- Govt spending less than $250 per student on higher education annually
- Current HEC budget insufficient to meet growing education needs
By Hamid Khan Wazir
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Keeping in view the COVID-19 pandemic and high inflation rate, it seems next to impossible for the higher education sector to sustain without a significant increase in education funding in the forthcoming budget.
The government should make a substantial increase in the education budget and announce a special relief package in the coming budget in order to meet the growing education needs and cope with the modern days requirements.
These views were expressed by Vice-Chancellors and other representatives while addressing at 2nd live webinar on the topic of “Budget 2021-22: Needs & Expectations of Higher Education Sector” organized by Association of Private Sector Universities Pakistan (APSUP), Superior University, Inter-University Consortium for Promotion of Social Sciences Pakistan (IUCPSS), University of Lahore, Government College University Lahore, and FPCCI Central CSR Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology on Thursday.
The speakers recommended an annual increase of 0.5% of GDP in allocations for education by federal and provincial governments so as the education budget could be reached up to 5.0% of GDP.
They said that the government spending on higher education remained less than $250 per student per year.
During the webinar, it was apprised that during the last five years, the Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) recurring budget remained stagnant i.e., Rs 63.183 billion in 2017-18, Rs 65.020 in 2018-19, Rs 64.100 in 2019-20, same allocation of Rs 64.100 in 2020-21 and Rs 65 billion, the proposed allocation for 2021-22. These allocations remained insufficient to meet the requirements of the 138 public sector universities with 92 sub-campuses.
They suggested allocation of Rs 150 billion in the new budget as recurring budget in order to overcome the years-long deficit and financial problems being faced by Pakistani universities.
Prof. Dr. Amanat Ali Jalbani Vice Chancellor, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Shaheed Benazirabad, Prof. Dr. Jamil Ahmad Vice Chancellor, Hazara University Mansehra, Prof. Dr. Jan Muhammad Vice-Chancellor, University of Turbat, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Saleem Mazhar Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Punjab, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Mukhtar Vice-Chancellor, National Skills University Islamabad, Prof. Dr. Rauf-I-Azam Vice Chancellor, Punjab University of Technology Rasul, Prof. Dr. Rukhsana Kausar Vice Chancellor, Government College Women University Sialkot, Prof. Dr. Waseem Qazi Vice-Chancellor along with others.
The stakeholders recommended declaring an education emergency, allocation of funds for indigenous COVID-19 vaccination production and up-gradation of labs, the announcement of a special relief package for higher education amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
They also recommended the launching of a separate TV station for the higher education sector, the involvement of universities in the budget formulation process, involvement of stakeholders and end-users across Pakistan in the policy formulation process, besides encouraging public-private partnerships in the higher education sector.
They suggested reviewing and increasing salaries of faculty in view of the high inflation rate, restoring tax rebate to 75% for teaching and research community, the establishment of a special fund for payment of pensions, and provision of internet devices to the students.
It was proposed to review policy for establishing new universities without proper qualified faculty and funding, promoting a culture of smart classrooms, sufficient funding for continuous faculty development programs and paying special attention towards social sciences and skill-based learning.
They also vowed to undertake collaborative efforts and adopting an innovative approach to overcome challenges being faced by the higher education sector.
