The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has produced a booklet on plagiarism in its efforts to eradicate it, but when it comes to the University of Karachi (KU), no action has been taken against the alleged plagiarism rampant in the university.
The preamble of the booklet states: “In the wake of fundamental improvement being introduced in the system of Higher Education in Pakistan, the credit, respect, recognition of research and scholarly publications, career development and financial gains are now linked with such original works accomplished without replicating the efforts of the researchers.”
According to the policy, which was introduced in October last year, if someone from a university is discovered plagiarising research material, that university can theoretically stop receiving funds from the HEC.
Despite this, according to an official from the Karachi University Teachers Society (KUTS), plagiarism rules are not meant to be taken seriously.
“After all, plagiarism is not confined to our university,” he said. “Why bother about it?”
The official alluded to many cases in the university where research had been plagiarised, including that of a former dean of the pharmacy faculty, who had allegedly plagiarised research from a European research journal. “The case is with the Vice-Chancellor,” asserted the official, and added, “I can show you the evidence.”
The same official also mentioned another teacher who has allegedly headed the research of at least 15 dubious PhDs without anyone taking any action. “Nobody can dare to lift a finger against him. He has connections,” said the KUTS official.
However, KUTS Secretary Dr Abid Hasnain maintained that the KUTS had “zero tolerance” for plagiarism. He said this with reference to the policy of the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association, a part of which says: “The Federation reiterates its policy of condemning plagiarism, but at the same time, demands that the HEC’s policy against plagiarism, which was formulated in October 2007, should not be implemented with retrospective effect. Its implementation should be with prospective effect. The HEC should stop forthwith intimidating the teaching community and threatening the universities with stoppage of funds for acts of alleged plagiarism done in the past (before the issuance of HEC policy)”.
In other words, while the Federation condemns plagiarism, its policy suggests is that all the acts of plagiarism committed prior October 2007 should not be taken into consideration.
While the initiative taken by the HEC may be considered praiseworthy by some, many believe it needs to drastically improve its own standards. Abdus Salam, Professor Emeritus, said, “HEC has taken on the mantle of monitoring quality at Pakistan’s university. For this to be a justifiable activity, it would need to improve its own standards markedly.”
For example, the literature found on the HEC website is such a poor reflection of its stature that it prompted a professor of Pakistani origin based in the United States to say, “Should it (HEC) not be reprimanded for its atrocious English?”
Abdus Salam, meanwhile, dissected the HEC’s 35-page booklet on plagiarism, and found much to be displeased with.
“The booklet lacks mention of the date of publication, contrary to standard practice. This error is compounded by the absence of a contents page. It quotes from Wikipedia to explain the meaning of plagiarism; it is hardly an authoritative source on plagiarism!” he fumed.
According to Salam, over half of the 35-page booklet is merely a copy of the guidance document from a former polytechnic institute in the United Kingdom, used largely for padding. There are references to two documents on the subject, one from the Association of Computing Machinery and the other from University of Southampton. “All this reference material could be provided on the HEC’s website,” he said.
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