Vision, passion and purpose

From: Dawn, Karachi, http://www.dawn.com/weekly/education/education1.htm
By Kaleem Ahsan

A dynamic educationist with a passion for revolutionising the International Islamic University (IIU), Islamabad, of which he has been the president for over a year-and-a-half now, Dr Anwar H. Siddiqui, is no stranger to this high seat of learning, having also served as its vice president from 1986 to 1997. He has an illustrious career in the prestigious and sanctimonious field of education, having previously held such distinguished positions as Vice Chancellor, Allama Iqbal Open University (Islamabad); DG, Federal Judicial Academy; Director, National Institute of Public Administration (Karachi); Director, Research & Studies, Pakistan Administrative Staff College (Lahore); Professor and Chief Consultant, Ahmed Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.

As one of the founding members of the IIU, Dr Anwar has a special attachment to the institute and is thereby fervently committed to the task of taking it forward academically with the introduction of new disciplines and faculties. He fondly recalls the humble beginnings of the university in 1980: “We started with the faculty of Islamic Studies with the strength of just 40 students,” he says while showing extreme pride in the giant strides that the university has made over the years.

Today, the university boasts of nine faculties and five autonomous academies, institutes and centres that are offering some 58 academic programmes to no less than 14,000 students of which 5,500 are female students.

“We have the highest number of female students among all the Pakistani universities. We are very proud of our female campus for which we have separate female teachers — parents are very confident and comfortable sending their daughters to our university. If we continue with our present pace, it can be safely predicated that in the next 10 years, we would have 10,000 female students,” he rhapsodises.

Talking about some of the unique programmes that IIU offers in Sharia & Law; Islamic Studies (Usuluddin); and Islmaic Banking & Finance, he asserts, “Our Arabic-based programmes are the best in Pakistan. We put a strong emphasis on Arabic in the teaching of Islamic subjects. We offer specialised education in the field — BA in Sharia & Law, in which we offer all courses as per requirement of the Bar Council as well as harmonising the course with the injunctions of Islamic Sharia. Our students are serving as judges, session judges, additional session judges. In the discipline of Islamic Economics, we impart knowledge on modern economics and attune this with the tenets of Islamic economic system — Islamic Banking. As you know, Islamic Banking is now gaining popularity and spreading in the world — we are a pioneering institute in the subject of Islamic Banking & Finance, integrating modern economics and finance with the Islamic economic and banking system.”

With science and technology being the buzzword in the field of education, the International Islamic University has also expanded to bring this all-important subject within its fold.

“We now have a major thrust towards Science & Technology, Economics, Management Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Basic & Applied Sciences,” Dr Siddiqui proudly points out, adding, “Our engineering degree is now recognised by the Pakistan Engineering Council. We are lucky to have four PhDs teaching in the faculty of Engineering. In Basic & Applied Science we are offering new fields like Mathematics, Bio Informatics, Environmental Science, Software Engineering.”

Of the contribution he’s made in the growth of the university, Dr Sahib is particularly proud of the Department of Social Science which has been established under his enterprising aegis.

With media having acquired such importance in the society today and with its role also having undergone such tremendous change, he states that the Centre for Media & Communication Studies (CMCS) has been setup in the light of these new changes. “The print media will never lose its importance and relevance,” he rightly observes. “But with the exponential growth that has taken place in the country in the field of electronic media, the overall role of media has changed — in print as well as electronic media.” Taking all of this into account, the CMCS has been established and the university has strived to enlist the services of qualified and experienced professionals for its faculty. “It is a modest start but in due time we plan to have our own pilot studio for training in television. So until we manage to acquire this facility, we have arranged for our students to get the necessary training at the PTV studios. We already have our own FM radio station. We are also planning to have a complete media centre for which we are making efforts to seek Japanese cooperation. Our aim is produce trained personnel for the various media-related fields — so that those who graduate from our institute would be absorbed by the market.”

In other fields of social sciences, the IIU is offering Political Science & International Relations, Psychology, History, and Sociology.“

We also have a very good, separate Education department,” he enthuses.

Alumni of the prestigious Institute of Business Administration, University of Karachi (1961), after which he acquired his PhD from the University of Southern California (1966), it is only understandable that Dr Sahib has a special interest in the fields of economy and business. There is great pride in his voice when he talks about the status and standing of IIU in the arena of business education. “IBA in Karachi is acknowledged as No 1 in this field after which LUMS is accorded the second position. Our university is considered to be third,” he discloses proudly. “And we are trying to further improve our standard and standing,” he adds. “We have 50 faculty members of which 50 per cent are employed on a full time basis. We have quite a few PhDs among them — it is hard to find PhDs in Business Administration. Overall we have 60 PhDs in our faculty. We have sent 30 PhDs abroad for further studies.”

It is said that a good teacher is a happy teacher — a teacher content with his/her remuneration.

Cognizant of this dictum, Dr Anwar points out that the salary structure of the teachers has been revived and made more flexible. “Our professor gets Grade 21 and Lecturer Grade 18. For our various faculties, especially for Law, Engineering, Computer Science, we try to get fresh PhDs … and they want to be paid well, as per their qualification so we are paying 1.25 lac to a PHD. We have a very dynamic international faculty and a strong presence of overseas students hailing from some 46 countries. Most of our foreign students are from China.“

We are the trustees of Faisal Mosque. Our Islamic Research Institute is the biggest in the country. Our library is also one of the biggest in Pakistan. Our Sharia Academy is very well-reputed and recently the Iqbal Institute of Research & Dialogue has shifted to our Academy from Lahore.”

With everything having the prefix ‘Islam’ looked down upon or quite suspiciously these days, especially in the West, Dr Anwar strongly rejects the notion in some circles that IIU is some kind of a glorified madressah. “We are an international standard university offering courses in various fields — especially Islamic Sharia & Law, and Islamic Finance and Banking. There is no element of religious extremism anywhere in any of our disciplines. Many dignitaries visit our university when they come to Pakistan.”

Broaching the subject of the IIU’s admission policy, he stresses, “The admission is given on merit and we also offer financial assistance to deserving students. If a student is very good in studies, we do not let him or her leave due to financial constraints. Students apply to us for financial assistance and after assessing their case, we allow them fee concession. We have a number of funds for providing financial help to the students under different headings.

With the university’s name being what it is, one would have expected that it is being funded by the leading, if not most, Islamic countries. However, it was a surprise to learn that this is not the case.

“We have no funding from the Islamic world. Our university was established through a resolution of the OIC but we don’t get any funding from any of the OIC states. Twenty per cent of our expenses are covered by the budget that the government provides us and the remaining 80 per cent we generate from the fee. We have sister universities in Malaysia, Uganda, Niger, etc. The Saudi Arabian government helps by providing us Arabic teachers. So you can say that the international help that we receive is only limited to coin and kind.”

But despite the limited financial resources that the IIU has at its disposal, Dr Anwar H. Siddiqui, within the short period of time that he has been at the helm of affairs, has managed to take the university forward through his visionary approach, turning it into a dynamic seat of learning attuned to the present day needs and requirements.