English Department of Natioanal University of Modern Languages: a Dystopia

Christopher Marlow truly says; ‘all live to die and rise to fall’ which reflects from the ebb and flow of English department of NUML; once considered as one of the best departments in Pakistan, due to its towering faculties and profound administration. The quality, nonetheless, seems deteriorate from last few years, due to various fundamental issues, which is truly, a matter of concern for its policy makers. In-fact, the essence of this write-up is not only root-out its key plights for the declination of its worth, but also attempts to trace out various structural and administrative flaws, so that the policymakers, particularly our honorable Rector redefine their approaches-we need to polish the skills of teachers and students, rather than to polish the walls and buildings; we must need to invest on students rather than on stones, indeed, the real beauty is only skin deep.
Similar to the rest of my fellows, I have started my journey of NUML as a student of Bs English, Literature and Linguistics to harness my English proficiencies, which have had an ample share in my future endurances, particularly, for competitive exams. However, the outcome was something like “where but to think is to be full of sorrows’, due to the limited approaches of the most of the teachers, which have nurtured by the awful education system and environment. Majority of the faculty members, excluding very few, whom I consider as my mentors, urge students to go for keys and other clichés, rather than critical thinking-directly clip the feathers of those students, who want to fly, ‘Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight.
Moreover, impotency of teaching staffs is also another matter of worry. The competency level of the most of the teachers are not up-to the mark, not only in their deliverance of lectures, but also their study materials-surely unable to comprehend modern educational requirements and challenges. We always use a proverb, blessing in disguise in our daily discourses, and the matter of fact, COVID 19 is blessing in disguise for administration to evaluate the lectures and study materials of teachers by attaining different classes, randomly.
Apart from that, department also offers such subjects and responsibilities to the teachers, which do not directly come in their domain-field of expertise. One of such example is that, a specialist in linguistic assigns to teach literature and vice versa, as a result both teachers and students suffer; pain on pain, trouble on trouble. Even I have witnessed that a faculty member, who has nothing to do with literature, and even linguistic also, has supervised number of students of literature at MPhil level; and we can assume the quality of their researches and more importantly, the quality of that ‘scholars’.
Additionally, university has transformed into a moneymaking machine, and whenever materialism overwhelms a system, quality has always compromised. It clearly depicts from their admission and other academic policies: there are no proper regulations and requisites; anyone who has fourteen years of education; either in commerce, literature, and computer sciences or even in natural sciences are eligible for BS English, Literature and linguistics-does it makes any sense? Secondly, provision of multiple chances for students to promulgate their degrees, either in the form of props or summers, severely depleting the quality and standard of degree. Various questions embark regarding the summer programs; how a four and half month course complete in one and half months? How a student score more than eighty in summer, who has obtained less than twenty in regular semesters? Administration must need to get answers from the relevant authorities. 
Lastly, the omission of research articles in the last semester of the master program (English department), has proved to be a last nail in the coffin of students’ creativity. Research is the only method which helps to explore the analytical and novel sense of person, because it urges to think or perceive same entity into multiple dimensions. Due to its immense importance, modern education system gives sheer importance to academic researches instead of course-work. Notwithstanding, NUML policies reflect something else; they favor to exclude research article from the curriculum rather than to fix its issues like plagiarism, quality enhancement etc. which, further deteriorate the intellectual capacity building of a student. As Einstein truly says: ‘education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the minds to think’ but unfortunately NUML provokes imitation rather than invention.   

However, despite those clumsy faculties, there are number of highly apt-full teachers, who are always there to inspire their students. I do feel that NUML has provided me an opportunity to interact with a pool of highly qualified and skillful teachers, who always remain near to my heart, and I will share my insides about them in any other attempt. I am not even wrong to say that I have become able to write this writing-piece, solely due to NUML; 

‘My thoughts and reflections inspired by you

As though I were your phrases and expression.’

Having said that, I am not among those who criticize others just like a bad workman who always blames his tools. Indeed, I am fully cognizant of the nature of students and their level of interests in education, which also contribute in the abatement of educational quality of NUML, particularly, English department. Surely, we will mourn on them in next session, because a person who proudly introduces himself/herself as an English graduate but the dilemma is that he/she can’t even write a formal application.

● In short, being a part of super-structure, we are normally influenced by the system. Therefore, rather than to critics or blame on the personal loopholes we must need to look the broader picture, and it is crystal cleared that defective system is responsible behind the depletion of the English department of NUML. We, the alumni expect that the current Rector will take some immediate measures to protect the prestige of this cream department, despite other infrastructural initiatives. Though infrastructure plays key role in the development of institutions, nevertheless, the true development of the institution largely reflects from their products, and I am right to say that the students are their actual assets. Hence, I beseech that kindly, redefine your priorities because a stich in time saves nine. It is the dire need of time  to provide conducive learning environment for students, with more focus on research, along with the re-equipment of teaching department by new inductions on merit basis, and also provide proper trainings and workshop to overhaul the skills and approaches of teachers.   

                                    Author: Sadrudin