HYDERABAD: The Senate’s standing committee on education has expressed its dismay over delay in release of funds to universities and vowed to take up the case with the government to restore grant, enabling universities in Sindh to help achieve academic excellence.

A meeting of the committee was held on Tuesday at the Sindh University’s Benazir Convention Centre. It was presided over by its chairman, Abdul Nabi Bangash and attended by Senators Elyas Ahmed Biloir and Rozi Khan Kakar, Federal Education Secretary Muhammad Ahsan Raja, Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, executive director Mansoor Akbar Kundi, member from Sindh Dr Raza Bhatti, Dr Mohammad Siddique Kalhoro and Dr Parvaiz Ahmed Pathan.Sindh University acting vice-chancellor Dr Parveen Shah, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology vice chancellor Dr Mohammad Aslam Uqaili, Sindh Agriculture University (Tandojam) vice chancellor Dr Mujeeb Sahrai, Quaid-i-Awam University (Nawabshah) vice chancellor Dr Karim Baloch and Benazir General University (Nawabshah) vice chancellor Arshad Saleem were also present.

Senator Bangash said he had learnt that universities of interior Sindh were facing severe problems due to shortage of funds and he had realised it on Tuesday during the briefing. He said VCs should present a summary asking for release of funds at the earliest.

He said the ratio of faculty and non-teaching staff at universities all over the world was 1:2 but it was 1:3 or even 1:4 in Pakistan, which was appalling. He said “most universities are raising a hue and cry but they are actually overstaffed,” he said. He added that he would suggest to the government to hold universities accountable.

He maintained that the SU could be a model for Muslim world if adequate funds and autonomy were provided. A soft image of varsities of rural Sindh was not being presented in Islamabad.

“But, today I realised that higher education is being imparted and research is conducted on the campuses of these universities,” he said.

He said there were financial problems in universities of Sindh which could be overcome with discipline. “Research budget is only 2 per cent which is meagre and I will propose to the government to increase it up to at least 5 per cent,” he said. He said money should not be borrowed from banks to run universities as educational institutions were not business concerns.

Earlier, Dr Mohammad Siddique Kalhoro on behalf of Prof Dr Parveen Shah gave an overview of the SU’s financial position.

He said that for the past few months, the university had been paying salaries amounting to Rs112 million from pension funds, students’ fund and reserve funds as loan due to absence of funds. He called for restoration of funds, grants and allocated amounts, enabling the university to meet it requirements. The SU had produced 143 MPhils and 146 PhDs in last five years which was a big achievement, he added.

All VCs called for increase in grant to run varsities smoothly.

Later, HEC chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed along with acting Prof Dr Parveen Shah and Dr Raza Bhatti visited the Institute of Sindhology and pledged to help digitalise its library.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2015

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