Vice-Chancellors (VCs) of all public sector institutions have requested more financing for the higher education sector in the fiscal year 2022-23 budget.
As non-development spending, the federal government has allotted Rs. 65 billion to the Higher Education Commission (HEC). The VCs, on the other hand, have asked Rs. 104 billion for the HEC.
The VCs’ Committee, led by VC Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU), Dr. Mohammad Ali, expressed gratitude to the government for giving Rs. 65 billion as a non-development grant for the HEC in a joint statement.
They did, however, disclose that non-development money of Rs. 104 billion is necessary to support the institutions’ smooth operation, and the monies granted are Rs. 39 billion less than the required amount.
The previous federal government had allotted Rs. 108.65 billion to the HEC in FY 2021-22, of which Rs. 66.25 billion was for non-development spending and Rs. 42.4 billion was for development initiatives.
The existing federal government has allotted Rs. 109.4 billion to the HEC for the forthcoming fiscal year 2022-21, of which Rs. 65 billion is for non-development spending and Rs. 44.4 billion is for development initiatives.
While the federal government boosted the total HEC budget by just 0.3 percent and the development budget by 4.5 percent, it lowered non-development spending by 1.9 percent.
