Vice-Chancellors (VCs) of all public sector universities have demanded additional funding for the higher education sector in the annual budget for FY 2022-23.
The federal government has allocated Rs. 65 billion to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) as non-development expenditure. However, the VCs have demanded Rs. 104 billion for the HEC.
In a joint statement, VCs’ Committee headed by VC Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU), Dr. Mohammad Ali, the VCs appreciated the government for allocating Rs. 65 billion as the non-development grant for the HEC.
However, they revealed that non-development funding of Rs. 104 billion is required to ensure the smooth functioning of the universities, adding that the funds allocated are Rs. 39 billion less than the required amount.
In FY 2021-22, the previous federal government had allocated a total of Rs. 108.65 billion to the HEC, of which Rs. 66.25 billion were for non-development expenditure and Rs. 42.4 billion were for development schemes.
For the upcoming FY 2022-21, the incumbent federal government has allocated a total of Rs. 109.4 billion to the HEC, of which Rs. 65 billion are for non-development expenditure and Rs. 44.4 billion are for development schemes.
While the government has increased the overall HEC budget by a mere 0.3% and the development budget by 4.5%, the federal government has decreased the non-development expenditure by 1.9%.
