to write well. What I have tried to produce below are 10 tips on scholarly nonfiction writing that might help people write less badly.

1. Writing is an exercise. You get better and faster with practice. If you were going to run a marathon a year from now, would you wait for months and then run 26 miles cold? No, you would build up slowly, running most days. You might start on the flats and work up to more demanding and difficult terrain. To become a writer, write. Don't wait for that book manuscript or that monster external-review report to work on your writing.

2. Set goals based on output, not input. "I will work for three hours" is a delusion; "I will type three double-spaced pages" is a goal. After you write three pages, do something else. Prepare for class, teach, go to meetings, whatever. If later in the day you feel like writing some more, great. But if you don't, then at least you wrote something.

3. Find a voice; don't just "get published." James Buchanan won a Nobel in economics in 1986. One of the questions he asks job candidates is: "What are you writing that will be read 10 years from now? What about 100 years from now?" Someone once asked me that question, and it is pretty intimidating. And embarrassing, because most of us don't think that way. We focus on "getting published" as if it had nothing to do with writing about ideas or arguments. Paradoxically, if all you are trying to do is "get published," you may not publish very much. It's easier to write when you're interested in what you're writing about.

4. Give yourself time. Many smart people tell themselves pathetic lies like, "I do my best work at the last minute." Look: It's not true. No one works better under pressure. Sure, you are a smart person. But if you are writing about a profound problem, why would you think that you can make an important contribution off the top of your head in the middle of the night just before the conference?

Writers sit at their desks for hours, wrestling with ideas. They ask questions, talk with other smart people over drinks or dinner, go on long walks. And then write a whole bunch more. Don't worry that what you write is not very good and isn't immediately usable. You get ideas when you write; you don't just write down ideas.

The articles and books that will be read decades from now were written by men and women sitting at a desk and forcing themselves to translate profound ideas into words and then to let those words lead them to even more ideas. Writing can be magic, if you give yourself time, because you can produce in the mind of some other person, distant from you in space or even time, an image of the ideas that exist in only your mind at this one instant.

5. Everyone's unwritten work is brilliant. And the more unwritten it is, the more brilliant it is. We have all met those glib, intimidating graduate students or faculty members. They are at their most dangerous holding a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other, in some bar or at an office party. They have all the answers. They can tell you just what they will write about, and how great it will be.

Years pass, and they still have the same pat, 200-word answer to "What are you working on?" It never changes, because they are not actually working on anything, except that one little act.

You, on the other hand, actually are working on something, and it keeps evolving. You don't like the section you just finished, and you are not sure what will happen next. When someone asks, "What are you working on?," you stumble, because it is hard to explain. The smug guy with the beer and the cigarette? He's a poseur and never actually writes anything. So he can practice his pat little answer endlessly, through hundreds of beers and thousands of cigarettes. Don't be fooled: You are the winner here. When you are actually writing, and working as hard as you should be if you want to succeed, you will feel inadequate, stupid, and tired. If you don't feel like that, then you aren't working hard enough.

6. Pick a puzzle. Portray, or even conceive, of your work as an answer to a puzzle. There are many interesting types of puzzles:

• "X and Y start with same assumptions but reach opposing conclusions. How?"
• "Here are three problems that all seem different. Surprisingly, all are the same problem, in disguise. I'll tell you why."
• "Theory predicts [something]. But we observe [something else]. Is the theory wrong, or is there some other factor we have left out?"

Don't stick too closely to those formulas, but they are helpful in presenting your work to an audience, whether that audience is composed of listeners at a lecture or readers of an article.

7. Write, then squeeze the other things in. Put your writing ahead of your other work. I happen to be a "morning person," so I write early in the day. Then I spend the rest of my day teaching, having meetings, or doing paperwork. You may be a "night person" or something in between. Just make sure you get in the habit of reserving your most productive time for writing. Don't do it as an afterthought or tell yourself you will write when you get a big block of time. Squeeze the other things in; the writing comes first.

8. Not all of your thoughts are profound. Many people get frustrated because they can't get an analytical purchase on the big questions that interest them. Then they don't write at all. So start small. The wonderful thing is that you may find that you have traveled quite a long way up a mountain, just by keeping your head down and putting one writing foot ahead of the other for a long time. It is hard to refine your questions, define your terms precisely, or know just how your argument will work until you have actually written it all down.

9. Your most profound thoughts are often wrong. Or, at least, they are not completely correct. Precision in asking your question, or posing your puzzle, will not come easily if the question is hard.

I always laugh to myself when new graduate students think they know what they want to work on and what they will write about for their dissertations. Nearly all of the best scholars are profoundly changed by their experiences in doing research and writing about it. They learn by doing, and sometimes what they learn is that they were wrong.

10. Edit your work, over and over. Have other people look at it. One of the great advantages of academe is that we are mostly all in this together, and we all know the terrors of that blinking cursor on a blank background. Exchange papers with peers or a mentor, and when you are sick of your own writing, reciprocate by reading their work. You need to get over a fear of criticism or rejection. Nobody's first drafts are good. The difference between a successful scholar and a failure need not be better writing. It is often more editing.

If you have trouble writing, then you just haven't written enough. Writing lots of pages has always been pretty easy for me. I could never get a job being only a writer, though, because I still don't write well. But by thinking about these tips, and trying to follow them myself, I have gotten to the point where I can make writing work for me and my career.

Michael C. Munger is chairman of political science at Duke University, a position he has held since 2000.

Rethinking Education in Pakistan - New and Expanded Education 2010

Dr. Shahid Siddiqui is one of those rare academics who dare to think outside the grooves pre-determined by the milieu of our educational system. He does this by combining impressive erudition with original ideas and analysis. I recommend his work to all those who want to understand what is new in teacher education and applied linguistics in Pakistan.

Dr Tariq Rahman

National Distinguished Professor, Quaid e Azam University Islamabad

Two central themes underlie Professor Siddiqui's latest, highly insightful book. His wide-ranging analysis goes beyond the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ to probe more deeply into the many ‘whys’ of education in Pakistan today. Further, he maintains a clear focus on the central role the informed classroom teacher can play as a powerful, and often neglected, front’line change agent in education. ‘Rethinking Education in Pakistan' fills a glaring void which educators at all levels will find compelling.

Alan E. Wheeler, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus, Brock University Canada

Dr Siddiqui in his book, Rethinking Education in Pakistan, emerges as a spokesperson for the learning community. He uses relevant metaphors to reinterpret education phenomenon in the wake of increasing demands of today’s complex world, especially, globalization, free marketing, pluralism, and advanced technology.

Dr Muhammad Memon

Director, IED,The Aga Khan University Karachi

Rethinking Education in Pakistan, has presented novel perspectives in education.

The Nation

The writer has been successful in debunking myths surrounding the theory and practice of public education.

The Dawn

Related: Imparting Education

Higher education becomes a globally traded commodity

By John Morgan

A worldwide trend of falling state investment and rising tuition fees will prompt intense competition in the "globally traded commodity" of higher education - and the sector must also prepare for the global advance of private providers.

Those were the messages from two presentations at the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) annual conference, which took place last week.

John Hudzik, former vice-president for global engagement and strategic projects at Michigan State University, said there was evidence to suggest that the economic crisis had not damaged global student mobility - but that funding provided by students through tuition fees is changing higher education.

"Private funding is increasingly a factor in shaping the flow of students around the world," he told an audience at the University of York.

Professor Hudzik, a former president of Nafsa: Association of International Educators, which promotes the exchange of scholars and students to and from the US, cited figures showing that tuition fees now constitute 51 per cent of operating income for US public research universities, up from 38 per cent in 2002.

With economic growth in developing countries creating a larger middle class, Professor Hudzik forecast continuing rapid increase in global demand for higher education.

"The fact of the matter is that there are not enough public funds in the global system to support the growth that is going to take place in higher education," he said. "It is going to have to be filled in by private funding."

That trend means that institutions will have to cope with "a more cost-conscious consumer" and "a more demanding consumer", Professor Hudzik said.

In turn, this will drive universities to compete more fiercely for the best academics and postgraduates, and to offer students the best "product" and the best prices.

"Any other commodity that has become globally traded has improved in quality and decreased in price," Professor Hudzik said. He went on to suggest that the sector would have to "figure out how to cut costs".

He predicted increased movement in students between non-Western countries, pointing out that China now attracts more students from overseas than it sends out to other countries.

Answering questions from the audience, Professor Hudzik outlined the disadvantages of the trend towards private funding. "I've always thought that a strength of the US was its commitment to accessible and free public education. But we aren't there any more."

Tony Adams, an international education consultant and former pro vice-chancellor for international at Macquarie University in Australia, told the conference: "There is almost no industry that has survived the global downturn as higher education has. That means there are boardrooms around the world saying, 'Where can we put our money so it can survive the next crisis and we can continue to grow?' What we are about to see is a huge private investment into international higher education."

In many fast-growing economies, he argued, "capacity issues of universities will be overcome by private universities entering the market and taking over from the public sector".

It's all About Luv, lol

UR DA COOLEST AUNTY EVER...!!!! XOXOXOX LUV TONIX." Can you feel the love in that comment? If Richard Curtis had wanted the prime minister character from his film Love Actually to feel that love was all around, he could have visited MySpace rather than think of Heathrow Airport's arrivals lounge.

Read at Guardian

The Value of Accreditation

Accreditation in the United States is a means to assure and improve higher education quality, assisting institutions and programs using a set of standards developed by peers. An institution or program that has successfully completed an accreditation review has in place the needed instructional, student support and other services to assist students to achieve their educational goals. Accreditation has helped to provide the conditions necessary for the United States to develop diverse, flexible, robust and often admired higher education.

Accreditation is a both a process and a status. It is the process of reviewing colleges, universities, institutions and programs to judge their educational quality – how well they serve students and society. The result of the process, if successful, is the award of “accredited status.”

Accreditation is carried out through nongovernmental organizations created in whole or in part by the higher education community. Some accrediting organizations review colleges and universities. Others review specific programs, e.g., law, medicine, engineering. In a number of fields, especially the health professions, graduation from an accredited program is a requirement for receiving a license to practice. At present, 80 recognized organizations accredit more than 7,000 institutions and 19,000 programs serving more than 24 million students.*

All accrediting organizations create and use specific standards both to assure that institutions and programs meet threshold expectations of quality and to assure that they improve over time. These standards address key areas such as faculty, student support services, finance and facilities, curricula and student learning outcomes.

All accrediting organizations use common practices, including a self review by the institution or program against the standards, an on-site visit by an evaluation team of peer experts and a subsequent review and decision by the accrediting body about accredited status. This review is repeated every three to ten years if the institution or program is to sustain its accreditation.

[Council for Higher Education Accreditation, 2008.2]

Plagiarism, Prove it!

This article appeared in daily the Nation June 20, 2010 issue

"If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism - if you steal from two, it's research," writes American screen writer Wilson Mizner

Broadly speaking, plagiarism as per the popular literature on the subject refers to use of another's work without giving credit. This dangerous trend is not new but advent of the Internet has facilitated the speed and methods used.

It is a chronic problem that has been greatly facilitated by the resources rich Internet. Students (mostly those who are not Internet savvy), who plagiarize, do it old fashion way here -- finding some relevant article printed somewhere and getting it typed. In case one article does not cover all dimensions of the topic, a wary student may get some old book on the subject (perceiving that the teacher might not have read it), mark apparently relevant paragraphs and give it to the typist to prepare the assignment. The source material is commonly known among students' fraternity as chappa or nuskha. Some may proof read the typed paper, correct mistakes and clear irrelevant references in the text while some other may not take the trouble of reading "their work".

Clearly, plagiarism is far easier for those who are familiar with the Internet and spend some time online. While plagiary attempts like brazenly copying whole article verbatim from the Internet and giving it to the teachers as one's own work is easy for students but it is out rightly insulting to the capabilities and sense of responsibility of teachers, and rude. So cautious students take two or three relevant articles from the Internet and syntheses them in a way that it looks, at least apparently, like a different work altogether, even though they do not add any thing new in it. But what some students are found doing is this: "searching an article written on the subject and using it as a "template" and working on it, changing the words using thesaurus, paraphrasing, removing advances and unfamiliar adjectives and jargons, adding local context and flavour in the process," says Mohsin Aziz, a management teacher at Allama Iqbal Open University Centre who has to assess lot of written work because most of the students' course work in open university is in the form of written reports, "It is time consuming but fairly secure." That is what makes it hard for technology to detect.

Depending upon how much efforts any one has put in to camouflage the purloined work, a few clicks should yield result. Tracking simple plagiarism on the Internet does not require any special skill. Any one who can log on and use one of those efficient search engines can find out if the text has been taken straight from the Internet. Put some keywords and unique phrases, in quotes preferably, and hit Go. A clever quote may even lead to the whole article.

The very technologies that make such plagiarism so simple, tempting, and seductive can also be used to nail the perpetrators. A quick search reveals that there are a lot of plagiarism detection sites and software solutions claiming to help teachers to detect; go to Google directory for a comprehensive list. (Search also exposes sources that pride in selling written papers or writing as per the specific requirement.) The effectiveness of any detection service or software depends on their being able to identify the text from the indexed material like most search engines. Even if the material has been copied from the Internet source and the detection sites have not indexed that, it will not be traced.

So what teachers can and should do while assessing the class assignments and research papers? Let us enumerate some factors before attempting to answer this question: first, adequate local contents on any subject are not yet available on the Internet, though a lot is available in print form. Second, the educational institutions are not taking this trend seriously; they leave it to the teachers to handle. Where as no teachers, who were contacted for this piece, denied plagiarism practice among students, but no one confirmed the presence of any official institutional policy on the chronic issue or the use of any detection service or software in Pakistan. Surprisingly some senior teachers even hesitated while giving their views on the subject. Third, students have more computers and the Internet know-how as compared to the teachers and not many teachers encourage their students to deposit the written work on diskettes or via email. Most prefer a hard copy, for record sack if nothing else.

I am reminded of what my teacher Ghulam Muhammad used to say, "No body can stop students from doing what they want to do. Teaches (and parents) can only make them understand the difference between right and wrong, good and bad. (This axiom also holds good for ongoing governments' efforts to ban porno sites). First and foremost thing to fight this plagiarism is to let students know about the moral, ethical and intellectual as well as legal aspects of plagiarism and its impact on their life and studies in the long run. Presently, one finds that this subject is not talked about unless.

The other important thing teachers can do is to give specific and contextual topics for written exercises and monitor the progress stepwise as the students write. Dr. Yahya Bakhtiar, Sociologist, says, "I stress upon the process rather than the product. I discuss the topic of their own choice and interest with students, ask for detailed synopses, and lead them to write a report that they should be ready to present in the class and defend if required. Knowing my students, their language skills and vocabulary, I can precisely make out if any of my students use outside help. Any teacher can make out. And for that it is not necessary that teacher may have had come across the stuff earlier." Another teacher says, "We in our department ask students to produce hand written reports." Personally, I do not subscribe to the idea of getting hand written reports and denying the students facilities of efficient word processing. The argument that "They (students) lean something while writing in their own hand even if they copy from somewhere" does not hold ground.

Plagiarism in the first place defeats the fundamental objective of the exercise of the written assignment. "Spending time and efforts in such unhealthy pursuit is unproductive and wear down educational standards in educational institutions. The practice impairs the plagiarists to think logically, construct own arguments, and draw inferences " says Muhammad Wasif, "They can produce better results if they spend the same time and energies creatively and let their own analytical faculties work. They should learn to use others' work to substantiate own points of view giving them due credit."

The unproductive tug of war can go on and on. Unless, perhaps, both teachers and students arrive at a point where teachers can trust students and students guard the trust, but students have to earn the trust first. [This article also appeared in GCU Magazine Ravi]

Related: Plagiarism Checkers, Blog confidential: Parasitical patriarch

Silly Bandz Bracelets Are Now Contraband in Schools

Silly Bandz are no longer welcome in the classroom. In fact, schools in New York and in several other states have banned the rubber-band-like bracelets encircling the forearms of children across the country because they're too distracting, according to a Time magazine article.

Kids swap the colorful bracelets, which come shaped like zoo animals, farm animals and dinosaurs, among others. They also fiddle with them, carry them around in little plastic bags, hang them over bed posts and toss them at one other. And when enterprising young traders get miffed over a deal - say they want back the mermaid they traded for the pig - verbal scuffles can ensue.

"It’s a distraction," fourth-grade teacher Jill Wolborsky told Time. She'd already forbidden students to bring them into her classroom by the time the principal announced a schoolwide ban.

The Silly Bandz fad has taken hold of kids as young as 4 and as old as 18. Made by BCP Imports LLC in Toledo, Ohio, they seem like the perfect recession-era toy because they’re so cheap. A pack of 24 sells for $5.

The craze has been a boon to the manufacturer, which has had to increase its workforce from 20 to 200. In the last week alone, BCP added 22 extra phone lines to keep up with the orders, according to Time.

Some of the Silly Bandz are more coveted than others. The phoenix is considered the most desirable by many kids, followed by the dollar sign, dragon and gecko.

The inspiration for the Bandz came to Robert Croak, BCP president, three years ago at a product show in China when he saw a cute rubber band that had been invented by a Japanese artist there. The bracelets have been around for about two years but they’ve really taken off in the last year.

They may have been expelled from schools, but Silly Bandz may soon be larger than life. Macy's may add a Silly Bandz float to its Thanksgiving Day parade this year. [Via]

Geography Comes to Life

Introduced in the fall of 2007 and based on the National Geographic Atlas, 8th edition, the Giant Traveling Map of Asia is our largest map. The map’s unique projection, in which the North Pole appears on the map, invites discussion about how the direction of North appears to change depending on your location on the map. The map also features measurements of latitude and longitude, and is an effective tool for teaching how to find a location using coordinates. Students can explore the continent using this educationally powerful and fun map.

How Schools Shape Your Paths

In middle school, Ivan and Laura shared a brief romance and a knack for trouble. Then they parted ways. Now he is college-bound and she isn't. How different schools shaped their paths. Read here.

The University of Gujrat Convocation

The First Convocation of the University of Gujrat was held at Hafiz Hayat Campus on May 27, 2010. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilini conferred degrees awards to graduarting students of BS (Hons) and MA / MSc from 2006 to 2009 academic sessions. The Prime Minister Yousaf Raza emphasized upon the role of studies in the development of nations and stressed upon students that they should make good use of knowledge they have gained during their academic career and relate that knowledge to ground during practical life. On the occasion the Prime Minister announced special grant of 100 million - 50 million for building UOG auditorium and 50 million for promotion of higher studies of UOG graduates. The Prime Minister also announced a piece of land comprising 1000 Kanals on behalf of his Special Advisor Nawabzada Ghazanfar Gull for establishing the UOG Veterinary College.

Earlier, Prof Dr Mohammad Nizamuddin, the Vice Chancellor welcomed the Prime Minister and other distinguished guests on visiting the University of Gujrat. While addressing the gathering, the VC explained different features of the academic activities at the campus. He said that objective of the UOG is to introduce subjects that offer better job prospects to the students. He highlighted the usefulness of facilities necessary for effective and uninterrupted learning.

In addition to Federal Education Minister Sardar Asif Ahemd Ali, Federal Defense Minister Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar, Federal Information Minister Qammar Zaman Kaira, Federal Minister for Population Welfare Firdous Ashiq Awan, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali Gul, Senior Minister Punjab Raja Riaz Ahmed and the Governor Punjab Salman Taseer, the convocation was attended by large number of students, alumni and academics.

Adhe Adhoore Khawab

Second edition of Shahid Siddiqui’s Adhe Adhoore Khawab is coming out by the end of this month. The book is creating waves among those who have interest in reading about teaching and learning, education, politics, poetics, literature, and aesthetics. Have you read the book?

Digital Divide

This article appeared in daily the Nation May 2, 2010 issue

The advent of computers and the Internet has changed the learning process. Most students have integrated computer and collaborative web technologies in their life and are benefiting. It is in this milieu that one can have a look at the physical employment of computers and IT infrastructure for delivery of education in classrooms, laboratories, and libraries in Pakistan at public and private sectors learning centers.

Most public sector universities and business schools still lag behind in deployment of IT. Reason: Economically, Pakistan is yet not very strong. Hence, graduates of many public sector universities cannot compete with those who have an opportunity to study in good private sector universities. While much progress has been made in making computers and the Internet available to educational institutions in the past few years, nowhere computer student ratio is seen to meet student's ever growing IT needs. There have been hardly any concentrated efforts to prepare students to take advantage of IT and other resources that have been made available by the Internet and the World Wide Web.

Workstations equipped with computers, CD-ROM players, modems, and phone or cable line, as well as output devices such as printers, to gather information, analyze, organize, and understand information, and present it clearly and effectively are playing important role in learning process everywhere including reputed private sector universities in Pakistan.

Imagine an educational institution having classrooms equipped with multimedia, sound systems and projectors to deliver presentations, multipurpose computer labs where teachers illustrate and simulate observable facts. "I bring my assignments and presentations in pin drive and transfer the assignment on the computer of the teachers. Or I attach the removable drive with computer in the class and multimedia software does rest of the job for me. And at times, I put all my assignment online at my blog where it is graded by out teacher and also seen my fellow students," says Mahaisa Tahawar, a student in Lahore School of Economics.

On the other hand, lack of computing facilities in public sector educational institutions is a serious problem in this digital age. Those students who cannot make appropriate use of computers, the Internet and the Web in learning have trouble keeping up with advancements in their chosen specialties and staying ahead what to talk of many other related areas. It becomes difficult for them to get necessary stimulation and motivation to prepare for real world where employers these days have started looking for graduates who can get along well in global marketplace. Only information technologies can help bridge the gap between the worlds of education and work even in local job market.

There are full compliments of computing facilities, including educational software and subscriptions to some of the online research achieve services like JSTOR (Journal STORage) in purposely designed workstations for syndicate as well as individual work in computer laboratories and workstations in quiet study zones of libraries. There are dedicated networks with own connectivity; own bandwidth. What is more, students bring their own laptops and have the facility to connect and work.

Of course, the extent of the actual change, due to the use of IT and the degree to which the more progressive higher education enterprises have adapted to these changes, are quite impossible to predict in the longer run but in the short run they have already earned the reputation and pride in good reception for their graduates in corporate sector and in multinational concerns. Students in technology-supported institutions are confident and rely more and more on their own initiative for knowledge exploration. IT enables them to manipulate information in a way that steps up both understanding and the progression of higher order thinking skills and logical aptitude. Student's horizon broadens as they gather more real-world data and share their findings beyond their own institutions.

Where one may see all this type of services in Pakistan? So far in some private sector universities and business schools that can be counted on fingers of one hand.

May be one day, policy makers will think of bridging the wide digital gaps. Creating national educational grid and connecting public as well as private sector universities and higher educational institutions to the grid and provide online information and support to students, teachers and support and management staff equally can be a starting point. But first, all learning institutions have to have physical infrastructure they need to get wired up to the any such central grid. This has not started happing still!

When it comes to accumulation of knowledge on the World Wide Web and presenting it to users in a friendly manner, "SciTech Daily" and "Art & Letter Daily" are the two Websites that cover almost everything that is being writing on wide variety of subjects. Both the sites are very useful for students who want to broaden their intellectual horizon.

For news, analysis, and opinion on science and technology issues, SciTech Daily (http://www.scitechdaily.com/) is a very helpful starting place. Updated 6 days a week, it keeps around 60 items on its home page before scrolling them off the bottom. The page is arranged in three columns: "Features and Background", "Books and Media", and "Analysis and Opinion". In addition, they have a link to an archive of each column.

The format for their items is a short and brisk – usually one or two sentences picked up from the story -- and a link pointing directly to the original source. Site search feature is also there. Though lack in aesthetics (it looks old fashioned), this site does not waste time. In addition to the meat of their content, they have handy link columns pointing to: "Breaking News", "Sci/Tech Publications", "Useful Media", and "Interesting Sites". They keep these lists small – some 20 to 30 links -- and the quality high. You can subscribe to an alert that brings the updates of your interests direct in your inbox.

Sister site, Arts & Letters Daily (http://www.artsandlettersdaily.com/) is also a fascinating clearinghouse of links to some of the best articles on the Web, with a strong bias toward the humanities. This too is updated six times a week in three main categories --Articles of Note, New Books, and Essays and Opinion -- the site is a good collection of great reads across an impressive range of subjects and points of view.

The content makes both SciTech Daily and Arts & Letters Daily unique in the history of knowledge that only the Web could have spawned - economical, fast, smart and full of surprises. Thought these are only a compilation and achieving but after first few online visits, one realizes that putting them together involves imagination, energy, critical judgment and intense curiosity. Visit both the sites and find subject of interest there.

Scholarships and Fellowships

- Undergraduate: freshmen and transfer scholarships at Felician College
- Undergraduate: $3,000-$15,000 scholarships for international students at Lake Forest College
- Postdoctoral Fellowship: University of Denver Media Studies

Development Challenges in the New Decade - April 23, 2010

Related: Development Challenges in the New Decade, Development Challenges in the New Decade - April 22, 2010

Development Challenges in the New Decade - April 22, 2010

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