# **Detailed SUMMARY of the Article "Education Meltdown," by Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, Dawn, February 14th, 2025**: The article critiques the deteriorating state of Pakistan’s public universities, attributing the crisis to neoliberal policies and government neglect. Public universities, which were established to provide affordable higher education, are now on the verge of collapse. The majority of students in these institutions are self-financing, paying exorbitant fees (up to Rs150,000 per semester), while access to basic amenities like hostels, internet, and quality food is severely lacking. The quality of education has declined due to financial incentives for faculty publications, leading to rampant plagiarism and reliance on visiting faculty rather than permanent staff. Graduates from even the best public universities face bleak employment prospects, with thousands competing for limited government jobs and private sector employers favoring graduates from private institutions. Faculty members, including visiting lecturers, often go unpaid for months, leading to widespread protests. In Sindh, faculty are opposing a new management structure that prioritizes bureaucrats over academic considerations. The article highlights a broader policy shift where the state has abandoned its responsibility to provide quality, affordable education. Funding for public universities has significantly decreased, and international lending agencies are reportedly pressuring the government to further cut funding, pushing universities to rely on fee-paying students and treat university land as real estate. This neoliberal approach, which advocates privatization or corporatization of public institutions, undermines the fundamental purpose of public service. The author warns of the long-term implications of this meltdown, particularly for Pakistan’s young population (median age 23), who are being sold empty dreams of a knowledge economy without any real plan for employment or quality education. The article concludes that this crisis reflects the larger failures of public policy in Pakistan, where grandiose rhetoric masks the reality of systemic neglect and exploitation. # **Easy/Short SUMMARY**: Pakistan’s public universities are collapsing due to government neglect and neoliberal policies. Most students now pay high fees, while basic amenities and education quality decline. Graduates struggle to find jobs, and faculty face unpaid salaries. The government is cutting funding, pushing universities to rely on fees and sell land. This crisis reflects broader failures in public policy, leaving young people with empty promises of a knowledge economy. # **SOLUTIONS of The Problem**: ## **1. Increase Government Funding** Restore and increase funding for public universities to ensure affordable, quality education. ## **2. Improve Infrastructure** Invest in basic amenities like hostels, internet, and utilities to enhance the student experience. ## **3. Address Faculty Issues** Ensure timely payment of salaries and prioritize hiring permanent faculty over visiting lecturers. ## **4. Combat Plagiarism** Strengthen academic integrity by implementing strict anti-plagiarism measures and promoting original research. ## **5. Enhance Employment Opportunities** Collaborate with industries to create job opportunities for graduates and align curricula with market needs. ## **6. Reject Neoliberal Policies** Resist pressure to privatize or corporatize public universities, preserving their role as institutions of public service. ## **7. Promote Academic Leadership** Appoint qualified academics as vice chancellors, prioritizing educational quality over bureaucratic control. ## **8. Support Research and Innovation** Provide grants and incentives for meaningful research and innovation in public universities. ## **9. Ensure Transparency** Implement transparent management practices to prevent corruption and mismanagement of university resources. ## **10. Engage Stakeholders** Involve students, faculty, and alumni in decision-making processes to address their concerns and improve governance. # **IMPORTANT Facts and Figures Given in the Article**: - Self-financing students in public universities pay up to **Rs150,000 per semester**. - Many students lack access to basic amenities like hostels, internet, and quality food. - Plagiarism is rampant due to financial incentives for faculty publications. - Faculty members, including visiting lecturers, often go unpaid for months. - The median age of Pakistan’s population is **23 years**. # **IMPORTANT Facts and Figures out of the Article**: - Pakistan’s higher education budget has been consistently reduced in recent years. - Private universities are expanding rapidly, but their graduates also face employment challenges. - International lending agencies are pressuring the government to cut funding for public universities. # **MCQs from the Article**: ### 1. **What is the primary cause of the crisis in Pakistan’s public universities?** A. Lack of student interest **B. Government neglect and neoliberal policies** C. Overcrowding in universities D. High faculty salaries ### 2. **How much do self-financing students pay per semester in public universities?** A. Rs50,000 B. Rs100,000 **C. Rs150,000** D. Rs200,000 ### 3. **What is a major issue faced by faculty in public universities?** A. Excessive workload **B. Unpaid salaries** C. Lack of research opportunities D. Overqualification ### 4. **What is the median age of Pakistan’s population?** A. 20 years B. 21 years **C. 23 years** D. 25 years ### 5. **What is the long-term implication of the education meltdown, according to the article?** A. Increased government funding **B. Empty dreams of a knowledge economy** C. Expansion of private universities D. Improved employment opportunities # **VOCABULARY**: 1. **Diabolical** (adjective) (شیطانی): Extremely bad or unpleasant. 2. **Pontificate** (verb) (وعظ کرنا): To speak in a pompous or dogmatic manner. 3. **Plummeted** (verb) (گرنا): To fall or drop suddenly. 4. **Endemic** (adjective) (مقامی): Regularly found in a particular area or among a specific group. 5. **Outlandish** (adjective) (عجیب): Strange or unfamiliar in appearance or style. 6. **Insidious** (adjective) (خطرناک): Proceeding in a gradual, subtle way but with harmful effects. 7. **Renege** (verb) (وعدہ توڑنا): To go back on a promise or commitment. 8. **Neoliberalisation** (noun) (نئے لبرلائزیشن): The adoption of free-market policies and reduction of state intervention. 9. **Metamorphoses** (verb) (تبدیلی): To undergo a transformation. 10. **Microcosm** (noun) (چھوٹا نمونہ): A small-scale representation of something larger. --- 📢 **Attention Please!** We appreciate your commitment to acquiring knowledge through our summaries. Please acknowledge the source and effort by not removing the attribution label. Unauthorized distribution is discouraged. ⚡ **Explore More Summaries, Solutions, and Vocabulary!** 🔗 [Dawn Article Summaries](https://cssmcqs.com/dawn-editorials-articles-summary-for-students-pdf-download/) *WhatsApp Channel Link*: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va7tT3o35fLnJeFbpS2y dawn.com Education meltdown Aasim Sajjad Akhtar 5–6 minutes THE self-proclaimed experts would have you believe that the present hybrid regime has overseen a turnaround in the country’s dire economic situation. They tell us that inflation is down to single digits (hardly any relief for the working masses); default has been averted (via numerous short-run debt rollovers); and tax revenues have increased (largely reinforcing an already regressive system). While they pontificate about these ‘successes’, they avoid mention of the innumerable crises on the horizon. Among them is the absolutely diabolical state of our public universities. Put simply, they are on the verge of going bust, and the only concrete public policy of note is to let it all just happen while preaching the virtues of a ‘new’ corporate management style. Public universities exist to ensure that no one is denied the opportunity to acquire higher education because they cannot afford to pay for it. Young people admitted that the best public universities are in principle guaranteed a reasonable quality of education, and good employment prospects after graduation. Today, these basic precepts have been completely superseded. The majority of public universities now enrol at least as many ‘self-financing’ students than those who qualify for highly subsidised education. These self-financing students pay semester fees as high as Rs150,000. Fewer and fewer of them get access to university-run hostels, and those that do suffer from internet blackouts, low-quality food, and pathetic supplies of water, gas and other basic amenities. Our public universities are on the verge of going bust. Meanwhile, the quality of education in our public universities has plummeted, particularly since the Higher Education Commission introduced financial incentives to encourage faculty publications. Plagiarism is endemic, and in many departments the majority of courses are taught by visiting rather than permanent faculty. Finally, it is no longer true that a degree from even the best public university represents a good chance of landing a permanent job and social mobility more generally. Thousands of graduates compete with one another for every single government job that is advertised. Private sector empl­oyers prefer private university graduates. Stude­nts who have acquired research degr­ees are resorting to daily wage/ online work. As far as university teachers go, one would have to be living under a rock to be unaware that more and more faculty are regularly on the roads — some striking — to get their salaries paid on time. Visiting faculty members sometimes go for a year or more without pay. In Sindh, a large number of faculty are currently protesting the outlandish plan to institutionalise a new university management structure in which career bureaucrats become vice chancellors and academic and quality considerations become irrelevant. This is just a symptom of a larger and more insidious policy shift. The state has in effect reneged on its responsibility to provide quality, affordable education. Funding for public universities has declined markedly over the past few years as successive regimes have acceded to the neoliberalisation of higher education. It was reported a few months ago that international lending agencies are, in fact, instructing the government to pull the plug on funding higher education entirely. Which means taking in more fee-paying students, phasing out permanent employees, and even treating university land as prime real estate to be leased or sold to the highest bidder. This is the same mantra that we have been sold ad nauseam about any and all public institutions for decades now — ei­­ther privatise them entirely, or corporatise them so that the mythical investor/ donor gets to do as they please while the fundamental premises of public service go straight out the window. The short-term implications are playing out in front of our eyes with the everyday functioning of the public university more and more strained with each passing day. Even more remarkable are the longer-term implications. The median age of our population is 23. We are fed tales daily about syncing ourselves with the knowledge economy. But while education rapidly metamorphoses into a profit-loss enterprise, most young people, including those who are acquiring degrees from a rapidly expanding private university circuit, are being sold empty dreams. There is no plan to generate employment, let alone quality education. The only apparent plan is to (quasi) privatise higher education and let the meltdown play out. In a sense this is just a microcosm of the country at large. Spew out big fancy words under the garb of public policy, beg for money from the usual suspects, and then allow our gracious donors to lean on our own (largely disinterested and often incompetent) bureaucrats — including the khakis — to sell our kids down the river. The writer teaches at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2025