OPINION: The nexus between research and teaching
By Rameez MAHESAR
Some days ago, I discovered by chance an Urdu article of Waseem Khattak entitled “Asaatza kay tahqeeqi maqalay taleem ko tabah kar rahy hen”, which in English means “research papers of the teachers are destroying education”. Before going deep into what he has focused on in his article, it is indispensable to inquire from ourselves if what the author tries to extrapolate is true. Though the response towards this inquiry would largely come as “yes”, some may negate the statement made by the author.
The extant education system of Pakistan is based on two pillars i.e. research and teaching. In the days of yore, education was erected on only one pillar i.e. teaching. But in recent years, the research culture has been given a prime place in the education system. The education sector is now walking on its two legs. But the question is what if one of these two legs gets ruptured on the spur of the moment?
For sure, a lame system of education cannot benefit the country. For the last couple of years, the trend to pursue higher education—MPhil and Ph.D.—has largely been introduced with the purposes of pursuing research and securing jobs. Research publications in this connection have become a prerequisite for teachers to get hired cum promoted to higher ranks. Because of job promotion, teachers have imbibed the research sprint. They have abandoned teaching for the production of more publications just for the sake of job promotion.
They all are busy now to produce papers and running after their publications as well. The level of erudition is not being gauged through teaching but rather through the number of research publications. Thus, one pillar (teaching) has shortened, and while the other (research) has enlarged. This imbalance, thus, has weakened the system of education. The teaching trend is going downhill but the research trend is going through the ceiling but behind the curve —almost exactly.
Why should we not treat both trends equally to improve education? These days, most of the teachers accustomed to research, are not good at teaching and vice versa. When they come to take the classes of students, they are asked critical questions on account of which they beat about the bush!
Now, let’s look closely at the things which the author has discussed in his article. At the onset, he regrets a situation in which someone goes for any interview for a job and the first question he is asked is if he has publications in some high-impact journals or any of HEC-recognized research journals. If his response to that question is “no”, he would be looked at in a way which would surely send him out. Is this not a serious matter to be looked into?
Another problem with academia is that researches are being largely done but these are neither bringing the panaceas for problems nor any progress in the universities. Even in the natural sciences, most of the researches are of the blue-sky type. Institutes today are being introduced rapidly all across the country but we do not have the real teachers who can impart knowledge rightly.
Just putting people in the institutes to teach is not as critical as scrutinizing them in order to establish if they can teach. The only solution is to treat both pillars equally for the betterment of the education system of Pakistan. Teachers must be schooled in both research and teaching so that they may perform better in the education sector.
Mahesar is a member of the Editorial Board for a Russian research journal, Bulletin of Science and Practice. He can be contacted at rameezalimahesar@gmail.com
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