LAHORE: Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association on Sunday expresses dismay over the policies of the government towards higher education.
Dr. Amjad Magsi Central President FAPUASA said the Higher Education sector is facing severe challenges. Prime Minister has announced education emergency in the county.
The higher education sector is in a state of serious emergency, which needs urgent attention and enhanced budget allocations. On the other hand, the tax rebate available to the teachers and researchers is being withdrawn. After the elimination of tax rebates and revised slabs of income tax, there will be a decrease in the monthly salary after July 24.
Dr. Muhammad Uzair General Secretary said the present volume of total budget is Rs.18874 billion and in this for Higher Education till there is only 65 billion as a recurring grant while 66 is for a development grant. There is no grant for an increase in salaries of TTS faculty who have not gotten any increase since 2021.
Dr. Amjad Magsi said that limited government funding and inadequate resource allocation hinder the development of universities. Insufficient facilities, outdated libraries, and inadequate funds for which universities have to increase their fee many times, which severely affect
Accessibility and affordability of the students: High fees and unequal access to quality education is the results of lack of funding for the higher education sector.
FAPUASA appreciate the leadership of PPP as their governments in Sindh and Balochistan have allocated separate funding for public sector universities. In Sindh, the government has allocated 35 billion for around 29 public sector universities and in Balochistan Rs5 billion for 10 universities. Although in Balochistan there is more need for funds of the universities.
Dr. Amjad Magsi highlighted that the already crisis ridden Higher Education sector was given another shock by the government through withdrawal of the tax rebate, which was earlier 75% and reduced to 40% and 25%. The withdrawal of tax exemption is going to affect their salaries in real sense. This has created a lot of anxiety and frustration among the faculty members.
Talented scholars and researchers planning to emigrate due to lack of opportunities, financial constraints, and limited career growths. That ultimately will lead to faculty shortage and inadequate number of qualified faculty members, especially in critical subjects.
Dr. Amjad Magsi Central President demanded restoration of the tax exemption up to 75%, which will be a very welcoming step of the government for the sake of higher education.
The FAPUASA leadership urges the federal government to allocate Rs500 billion for higher education, which will still be far less than promised 4% of GDP. They also demanded budget allocations for Universities from Punjab and KPK governments.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
Comments
Comments are closed.