ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives on Tuesday set up a 21-member task force to review and improve the pay scale system in higher education institutions (HEIs).

The task force, led by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, included secretaries of finance and federal education or their nominees, chairman of higher education commission, secretaries for higher education and finance of all provincial and regional governments, two persons from higher education sector and public finance and a member of science and technology of the planning commission.

In a statement, the minister said the task force would help introduce new competitive, performance- and market-based pay scales to attract and retain the best human resource to enable Pakistan to lead in research and academia.

Currently, the higher education sector in the country lacks standardised pay scales, with institutions following either the Basic Pay Scale (BPS) or their own pay scales.

These variations in BPS scales across universities have created salary discrepancies, resulting in demotivation, dissatisfaction and conflicts among faculty and staff, the statement added.

The new pay scale will be equitable, transparent and reflective of market rates, while providing performance-based incentives.

Mr Iqbal said that recruiting and retaining top talent in the higher education sector was key to developing a knowledge economy.

He said the creation of a special task force signified the government’s commitment to address the challenges faced by the HEIs.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2023