Although there has been a proliferation of private sector initiatives in the area of education and health and there must be some other first rate institutions about which I do not know much there are at least five entities that have attracted attention in the recent years.

    These institutions, in order of their longevity, are the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi; the Agha Khan Medical University Karachi, the HEJ Institute of Chemistry, Karachi; the Lahore University of Management Science Lahore and the GIK Institute at Toppi.

     In a country full of mediocre, sub-standard or failing institutions these five have emerged as islands of excellence.  Several questions naturally arise.  Why have these institutions distinguished themselves from others?  What are the common threads that characterize them?  What are the lessons that can be learnt from their examples?  Can't such institutions be replicated in the public sector?  Aren't these institutions promoting more elitism by catering to the needs of the rich and well-to-do and by-passing the poor?

     This article attempts to provide some answers to these questions based on my limited impressions.  There may be other cogent or differing views which I haven't covered ant it would be extremely helpful if such views are articulated so that we can have a meaningful public discourse.  What are the distinguishing characteristics of these five?  These institutions have set up high standards of performance by insisting upon admission of the best and the brightest on pure merit.  Admissions are not made solely on the basis of the academic results but on a combination of academic achievements and the performance on objective, standardized tests that are found to be closely correlated with evidence of high potential and right aptitude.  Second, the faculty in every single case consists of highly qualified but equally dedicated individuals who have a deep sense of professional commitment and a value system that is alien from that prevailing in the country.  Third, the reward and incentive structure is such that the faculty members are paid well, not on the basis of the qualifications and skills acquired in the past but on continuous monitoring of their current performance and contribution.  Finally, the job market attests to the value of the graduates coming out of these institutions.  They are hired at above average salaries by employers of repute in the private sector.

     What are the common threads running across these institutions?  The financial viability has been assured in every case through a mixture of endowments, cost recovery and substantial private gifts and donations.  The tuition fees are market-based but are lower than those charged by some of the second rate and third rate US and UK institutions which were the popular alternative choice so far.  The students pay much less but get much better education.  As the students pay significant amounts in form of tuition, they want to make sure that the teachers provide quality instructions and prepare them for remunerative jobs in a growing competitive environment.  This imposes discipline in the institution, a consideration for the value of the money, and a responsive behavior on the part of the faculty and management.  Lowering of teaching standards or laxity in the quality would drive down the enrollment and thus deprive the teachers of the attractive salaries they earn.  This reinforces the behavior towards maintaining reputation of the institution and continuously upgrading the instructional material, facilities and keeping abreast of professional literature.

     What are the lessons that can be learnt from these examples?  Most public Universities in Pakistan have a good but stagnant reservoir of qualified and talented faculty.  Just like stagnant pools of water this reservoir has also become the breeding ground of many ills--neglect of duty and obligations, little incentive to keep up with professional norms or to carry out any research, indulgence in petty politics and factionalism, etc.  The insiders do not allow the young, bright, energetic scholars to join the faculty as they feel threatened.  There are fewer opportunities today for the junior faculty to receive higher education at top universities abroad.  The self-financing schemes initiated by a number of Universities was a good way out to use the existing faculty and facilities more efficiently, to improve their financial health and raise the standards of instruction.  The recent government actions banning these schemes are unfortunately, ill advised.  There is, of course, a need to modify and strengthen the self-financing schemes by linking these to improved quality and greater attention to excellence but the idea of scrapping them altogether is not very sound.

    Why can't these institutions be replicated in the public sector?  Both IBA, Karachi and HEJ Institute of Chemistry are pubic sector bodies but they enjoy a great deal of autonomy and financial independence.  The recent decision to make Government College, Lahore completely autonomous is also a step in the right direction.  But for the public sector institutions to perform efficiently and at par with the above noted institutions a number of steps have to be taken.  Political interference in the appointments, recruitment, promotion and exit of teachers will have to be done away with.  Purging of teachers who do not measure up to the professional standards of diligence and competence will have to be undertaken.  Admissions should take place on  pure merit.  Teachers will have to be paid the market price but their performance evaluated continuously and managerial actions taken to reward or penalize on that basis.  Only persons of outstanding professional achievements, managerial competence and high integrity should be invited to head our institutions.  Why can't we have more people of the caliber of the Principals of Government College Lahore of the early days?  I vividly recall that Allama I.I. Kazi as the Vice Chancellor Sind University had refused to call on any Minister, Chief Minister, Secretary.  But he still commanded enormous respect.  Lastly, financing options have to be expanded and tuition fees raised to recover a significant fraction of costs.  Exclusive reliance on the budgetary support from the Government is a recipe for mediocrity.

     Does this approach lead to more inequities and polarization.  It is feared that students from well-to-do socio-economic background will derive all the benefits and those from disadvantaged families will either be deprived of quality education as they won't be able to afford these institutions or they will be relegated to attend the low quality public universities?  These fears are ill-founded.  Any qualified student will be eligible to attend any institution of his or her choice - public or private - irrespective of financial status.  An admission policy based on pure merit and blind to the financial needs of the students should be cornerstone of higher education policy.  This has two advantages.  First, the government that pays huge across-the-board subsidies for higher education will have to target these subsidies on the needy and deserving - those coming from the poor and disadvantaged families - in form of scholarship, stipends, tuition waivers, partial financial assistance.  If persons of high integrity are chosen as heads of these institutions we can be sure there will be no favoritism, nepotism or corruption and only deserving, genuinely poor students will get the financial awards.  Second, the students from well-to-do families who can afford to pay full cost and are bearing no financial burden under the present system will be required to pay their due contribution and ease the pressure on government finances.

     Many good institutions have been set up in the past with a big bang e.g., to Quaide-Azam University at Islamabad.  But they have fallen victims to the forces of inertia, indifference and indulgence.  Very few have survived over a longer period of time and maintained uniformly high standards.

     The Indian Institutes of Management and the Indian Institutes of Technology estabished several decades ago are now placed in the same league as the First rate Universities in the West.  We have made a late start  but the challenge is to ensure that these select institutions in Pakistan also acquire world-class reputation by dint of hard work, continuous upgrading of skills, keeping abreast of the knowledge in their respective fields and producing first rate output.