Rs113bn released for HEC, NA told

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has released Rs113.127 billion to universities under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) over the last five years, which is 12pc less than the allocated amount of Rs129 billion. This funding is specifically for the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to execute development projects at universities and higher education institutions (HEIs).

In a written reply to a question from Dr Nafisa Shah, Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui told the National Assembly that the federal government, through the HEC is providing financial support/assistance to the federal and provincial chartered universities through a recurring grant, based on consultative process amongst all stakeholders (the federal/provincial government, HEC and respective Universities), a consolidated budget is allocated by the federal government.

In a written reply the federal minister said that the bulk grant received from the federal government is disbursed to the higher education institutions (HEIs) by the approved funding policy. For FY 2024-25 an amountof Rs65billion is allocated as recurring grants for the public sector HEIs. During the last five years, HEC has disbursed Rs301.431 billion as a federal grant to 156 public sector Universities/HEIs across the country. In addition to recurring grants, the federal government allocates a development budget through specific projects aimed at both hard and soft interventions. These include infrastructure development such as new campuses, academic and administrative blocks, hostels, and laboratories; human resource development; establishment, enhancement, and upgrading of laboratories and equipment; faculty development; procurement of transport; improvement of ICT infrastructure; and support for extracurricular activities, the minister said.

Federal Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said the development portfolio of HEC for the FY 2024-25 is Rs61.115billion for 159 projects. Universities could not be granted any increase in annual recurring allocation since 2017-18 since the federal government allocations remained stagnant. Thus, HEC recurring grant-in-aid to universities during 2017-2024 is being distributed at the level of allocations made in FY 2016-17 through the funding formula.

Dr Maqbool said research grants are offered under various programs of HEC’s national-level framework of “Promotion of Research” and grants are allocated to research proposals selected through a rigorous competitive process under the specified policy/framework approved by the Commission. The TTS Funds are provided to universities as payment of HEC share in the salary of the Tenure Track faculty under the Tenure Track System approved by the Government of Pakistan.

The Human Resource Development and Faculty Development initiatives under the PSDP are pivotal in enhancing the capacity building of faculty and the quality of the country’s higher education system. Local and international scholarships, awarded through various development schemes, have significantly increased the number of PhD faculty at higher education institutions (HEIs), which now stands at 23,096, a substantial rise from just 2,281 at the time of the HEC’s establishment. During this period, the number of full-time faculty members also witnessed a visible rise from 50,852 to 64,611 a clear testament to the unwavering commitment to strengthening teaching capacity and academic excellence, the minister concluded.