KARACHI - Director Pakistan Study Center of Karachi University (KU) Prof Dr Jaffar Ahmed said on Thursday that HEC was not giving adequate attention to social sciences.

Addressing the one-day national conference on ‘History and Universities’ at Arts Auditorium of KU, organised by KU’s Pakistan Study Center in collaboration with Tareekh Publications Lahore, he said,

“There are around 178 universities in Pakistan. Schools education is deteriorating, but new varsities are being formed which is our dilemma,” he said, and added, “If the quality of education in schools and colleges is not improved, the quality of education in a varsity cannot be ensured.”

He added that Social Sciences not only identified societal issues but also proposed their solutions.

“Only 15 varsities in the country, out of 178, teach major social sciences subjects,” he informed.

Prof Dr Tauseef Ahmed Khan said that education had never been the main priority for the government. “No varsity was there in Karachi at the time of independence, Karachi University came into being after the teachers and students movement demanding a varsity in the then capital of the country at that time,” he added.

“The first students union elections in KU were held in 1962, while in 1973 students and teachers were given representation in the Syndicate, academic council and major decision making bodies,” he said, and added, “Before that the Vice Chancellor had dictatorial powers in the varsity matters. KUTS played a pivotal role in the uplift of teachers of the city.”

Dean Social Sciences SZABIST Dr Riaz Sheikh said that Berlin University was founded in 1811, which became benchmark for academic freedom that gave freedom to teach and learn.

“Eminent scientists and scholars like Einstein, Max Plank, Hegal and Karl Marx studied at the university,” he said, and added, “After the World War 2, restrictions on academic freedom were imposed. The US government terminated Prof Churchill of Columbia University for criticising the US policies and questioning the 9/11 incident.”

He added similarly China jailed many scholars, including Rector of Pecking University for criticising government decisions. “India is facing a great wave of religious extremism and intolerance.

Dr Irfan Aziz said that 120 million people watched television daily and 25 million people used social media, while 100,000 people were directly employed in media industry.

“Our educational institutions are not providing adequate media studies to the students. That’s why the industry is filled with people, having no sense of journalistic ethics and technical knowledge,” Aziz remarked.

He said that media influenced social and personal lives of the citizens of a certain country.

Renowned historian Dr Mubarak Ali, in his presidential address, lamented that universities were not producing academically sound and knowledgeable students.

He added that social scientists were responsible for identifying social problems and proposing their solutions. “The government must include social science experts in the policy making process,” Mubarak said, and added, “History is no more a traditional subject; it’s now a revolutionary subject. “Private universities are out of reach of the middle class of our country.”

Muqtada Mansoor said that first local government in the subcontinent had been formed in 1680. “In the beginning of 20th century, there were 145 colleges and five universities in the subcontinent which rose to 486 colleges and 21 universities at the time of independence. Muslim educational system was commendable before the arrival of the East India Company in the subcontinent,” he recalled.