Dr A. Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (KIBGE), Karachi

Karachi: In a clean and tidy room in spacious Dr A. Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (KIBGE), Karachi, sits Prof. Dr Abid Azhar, a distinguished Pakistani scientist, prominent educationist and Co-Director General of the Institute.

His grayish hair and intelligent eyes behind his glasses give an impressive look as her proceeds to explain the nature of his institute's work. "This institute was established in 2003 with an aim to produce quality research which would be at par with research output of any laboratory of similar nature in a developed country," he said.

"Like any other institution KIBGE too has teething problems. It has to acquire equipments, manpower and infrastructure before it can realize its potential," he said.

"I believe we have achieved it partially. We do have state-of-art equipments. We are in the process of acquiring human resource which is not an easy job and perhaps we have a clear direction of purpose," he said.

Born on March 15, 1955, in Karachi, Dr Azhar did his HSC from City College, Karachi in 1970, B.Sc (Honours) from the University of Karachi in 1973 and M.Sc in Biochemistry in 1974. He has the distinction of bagging second position in M.Sc examinations.

He was offered a scholarship from the prestigious National University, Canberra, Australia from where he did his doctorate in 1994. He also holds a post graduate diploma in Statistics.

As a student Azhar was quite active in progressive student politics and was one of the founding members of Young Writers Forum that was established by left-wing youth in the early 1970s. "You can see a marked difference between today's students and the students of the 1970s. We were not only aware that Chilean President Salvador Allende was assassinated by the CIA because he nationalized copper mines but we also organized public meetings in Karachi to show solidarity with President Allende and Pablo Naroda. Today you will hardly find a student who knows what's going on in Nicaragua," he said.

Referring to the education system as it

existed in early 1970s and today, he said the greatest source of information in yesteryears was the library while today almost all information is available online. "But despite that the education system in Pakistan has registered marked signs of deterioration," he said.

"Previously the best students came from government schools; now only those students enroll themselves in government schools who fail to get admission anywhere," he said.

"You will witness another development: Students simply don't go to colleges and heavily rely on tuitions. The culture has shifted from acquiring education at institutions to tuition centres," he lamented.

He said during the last 30 years the nurseries that provided basic education have seen a marked downward slide and primary education has been totally ignored by the planners.

"You see the problem is not that our students have low IQ; the problem is that they are being taught in such a way that their creativity is never channelised. Neither do they get any career guidance nor are they allowed to question and show their curiosity. Rote learning is the order of the day in Pakistan that is extremely injurious for young minds," he said.

"At KBGE we are focusing on research in agricultural biotechnology, medical biotechnology and industrial biotechnology and are focusing our research on import substitution and enabling the country to earn valuable foreign exchange through export and have made substantial headway," he said.

"We have also started training manpower. Some of our students have gone abroad for higher studies while others are being trained at the Institute. We have regular intakes for MS and PhD programmes. We have over 20 students for MS/PhD programmes and three students have already earned their doctorate," he concluded. The News