Dice Connect: interact, inspire, innovate

Today’s economic environment has created a need for finding creative and cost-effective methods for solving complex issues that afflict societies. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) worldwide are increasingly being seen as the catalyst for fostering this innovative approach. This led to creation of an essential third mission of universities, other than teaching and research, called Knowledge Exchange.

The British Council’s Internationalising Higher Education programme in partnership with the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan started a massive programme on Knowledge Exchange in 2011 as a result of which Pakistan’s first ever Knowledge Exchange Strategy was also developed. HEC is the apex body to regulate and promote the Higher Education in Pakistan. The aim of Knowledge Exchange is to promote the role of universities as not just generators of theoretical research, but as important members of the community that can contribute to development. 

As part of their Knowledge Exchange initiative, the British Council held ‘Connect’ event in November 2011 with an aim to bring together members of universities, industry, government and non-governmental organisations. It was a vibrant and interactive event that aspired to create new collaborations and spark new ideas. However, the British Council was looking for a way to make it sustainable through some local partnership. Entered Distinguished Innovations, Collaboration & Entrepreneurship (DICE) and “DICE-Connect” happened!

DICE is an initiative of HEC that promotes knowledge-based revolution in Pakistan by motivating people to utilise state-of-the-art technologies for the rapid development of innovative products. However, DICE was more geared towards the use of technology in engineering and lacked other key disciplines like Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Business education etc.

The merger of DICE and Connect is a win-win for both the British Council and HEC as it provides a common platform to all key disciplines in academia, industry, government and non-government organisations to interact, collaborate and share innovative ideas and concepts hence expedite the process of technology revolution in Pakistan. This will also increase the outreach and improve the networking among different disciplines.

The first DICE-Connect event held in December 2012 was attended by Vice Chancellors of numerous Pakistani universities, renowned researchers, eminent thinkers, media experts and students and over 600 participants from different walks of life.

Over 100 innovative projects from diverse fields were displayed by industry and students at Industrial Exhibition. More than 50 universities and industries participated and around 1500 guests visited the Industrial and Student project exhibition over the two days.

Addressing at the inaugural session of the event, Mr. Peter Upton, Country Director, British Council Pakistan highlighted the importance of Knowledge Exchange Partnerships between the academia and the industry. Peter mentioned that during early 1990s, UK Government policy had already changed the research exploitation system by encouraging them to enhance their technology push. It was not an easy process, and now there are several Apex bodies in UK which are agencies involved in managing, funding, measuring and stimulating knowledge exchange in the UK, each has a particular angle and area of specialisation. Peter also said “With the revolution in higher Education sector of Pakistan, Universities in Pakistan also have the capability of playing a major role in the future economic prosperity. Therefore we need to promote them, bring them closer to the non university partners, encourage new ways of partnerships and most importantly beat the drum of their success through proper communication”

The speakers appreciated the excellent work being done by universities in building the fundamentals of the economy in Pakistan, helping communities and businesses and bringing together academia and industry. Dr. Khurshid Qureshi encouraged the innovative work presented on DICE platform and said “the only limit to innovation is your imagination”.

Bringing academia, government and non-government organisations and industry on the same platform has always been a major challenge. For successful innovation to take place, a sophisticated innovative ecosystem involving all partners is needed to support and enhance discovery, innovations, IP creation and commercialisation. Knowledge exchange is not just about the commercialisation of science and technology through the creation of spin-offs and patents etc. It encompasses all disciplines, including the arts and humanities.

The next DICE-Connect event is scheduled to be held at University of Gujrat, Pakistan in December 2013. The British Council and HEC are also planning to give away awards at the next DICE Connect for best entrepreneurial university, best Knowledge Exchange University, most innovative university etc in order to promote the culture of knowledge exchange among Pakistani HEIs. 

Recognising mental health issues in Pakistan

Pakistan has a fast growing population of approximately 178 million, with 42% of it under the age of 14. Mental health receives very little attention in a country struggling to cope with the demands of its exploding population. According to Malik Hussain Mubashir, vice-Chancellor at the University of Health Sciences, Lahore, “There is only one psychiatrist for every 10,000 people in Pakistan, one child psychiatrist for four million children and only four major psychiatric hospitals.”

The International Health Links Funding Scheme (IHLFS), launched by THET, UK-based International Charity and the British Council and funded by DFID, initiated a partnership between the Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (PIMS) and King’s College to address the lack of importance given to mental health issues. Under this link, PIMS has organised training for over 300 psychiatrists, lady health workers, school and college teachers and media professionals to help them recognise mental health problems and deal with them sensitively and efficiently.

Shagun Irfan, the principal of City School, found the training session so interesting and informative that she is sending all heads of departments from her school to attend this year’s session. “I was surprised to learn that on average, 15-20% of school children suffer from some sort of mental health problem. After receiving this thorough training, I was able to recognise and address the problems of my students in a much better way”. 

The training helped her identify students suffering from dyslexia, autism and bipolar disorders in her school. According to Shagun, “I am now able to persuade the parents of children who suffer from mental health problems to seek medical help. I am also organising more talks in the school and inviting guest speakers to talk about stress management, mental health disorders and how to tackle these issues.”

Recently, PIMS in partnership with King’s College organised another series of training for Lady Health workers. During these training sessions, over 60 Lady Health Workers will be trained on mental health issues. These Lady Health Workers will act as Master Trainers and cascade this training further.

Dr. Rizwan Taj, head of the Psychiatry Department at PIMS, has been the force behind the project. Under his guidance, all activities were carried out as planned, within the budget and on time. Dr. Taj aims to work on similar projects in the future until his ambition of “mental health services for all” becomes a reality. 

Ending the ‘brain drain’ in Pakistan by transforming Academic Institutions into Knowledge Enterprises!

“I am grateful to the British Council for inviting me to the NCEE Leadership Master class Series. The Master class series greatly contributed to helping me understand the significance of entrepreneurship and innovation for both leadership and management.”  

These were the words of Engr. Muhammad Asghar, Rector, National University of Science and Technology (NUST) about the British Council’s Master Classes.

Master Classes are part of the British Council’s wider commitment to the development of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan’s Knowledge Exchange (KE) initiative in the country. Master Classes are aimed at building skills, understanding and confidence in the people who will be leading on and delivering Knowledge Exchange (KE) in the university sector – developing KE professionals who can operate in supportive environment. Led by UK Experts in a particular field and facilitated by an expert in Pakistan these Master Classes are a perfect example of partnership between the people of UK and Pakistan. Vice Chancellors, Registrars, Senior Management of Universities and key representatives from the industry are the participants of these Master Classes.

By encouraging better understanding and collaboration between universities, businesses and the community, it is hoped to stop the ‘brain drain’ that is a deep concern for Pakistan. The content delivered in these Master Classes was filmed and is being converted into the material to be distributed to the Senior Academics. Almost 3000 faculty members directly and over 250,000 students indirectly are expected to gain benefit from these materials. This will bring fundamental, long-term changes in the way universities operate in Pakistan by helping them release knowledge and research into the wider community.

  

Kashif Khan, Associate Professor and Director of industrial linkages and collaboration at the Iqra University Islamabad, sees this as an opportunity to: “develop from core academic institutions and transform into knowledge enterprises.”

So far the British Council has organised six series of Master Classes covering a wide array of subjects such as: Working with SMEs and Rural Communities, Enterprise Education, Student Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial University Leadership, Public & Community Engagement and Strategy into Action. These Master Classes were delivered by National Centre for Entrepreneurship Education, National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement, Cumbria University and Thomas Lawton of the UK.

 

The last Master Class on Supporting Student Enterprise will be delivered by Prof. Alison Price, Director of Education Department at National Centre for Entrepreneurship Education in September 2012.

The Knowledge Exchange is a platform jointly developed by the British Council and Higher Education Commission of Pakistan that facilitates universities to create partnerships with business, government and other organisations to exchange skills and ideas.

Mind your language: transforming English language skills in Pakistan

There is no denying that English is the language of science and technology, knowledge sharing, as well as business development in majority of the world. In the higher education sector of Pakistan however, despite it being used as the medium of instruction, teachers and students still face difficulties in expressing themselves in English. This skill gap compels teachers to translate lessons in other languages, and leads students to memorise the lecture instead of understanding it.

To address this communication divide and incorporate cutting edge approaches in the concept of language teaching, the British Council in partnership with the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan launched ‘Transforming English Language Skills’ [TELS] programme.

 A comprehensive Needs Analysis report by the Open University, UK, suggested that 82% students agreed to study extra courses in the final year of their graduation to improve their English language skills. Further, all Subject lecturers and 91% of English Lecturers agreed that they need professional development that would help them teach effectively through the medium of English.

Based on the recommendations of the Needs Analysis report for module content, local authors were hired to write modules for students as well as teachers. The modules developed under this programme include: English for Academic Purposes [Module for first year students], English for Employment [Module for final year students], Professional Development Module [Teacher Module] and Master Trainer Module.

This programme will initially be piloted in 12 universities from across Pakistan, covering over 10,000 students and 500 plus teachers. Master Trainers from these 12 universities are taking part in the Master Trainer workshop from 10-14 September 2012. Addressing at opening session of the Master Trainer group, Peter Upton, Director British Council Pakistan highlighted the role of English in a globalised world where 85% of the academic research work is in English. Mr. Upton also commented on the strong relationship that exists between the British Council and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.

Dr. Sohail Naqvi, Executive Director of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan said, “this is a national initiative, benefiting all universities and post graduate colleges in Pakistan. This programme will improve the English language skills of students and teachers across Pakistan”.

After the initial pilot, the programme will be rolled out to all public and private Universities, post-graduate colleges and open universities of Pakistan in a phased approach covering 1.8 million students, and 15,000 teachers.