Indigenous scholarship is
a local scholarship which is being given by Higher Education Commission (HEC)
of Pakistan to the student of M-Phil and PhD. Before 2013 it was restricted only
to the PhD students and in 2013, M-Phil students were also included in this
scheme. Before 2013 nearly all PhD students have been awarded with this
scholarship and the criterion for this scholarship was only the enrollment in
PhD. In 2013, HEC changed its policy and General Assessment Test (GAT general)
was made compulsory for this scholarship. This year we observed that passing
GAT general is not enough to gain the scholarship and only those students are
awarded who hold GAT general score in the higher 70s and 80s.
Some drawbacks of the present policy and my arguments
1.
The major issue of GAT general being compulsory for indigenous
scholarship is that it is completely irrelevant to the subject of any concerned
student. In higher education, students are restricted to their field of study
and research, and this is the main aim and demand of higher education. In
addition, burden of study and extensive research does not allow the student to
become expert of every field.
- Students of MPhil and PhD are enrolled through standard procedure of HEC and concerned university which normally include GAT general (for Mphil), GAT subject (for PhD), departmental test (for MPhil) and interview. So, the assessment of enrolled students once again for indigenous scholarship through GAT general does not make sense.
- Every student of MPhil and PhD has to pass through the research phase and students and their supervisors equally need funds to conduct high quality research. So, it is injustice to award scholarships to some students and leaving others.
- Temporary preparation for GAT general neither gives permanent knowledge to the student nor it could help in assessing the expertise of the student in his/her field of study.
- GAT general diverts the concentration of the students from their field of study and forcing them to spare their time in learning irrelevant subjects. Also it hides the expertise of the students.
- The purpose of indigenous scholarship is to bring the research in Pakistan to higher levels. It has nothing to do with the personal benefit of the students and their supervisors. The number of indigenous scholarships is directly proportional to the quality of research in Pakistan.
- GAT general does not help to assess the ability of the student in his/her field of study or research. So, it is impossible to select the right person for the scholarship through this irrelevant test.
- All students enrolled in the same degree deserve the same rights. Therefore, all the students should be given the scholarship instead of selecting those who are good outside their field of study.
- Many foreign countries including the developing countries give scholarships to thousands of their citizens as well as foreigners to make their research better. Why Pakistan can’t give scholarships to hardly a thousand PhD scholars each year?
- The purpose of NTS seems to make money on regular basis rather than to select the right person which is not less than a disaster for our higher education.
- HEC is utilizing GAT general to reduce the number of students for indigenous scholarship rather than selecting the right person in a right way.
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