DURING a recent interaction with the participants of the capacity-building event for faculty members at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, I got an opportunity to join an interactive session on teaching as a profession in Higher Education. The event was arranged by the HEC for the faculty members as part of its continuous professional development mandate. The discussion was made about the role and responsibilities of the faculty members in the classroom and on campus. It focused on improving the teaching & learning process. The faculty members believed that unless an enabling environment on campus is provided by the University or Government for the provision of quality higher education, they will not be able to produce the desired workforce for socio-economic development of the country. The resource person was not denying the ground realities and was insisting that although the situation is not ideal, we can still preach and push those who are interested to learn and faculty members can bring change by consistently focusing on our responsibilities of teaching with heart & soul.

The discussion identified the increasing influence of non-state actors and other political, social as well as religious groups on students, faculty members and staff of the universities. Resultantly, sometimes they deviate from their core responsibilities. They added that such distractions compel faculty........

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