The Finance Ministry has allocated Rs. 109 billion for the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in the annual budget for FY2022-23 despite serious financial challenges.
According to the budget speech document available with ProPakistani, Rs. 65 billion have been allocated for the non-development expenditure of the HEC. Rs. 44 billion have been allocated for the development schemes of the HEC as well.
The government representatives have unabashedly claimed that the Finance Ministry has increased the HEC’s budget for FY2022-23 by 67% in comparison to FY2021-22.
However, Rs. 108.65 billion had been approved for HEC in FY2021-22, of which Rs. 66.25 billion were for non-development expenditure and Rs. 42.4 billion were for development schemes. The development expenditure, under PSDP, was later revised to Rs. 26.34 billion. The government representatives have been comparing this revised development budget with the proposed development budget for FY2022-23 even though comparisons can only be made between either proposed figures or the final spent amounts. The latter, however, is not possible since the fiscal year 2022-23 is yet to even begin.
A simple calculation shows that HEC’s total budget for FY2022-23 has only been increased by a mere 0.3% in comparison to FY 2021-22, which blatantly contradicts the claim of the Finance Ministry.
Besides, the Finance Ministry has also approved 5,000 scholarships for talented students from Balochistan and merged tribal districts. A separate scholarship program has been approved for the students from the coastal areas of Balochistan.
Overall, the budget for the education sector has received a cut by 1.5 percent from Rs. 91.970 billion for the current fiscal year to Rs. 90.556 billion for Education Affairs and Services in the federal budget for 2022-23.
The Finance Ministry has also approved to resume Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme for talented students from all over the country. Separate funds for the provision of state-of-the-art equipment to engineering and technology universities have been approved as well.