An interview with Arshad Saeed Husain, MD Oxford University Press Pakistan'Reform research funding for quality-driven research culture'

Arshad Saeed Husain is the Managing Director at Oxford University Press Pakistan. He is a seasoned executive with over 12 years of multi-industry experience as CEO of publicly listed and private companies, and has over 26 years of broad based commercial experience working for leading multinational companies in Pharmaceuticals, FMCG and Life Sciences sectors. Mr. Husain received an undergraduate degree from London School of Economics & Political Science. 

Following are the edited excerpts of the conversation BR Research had with Mr. Husain on Oxford University Press’ operations in Pakistan:

BR Research: Before we move on to Oxford University Press, tell us about yourself?

Arshad Saeed Husain: I am currently serving as Managing Director, Oxford University Press, Pakistan since February 2018. I have over twenty-five years’ experience of leading multinational companies in the Pharmaceuticals, FMCG, and Life Sciences sectors. I have been CEO, Aman Health Care Services; Managing Director, Abbott Laboratories Pakistan Limited; Managing Director, Syngenta Pakistan Limited; and President Director, PT Syngenta, Indonesia. I also served in senior leadership positions at GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Limited and ICI Pakistan Limited and have been the President, American Business Council; Chairman, Pharma Bureau; founding member, Swiss Business Council; and Chairman, CropLife Pakistan. I have also served on the board of directors of the Rotary Club of Karachi Metropolitan.

BRR: Unlike the corporate life, your experience at Oxford University Press (OUP) must be quite different. What is OUP’s mandate in Pakistan?

ASH: Oxford University Press (OUP) is a department of the University of Oxford and is committed to the dissemination of knowledge and publishes works that further scholarship and education. It works towards promoting the reading culture and to improving the intellectual content of life in Pakistan. OUP Pakistan has an extensive school and college textbook publishing programme, which addresses the need for books that are both of high quality and specific to the environment. It has gained a reputation for publishing well-researched academic and general books, which are considered to be authoritative and definitive works on Pakistan.

BRR: Apart from children and high school textbooks, what other categories do you serve in Pakistan? Globally, OUP has an extensive coverage of disciplines and categories including law, social sciences, medicine & health, and various journals. Any plans of publishing these for Pakistan in the near future to move up the ladder?

ASH: So our OUP Pakistan publishing operations fall into four distinct areas: school texts and library; higher education; academic; and lexical and general reference.

The Education Department publishes children’s/library books, school textbooks to meet key curriculum requirements, language and other reference books for schools, teacher resource books, student activity books, and bilingual school dictionaries.

The Higher Education Department publishes college and university textbooks for undergraduate and graduate students, spanning a wide range of subjects and specializes in the disciplines of law, economics, literature, language, gender studies, sociology, and environmental science.

The Academic Department publishes books on all aspects of Pakistan Studies including the areas of history, literature, education, travel, anthropology, Islamic studies, strategic studies, sports, archaeology, and art.

The Lexical and General Reference Department covers both the non-lexical and lexical areas. The Oxford English–Urdu Dictionary by Shanul Haq Haqqee has become the standard reference work for academics, journalists, teachers, and general readers. The Oxford Companions that are under preparation will contribute to such fields as history, literature, and art.

OUP has offices in 50 countries, and is the largest university press in the world. OUP Pakistan as a branch office has access to all the disciplines and categories of books published in English in different OUP branches. Law, social sciences, medicine and various on-line journals are available from OUP UK and are publicised through catalogues that are disseminated in Pakistan. Our customers regularly order these titles. When the need arises, we can publish these titles locally as well.

BRR: With the growth of digital and e-learning OUP must also be expanding its offerings.  Any specific plans especially for Pakistan?

ASH: OUP has been mostly focused on print publishing but slowly and steadily is moving towards expanding its offerings in digital sphere as well. Some OUP textbooks have digital materials, which can be accessed through OUP’s corporate website. Some premium content is available through our companion website My E-mate, which has animated videos, interactive content, comics, and assessments. We have also introduced a digital reading platform by the name of Oxford Reading Buddy to help children develop important skills in reading and to encourage them to read more. It contains hundreds of digital books from Oxford University Press’s well-known reading series to match their reading levels. It also offers special coaching eBooks to develop comprehension.

In future, we are planning for delivery through mobile applications and augmented reality. OUP views the increased focus on digitization as an opportunity. We now have an enhanced focus on providing digital solutions. The aim is to develop blended learning (digital and print) resources to maximize the learning experience of students. In Pakistan, market readiness for digital products is an issue and any subsidized internet facility from government to middle and lower income segments to increase access to digital platforms would give us a breakthrough in this area.

BRR: Do you have any sort of teachers’ training programme in Pakistan?

ASH: Oxford University Press Pakistan has a dedicated professional development department (PD) that trains school teachers in various aspects of education, ranging from curriculum planning to classroom management, school leadership and evolving pedagogies. PD conducts workshops all over Pakistan—at schools covering a variety of curriculums—often in remote areas where we can potentially increase reach and impact through OUP books.

BRR: With Islamabad Literature Festival (ILF) and Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) becoming regular events every year, what has been OUP’s key objectives and what have been achieved so far with such festivals?

ASH: KLF and ILF seek to create an intellectual space in which the diversity and pluralism in Pakistan’s society and that expressed by the authors from literary and cultural traditions beyond Pakistan’s borders are freely accessible to people in an open and participatory manner.

The key objectives of these festivals revolve around representing  intellectual traditions and cultural diversity through languages and academic disciplines; creating a forum for intellectual dialogue and inter-cultural harmony through celebration of writing, publications, and performing arts; providing opportunities through which the world can see and connect with the literature, culture, and social ethos of Pakistan, and from which Pakistan can encounter what is happening in the world; promoting artistic expression and emerging Pakistani and international literary talent; and encouraging counter narratives, cross-pollination of ideas, and apolitical views.

KLF has been a pioneering effort undertaken by OUP Pakistan that has now been institutionalized. The lovers of literature all over the country eagerly look forward to this annual event.

KLF and ILF fulfill a need of our men of letters as well as the academia and the young generation to participate in an activity where literature is the main theme but which branches out in other areas to depict Pakistan’s culture, customs and creative output. KLF and ILF have become a central platform for wider dissemination of literary and creative output. Prior to the launch of KLF, such output did not receive a fair audience. The launch of ILF shows how deeply connected OUP is with the promotion of literary and cultural activities in Pakistan—and the hunger that our people have for such events.

BRR: What are your views of the challenges faced by the primary and higher education system in Pakistan with respect to syllabus and curriculum?

ASH: Despite the many challenges that Pakistan faces, we too have to ensure that our policies are responsive to the current economic challenges. OUP is the largest publisher in Pakistan in the school books market. We believe that education has the power to transform lives for the better. We aim to give students and teachers the opportunity to access knowledge, and inspire change regardless of their backgrounds or circumstances.

OUP Pakistan strives to play a key role in making quality educational resources accessible to students across all market segments. We strive to maximize our impact in the markets we operate in by offering them a wider range of value-added products to choose from.

BRR: Any affiliations or partnership of any sorts with the current government? OUP can play a key role in aligning syllabus and in the introduction of a national curriculum.

ASH: There is a dual education system in Pakistan, public and private. In the public sector, the de-centralized textbook boards in each province create textbooks for public schools and don’t encourage private sector publishers. However, we have had a number of successful collaborations with the government and one such example is the Public Private Program in Rural Sindh (PPRS) designed by Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) in collaboration with the World Bank. Public and private partnerships encourage sustainable reforms at the grassroots to ensure quality and access to education. In this programme OUP published books have been provided to school children.

There have been various attempts at co-opting OUP representation on different education task forces/committees at both federal and provincial level. In the local publishing scenario, there is a lack of a level playing field for OUP Pakistan. There are a few players in the publishing industry and most of them do not follow the high standards of ethical practices that we follow. This, along with rampant book piracy and plagiarism in the country, pose a huge setback to our publishing business.

BRR: How do you view the government’s progress in education so far against the promises it made when it first came in power?

ASH: The government has continued with a ‘human capital’ approach to education, in its effort to tap the potential of the second youngest population in the world. Currently, 64 per cent of the population in Pakistan is under 30 years of age.

Improving access and quality of educational institutions was considered central in capturing this potential - also reinforced through the government’s party manifesto. A national task force on education comprising of experts from across different sectors was formed for this purpose. The government’s more focused agenda for education outlined four priority areas in its National Education Policy Framework 2018; to decrease the number of out of school children and increase school participation, ensure a uniform education system across Pakistan, improve quality and enhance access and relevance of skills training.

This is a good beginning.

BRR: There is still a lack of research culture at universities in Pakistan, and most of the times the research conducted does not address the key issues in that field. How do you think research culture can be improved at college and university levels?

ASH: There is a need to reform research funding by the Government to nurture a quality-driven research culture. As a department of the University of Oxford, it is our objective to promote excellence in research, scholarship and education by publishing.