Good news cornerInnovative approach to science and technology education in Pakistan

Here is a piece of good new: Lawrence Krauss, director of the Origins Initiative at Arizona State University in Phoenix, reports that Bob Jaffe, a theoretical physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is now engaged in a remarkable experiment in Pakistan, in which a unique combination of private money, government support, and intellectual leadership is helping to build the first private research school for science and engineering in that country, the School of Science and Engineering (SSE), part of the Lahore University of Management Sciences.

Developments so far have been encouraging. More than $53 million in support has come in from individuals, government, and industry — and world-class faculty are returning to Pakistan to participate in the new institution. Admission is merit-based and open to all, independent of gender and social or religious background, providing opportunities to outstanding students who need financial aid to make a new life.

As Jaffe says in a brochure about the new institution:

Access to world-class education opens the door to economic prosperity and personal creativity. Our vision is to bring transformational science and engineering education to Pakistan. Our goal is to ignite development at a fundamental level by educating the most promising young people of all backgrounds. We hope to end Pakistan’s disastrous “brain drain” by expanding the national market for superbly trained scientists and engineers. SSE will seek out the best-prepared, most motivated students from all social and economic backgrounds. We will educate them and provide them the skills and experience to succeed in the world… We believe that this is the most effective and positive way we can impact Pakistan’s economic future.

“It is developments like this that provide hope for the future,” write Krauss. “I wish all those at the SSE, and those who might be inspired to emulate this kind of institution elsewhere, the best of luck in using science and engineering to wage the war that really needs to be fought — the war on ignorance and poverty.”

We join Krauss in his wishes for the success of SSE. It is an indication that insights already gained by many people in developing countries has now reached Pakistan: as Krauss notes, “the hope for economic progress in the twenty-first century lies in becoming technologically competitive — and such competitiveness depends on producing scientists and engineers.” India is the poster child here. Anyone who has visited any of the Indian Institutes of Technology — in which admission is harder than at Harvard University and graduation virtually guarantees a job in the growing technology sector — has seen how effective first-rate schools can be in contributing to raising a nation’s standard of living.