LAHORE: The Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) has demanded that the Higher Education Commission (HEC) implement a unified service structure policy, increase salaries, and make Pakistan Studies a compulsory subject in the undergraduate curriculum.

An online meeting of the FAPUASA executive council held on Wednesday discussed the negligence of the HEC and its failure to address critical issues facing the higher education sector in Pakistan.

FAPUASA President Dr Amjad Abbas Magsi and General Secretary Dr Muhammad Uzair highlighted the failure of the HEC to fulfill the commitments made during meetings on May 14 and a follow-up meeting on June 24.

The demands included the issuance of the BPS service structure policy, an increase in Tenure Track System (TTS) salaries (a one-time 90% increase to be linked with the annual budget, including the death/PM assistance package), and the restoration of Pakistan Studies as a compulsory subject in the undergraduate curriculum.

Ask HEC to make Pakistan studies compulsory subject in undergraduate curriculum

About higher education as a provincial subject, Mr Magsi told Dawn that the provincial government should come forward to provide grants to universities in their respective provinces, as the Sindh government has done.

He said that the administrators of the universities had completely failed in providing better financial governance, and the staff and faculty were suffering due to delays in salaries.

He added that provincial governments were spending significant amounts of money on political projects and were not focusing on schools, colleges, and universities to provide education to the masses.

He said that FAPUASA was making demands to the federal HEC because the commission still regulates the universities and receives grants from the federal government in the name of overseeing all universities in the country.

He suggested that provincial commissions should be established and given grants to govern the universities in their respective provinces, like Sindh.

HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmad told Dawn that the commission’s budget had not increased since 2018, but salaries at universities had risen by 165 per cent during this period.

He said higher education had become a provincial subject under the 18th Amendment, and the provinces, which receive an NFC share from the federal government, should provide funds for universities within their jurisdiction.

He noted that all universities were suffering due to poor financial governance and that the provinces had also established several new universities since 2018 without providing budgets for these new and existing institutions.

He said that universities were autonomous and should develop their financial policies according to their charters.

“Only the Sindh government has provided a Rs38 billion budget to its universities, while no other province has given any budget,” he said.

He mentioned that the crisis in universities had worsened as teachers had been observing strikes for the last three months in different provinces.

The chairman said that the commission had also written letters to the chief ministers and governors of the provinces to increase the budget and improve financial governance in the universities within their jurisdictions.

He said that new universities had been established, but the grants for universities had not increased, and university administrations had completely failed to generate funds from their resources.

He warned that a unified service structure should be adopted in the universities, as future educational institutes may not be able to provide pensions to their staff.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2024