Given your new role as the Director of IBA, what is your long-term vision for the Institute and what will you outline as your key areas of focus in your roadmap for the Institute?

I.H : I accepted the position of the Director of IBA because I feel that there exists a need in Pakistan for a global business school which can provide rigorous training to the country’s vast talent pool by equipping them with the relevant skills and knowledge that will not only cater to the requirements of the corporate sector within Pakistan, but will also enable them to enter the regional and global workforce. Therefore, much of our focus at present is aimed towards ensuring that the quality, competence and relevance of IBA graduates are brought at par with global standards. However, to achieve this vision, we need top-class faculty and an educational framework that promotes the latest trends of research based learning. In addition, as part of my vision for the IBA, our roadmap will also include making collaborations with Institutes for higher learning outside Pakistan and working in close coordination with different organizations within the corporate sector, in order to help us understand and meet their expectations for efficiency and productivity. Therefore creating a link with the corporate sector for IBA will be an extremely important part of our long-term vision.

Secondly, we are also doing a national talent hunt program specifically targeting  students from the backward areas of Balochistan, southern Punjab rural Sindh, FATA region as well as the northern areas, which are not that advanced as far as educational institutions are concerned. Our vision is to bring them here for specialized training and orientation to prepare them for the IBA exam and empower them educationally by giving them full scholarships for their chosen program of study at the IBA. This program is part of our social responsibility initiative for the country and we are confident that it will be the most powerful equalizing force for the youth of Pakistan in the long run.

What are the challenges ahead for IBA? Are there any weaknesses that you can identify within the current set-up at IBA?

I.H: I strongly believe that an institution is a framework that is not run by any single individual and is in fact a cohesive effort with a large number  of people contributing to its success or failure. However, the paradigm in Pakistan for most people entrusted to lead institutions in Pakistan has been self-centric. They suffer from the delusion that nothing good ever existed before them and it is only through their efforts that the institution  has met with success and once they leave everything good that has happened during their tenure will cease to exist! Well, I certainly don’t follow that school of thought. I am pleased to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of my predecessors who have brought the IBA to a very impressive standard after 50 years of hard work and serious efforts. Therefore, the challenge ahead for me is to take this institution ahead  to the next level and leave it for my successors to take it even beyond that. During my tenure as the Dean, I will therefore tackle my goals with the belief that I am part of a relay race for IBA with the baton in my hands for now . I will do my best to seize the baton and run as fast as I can during the period that I have and give it my 100% before passing it on to the next person. Therefore every institution has its strengths and weaknesses and I am very lucky to have inherited an excellent brand name like the IBA, which has employers making a beeline for its graduates.

You mentioned that IBA graduates are the preferred choice for most employers. How would you rank their prospects for employment within the country?

As far as Pakistan is concerned, IBA graduates are the No. 1 choice for employers within the country and represent 10% of the nation’s top notch graduates. However, that is not enough for us. We have set high benchmarks for the Institute and we want to come at par with top Indian business schools within the region which are high quality premium institutions. However, to successfully reach that level, we now have to work very hard at an extremely fast pace because the dynamics of the professional world is constantly evolving and with it are the systems and processes. Therefore, we view the process of benchmarking as a result oriented process that always brings about a change for the better.  

There is a general perception that the IBA is no longer as stringent in terms of its admissions criteria as it was a decade ago. What are your views?

I think that is a complete misconception. If you look at recent trends, the standard of our tests has been made even tougher over the years. We have set tough standards within the IBA and require high SAT scores or high scores at IBA test for students to be considered for enrollment, after which they are made to go through an  interview. Last year, our cut off point for SAT was 2150, which is equivalent to the top 10 percentile within the US. We recruit only 150 students out of 3000 applicants so you can see that it is only 5% of the total applicants that gets admission within the IBA. This year, 1100 were considered eligible for the entrance exam and the interview screening and from that pool of eligible candidates  we recruited only 150 students. Therefore, we take pride in the fact that our entry tests are based on global evaluation systems such as the SAT tests, which clearly indicates that the IBA’s admission policies have become even more stringent with time.

Apart from a few top ranking Institutes, the quality of professional education within the country needs a serious revamp. What are your views?

I beg to humbly disagree. The problem lies more with the mindsets and approach of the people in this country than anything else. Why do we always have such an exaggerated negative sense of ourselves and our country when there is no real need for it? We never celebrate our victories but are always quick to paint a bleak  picture even when things are not quite as bad. Despite certain weaknesses within some Institutes, there are many institutions in the country which are islands of excellence and are thriving mainly because of their high quality of education such as the Aga Khan University, IBA, LUMS, GIK, FAST, NUST and the HEJ Institute. Now these are institutes which are recognized locally as well as internationally, which speaks volumes for the fact that quality education does exist and there are universities which are clearly capable of producing substance. So why not give them the due recognition for it?

Moving away from professional colleges, what do you feel about the overall state of education within the country?

Ans: Like I said before, there is a lot of good work being done in Pakistan within the educational arena which needs to be supported. We have very encouraging statistics from a recent World Bank study which has revealed that there is a 40% enrolment within private schools in the province of Punjab including the rural areas. The Punjab Government has introduced a voucher system. Under this system the government gives people representing marginalized communities the option of sending their children to a private or government school free of cost, which clearly denotes a positive trend.  NGOs and public-private partnerships are also making their due contribution to education. A project that warrants special recognition in this regard is run by Care – which is an NGO based in Lahore. Care has taken over 150 government schools and is striving hard to improve the teacher proficiency and accountability within these schools, which has made a remarkable difference. Similarly, another example that I would like to cite here is of The Citizen’s Foundation, which has established nearly 300-400 schools in the poorest communities of the country and is another major success story for Pakistan. Following suit in a similar direction is the Read Foundation which has established schools in 11 districts of Azad Kashmir in some of the poorest areas and is imparting a high quality of education there with the support of a multinational corporation. Therefore taking in consideration all these and many other initiatives of similar nature , I think the overall state of education is definitely moving towards a positive change.

Q: Do you feel that these efforts are enough to turn things around for Pakistan?

No, these initiatives are clearly not enough to turn things around for Pakistan but at least they symbolize a reassuring start towards a change for the better. While undoubtedly there is still a lot of room for improvement within the system, at the same time by initiating these projects, at least we have identified the given weaknesses within our system and are on our way towards building successful pilot projects and experiments that can be replicated on a larger scale in order to bring about a change for the long-term.

Q: Most business schools of the country are still making do with conventional modes of teaching as opposed to modern methodologies. What are your views?

Yes, this is true for some institutes. However, pedagogical tools always evolve with time and can never remain static. Where at one point a simple class-room lecture would suffice, trends today are increasingly shifting towards applicative tools like case studies, term papers, class presentations, research reports, internships, exchange programs, visiting lecturers’ workshops etc which are definitely more relevant and focus on addressing the needs for survival in today’s competitive era. Therefore, there is no single corrective solution as far as pedagogical tools are concerned, and these will eventually have to be adapted to the changing requirements. Moreover, what I am particularly interested in implementing at the IBA are Pakistan based case-methods which are soon going to be made compulsory for our students to help them understand the demands and challenges of the local market so that they can tune themselves accordingly when they enter the workforce.

Q: The youth is getting increasingly disillusioned with the present state of lawlessness, unemployment and lack of opportunity within the country. What would be your advice to them during this difficult time as a mentor?

I wish to emphasize here that it is important for all of us to understand that transitions do take place within nations and Pakistan is currently undergoing a transitional period and paying the price for establishing a solid democratic foundation. Having said that, it should be noted that nothing remains constant and there will ultimately be a change for the better within the country. Therefore, I strongly advise the youth to remain undeterred by the current problems of the country and keep a positive mental attitude in order to secure their own future in the long run. They should focus instead on the bigger picture and channelise their energies towards achieving their goals, and professional pursuits with rigour, determination and a positive outlook. Based on my personal experiences, it is my belief that those who follow this path will always meet with success and prosperity at every stage in life.

Interviewed and compiled by Aaliya Bondrey