IN a recent meeting held in February, the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) decided that the federal government would not provide funds to the universities whose charters are approved by the provincial governments, reasoning that higher education is a provincial matter under the 18th Amendment. In fact, the funding for higher education had already been insufficient, and the latest decision is bound to drastically affect the sector.

More than 90 per cent of public-sector higher education institutions happen to be provincially chartered universities where students from all strata of society, especially from lower and lower-middle-income communities, come to complete their academic process, to earn a degree, and to make a living on the basis of that academic qualification.

However, under the present scheme of shared funding by both federal and provincial governments, the universities are forced to compromise on training of faculty and employees, and conducting meaningful research, as both require sufficient funding.

On the other hand, the universities are bitterly struggling to honour the increasing salary bill, and the situation has reduced the role of vice-chancellors to fund-raisers, diverting them from their actual role.

Instead of presenting the case of universities, students and the entire higher education sector while giving valid justifications, the chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) accepted the decision without putting any resistance.

Additionally, all the ministries that had been devolved under the 18th Amendment are still being maintained and run federally, parallel to the provincial governments. To maintain the status quo for non-development expenditure, development expenditure, such as investment in higher education, is cut down. How does that make sense?

Ghulam Abbas Junejo
Hyderabad

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2024