Without funds rise, public-sector universities will stop functioning: FAPUASA

Islamabad:Dr Muhammad Uzair, general secretary of Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Associations (FAPUASA) has apprehended that if the government did not increase the budget for higher education in the next fiscal, the bigger public-sector universities in the country will stop working in two months and smaller ones will be dysfunctional in six months.

Dr Uzair, who is also president, Peshawar University Teachers Association, was addressing an emergency press conference at National Press Club organised by FAPUASA and its Islamabad Chapter, here Thursday. Dr Uzair said that universities throughout Pakistan observed a Black Day on Thursday because no education budget was earmarked by the KP government as no provincial Higher Education Commissions were allowed to evolve in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. He said that FAPUASA has written letters to the prime minister, concerned ministers and HEC head to increase the budget for higher education up to Rs500 billion.

Dr Mazhar Iqbal, vice-president, FAPUASA, and President QAU, ASA, regretted that India spends 19 per cent of its GDP on education and Bangladesh 40 per cent but Pakistan allocates only 1.06 per cent of its GDP for education. He said HEC recurring budget was stagnant at Rs65 billion since 2018-19 but now it will be Rs25 billion for Federal HEC only. In a statement circulated on the occasion, it was stated that in the fiscal year 2023-24, the Government of Pakistan allocated a mere 1.6 per cent of GDP to education, the lowest in the region despite lofty promises in the manifestoes of mainstream political parties. Within this allocation, higher education received only 0.44 per cent of GDP as a recurring grant. Hence no university gets enough money to pay even salary and pension to its staff save to talk of utility bills, fuel, development grant and scholarships.

The universities are forced to meet their expenses by increasing fees and enrolment thereby making the education too expensive for parents and compromising on standards also by disturbing student-teacher ratio. Is education expenditure an investment or a source for income generation, asked Muhammad Jadoon Khan, president, ASA, Comsats University. M Iqbal, president, Federal Chapter, appreciated PPP government for increasing the education budget from Rs21b last year to Rs30b this year.

FAPUASA also showed deep concern over Finance Division’s letter dated May 24 to HEC for provision of indicative budget ceilings in FY2024-25 recurring budget only to federally chartered universities and research programmes of about 25 billion only. This step shows lesser commitment and low treatment of education at the national level and provinces are also being deprived of their federal funding. This letter should be revoked and funding should be increased to 4 per cent to 5 per cent of GDP.

“If the government did not withdraw this notification immediately and fulfil our demands, all faculty members and employees all over Pakistan will observe protest and sit in in Islamabad from next week which will continue until all the demands are fulfilled,” the statement concluded. They also expressed reservations about Unified Pay Scales the government is contemplating without involving the stakeholders. The teachers’ body answering a question supported merging TTS into BPS system.