ISLAMABAD: Faculty members of the country’s public-sector universities on Monday observed black day to press the government to increase higher education budget as ruling party’s senator Irfan Siddiqui also formally demanded substantial increase for universities.

On the call of the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Associations (FAPUASA), faculty members across universities in the country observed Black Day by wearing black ribbons, displayed banners and placards, and raised slogans for acceptance of their demands.

Meanwhile, in Islamabad, Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and parliamentary leader in the Senate Senator Irfan Siddiqui highlighted a persistent decline in both recurring and development budgets of the HEC for the last several years and demanded a significant increase. Mr Siddiqui, in a written proposal submitted to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, pointed out that the proposed recurring budget for Fiscal Year 2024-25 was approximately Rs66 billion – the same level as allocated six years ago in FY 2017-18. While Rs70 billion was allocated in Fiscal Year 2023-24 and Rs66 billion in the previous year, the proposed figure for development expenditure is just Rs39 billion, a decrease of around 40 per cent.

“In the current budget proposals, there is a nominal increase proposed for HEC’s recurring expenditure. The allocated amount remains almost unchanged from what it was five years ago in 2021. This stagnation fails to account for inflationary adjustments or the growing number of public-sector higher education institutions falling under the ambit of HEC,” he said in his letter.

“Particularly concerning is the sharp decrease in the development grant. For the fiscal year 2024-25, an allocation of Rs66.315 billion was approved. However, the proposed allocation for the upcoming budget has been drastically reduced to Rs39.488 billion – reflecting a substantial cut of Rs26.82 billion,” Senator Siddiqui’s letter read.

In his written proposal, he also highlighted that the regional countries, including India, Maldives and Bhutan are investing significantly in higher education relative to their size and economy than Pakistan.

Mr Siddiqui urged the finance committee to amend the budget proposals to allocate at least Rs80 billion for HEC’s recurring expenses and Rs80 billion for the development budget. He argued that the proposed increase was crucial to foster quality education and research, enabling Pakistan to produce a globally competitive younger generation. The Senate Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, is currently holding marathon sessions to review the senator’s budget proposals.

It is expected to finalise the committee’s recommendations by Thursday and present them before the house for their approval. Upon the Senate’s approval, the recommendations will be forwarded to the National Assembly for consideration.

Meanwhile, according to a statement issued by FAPUASA, faculty members of public-sector universities expressed serious concern over the government’s persistent neglect of higher education, demanding an immediate increase in the budget to Rs200 billion. They said the higher education budget allocated for salaries had been frozen at Rs65 billion since 2018. The statement said that faculty members’ key concern was the 25pc tax rebate, which had been presented in the finance bill with a restriction limiting it to the current fiscal year.

“The faculty strongly rejected this limitation, demanding full restoration and continuation of the rebate in coming years. They also reiterated their long-pending demands for the implementation of a fair and transparent promotion policy for BPS faculty and revision of TTS salaries that have been stagnant since 2021,” the statement read.

It further said as part of the ongoing protest campaign, FAPUASA had announced a peaceful demonstration in front of the National Press Club on Tuesday (today).

Furthermore, the statement said if the demands remained unmet, university teachers would stage a peaceful protest outside the Parliament House on June 19, 2025 until the issues were resolved. The faculty members said higher education was the backbone of a knowledge-based economy and its continued neglect not only undermined the welfare of university faculty, but also puts at risk the future of students, research and Pakistan’s national development.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2025