A role model to follow
Young and dynamic, Prof Usmani’s name is symbol of success as well as pride for all the public and private educational institutions of Karachi that he is associated with. His method of teaching is very simple, yet effective, which helps draw a number of students towards his lectures.
In addition to teaching, Prof Usmani is also involved in student counseling as well as organising extracurricular events in various institutions. He is an active social worker, too. Though he teaches business administration, Prof Usmani also happens to be a lover of art and is a part of the research team besides being the co-editor of a research magazine on the subject.
The professor hails from a very well-educated family. As a senior teacher at the Islamia College Sukkur, his maternal grandfather made a valuable contribution towards the betterment of the educational system in Sukkur. “My elder brother Wahab Usmani is a PhD in software engineering from the NED University and is now teaching, too, at the same university,” he says.
As for Prof Usmani himself, after doing his graduation from Iqra University in 2000, he did his MBA from the Hamdard University followed by BCs from Petroman and MCs and MS also from Hamdard. At the moment, he is in the process of doing his PhD from Hamdard University.
With so many degrees under his hat, one wonders why he didn’t go abroad. The professor says: “I think only those people who do not get the opportunity in Pakistan go abroad. Besides, I had decided quite early in my career to not part with my land, its culture and the people I love. I wanted to serve my country in my field.”
So, is he satisfied with the current education system here?
“Look,” says the professor, “It’s an open fact. We cannot deny that the condition of education here is rather poor. It needs to be reformed on both the government and the private front. Student activities too should be according to the educational system that itself should be directed towards the sovereignty of the state. Then people too should be admitted to the different fields keeping in mind the concept of man power. However, I must also say that there have been signs of improvement in the last five years.”
On being asked whether the change that he has noticed could be due to the formation of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Prof Usmani said: “HEC was formed for the reform of educational institutions here and by implementing a rating system, it has carried out quite a few reforms in many private institutes. Still, I believe that there is room for improvement.”
When asked about his views Educationist
on the self-finance scheme and if it wasn’t but an injustice to merit, the educationist said: “The scheme is absolutely unacceptable as it reflects the distribution of class in the country.”
Being a product of private universities himself, Prof Usmani says that in his opinion, most of the private universities here have progressed in their performances. “But having said that I believe that making education commercial has caused much injustice to the larger potion of society that hails from the lower-income homes. They now view education as a dream.
“In addition the trend of buying degrees has also increased, unfortunately, with some institutions making selling degrees their core business, which is most regrettable,” he adds.
On the subject of student organizations the professor says: “I think it is quite democratic to have student organisations in educational institutions but if these organizations start resorting to unlawful means in order to have their demands met, then it becomes a dangerous activity for students.”
Finally, he says that the relation between the teacher and the student should be like that of a father and son.
“I’m lucky to have gotten that kind of respect from my students and I feel that respecting your elders is a habit which is passed down to you from your family. The younger lot should give the same kind of respect that they give to their parents and teachers to all the elders in their circle. And that’s how you make this world a better place to live in,” he concludes.
Publish in DAWN - Sunday, 30 Aug, 2009 http://tinyurl.com/23xhmbp
