Islamabad, May 30: In a bizarre move, the Pakistan government slashed the budget of the Higher Education Commission by more than half, from its allocated budget of PKR 65 billion to just PKR 25 billion.
Furthermore, this budget is reserved only for the federal universities as the government of Pakistan will no longer be providing finances for public sector education institutions. The provinces have now been asked to be solely responsible for financing their universities.
The Higher Education Commission had initially requested for PKR 126 billion to support over 160 public universities nationwide. However, the Planning Commission reduced the development budget allocated to the HEC from PKR 59 billion to PKR 21 billion.
Upset over downsizing of the budget, the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) and the Karachi University Teachers Society (KUTS) announced May 30 as a day of protest. Both organisations have opposed the decision to halt federal funding for universities under provincial charters and have announced plans for a protest campaign.
The education sector in Pakistan, particularly higher education, is already suffering from virtual apathy and with this move, the already weakened education sector of the country will stagnate further. FAPUASA in response has decided to mark May 30 as yet another ‘Black Day’.
The organisation has called upon the government to immediately withdraw its decision regarding the HEC budget, and further asked it to increase the higher education budget outlay by up to PKR 500 billion in the upcoming federal budget. Failure to reverse this decision will result in the closure of universities nationwide, as most institutions will be unable to pay salaries and pensions, they said.
