Government to release Rs 29 billion for development of varsities: minister

Minister for Federal Education Shafqat Mahmood on Friday said the government would soon release Rs 29 billion for development of universities under various programmes. Addressing Vice Chancellors' Conference in Islamabad on Friday, he said that his ministry was working to devise a plan to make universities capable to generate revenue.

The meeting was presided over by Chairman VCs' Committee Dr Muhammad Ali and attended by HEC Chairman Tariq Banuri, and the heads of all public and private universities, either in person or through video-conference. The meeting aimed to reflect upon academic, administrative, and financial issues facing the higher education institutes in the country.

He shared with the academic senior management that the prime minister was sympathetic of the situation created by financial constraints. The HEC had requested Rs 20 billion to help ease the difficulty and the Finance Division had already approved Rs 5 billion.

The moot appreciated the Rs 5 billion grant for the higher education institutions facing dire financial difficulties in the preceding months. The minister said 50,000 scholarships would be awarded to deserving students in the Undergraduate Scholarship Programme in one year.

He said the number of scholarships would be increased gradually. Highlighting the heavy responsibility on the shoulders of the VCs, the ministerurged them to play their role to take Pakistan forward.

Intensive measures are required to improve the quality of higher education so that the graduates are skilled enough for employability, said the minister.

Mahmood said there was a need to ensure that the faculty was qualified and the curriculum was up-to-date. He also stressed the relevance of education to make the graduates skilled for employability.

Mahmood observed that the public and private-sector universities were facing a number of issues, which needed to be addressed. He added that the government was cognizant of those issues.

The minister said access of students to education was continuously improving; however the quality should not be compromised. He urged private universities to be mindful of maintaining quality, while expanding their networks and establishing sub-campuses.

Mahmood underlined that the education imparted in the higher education institutes must also be aligned with the market needs to make the graduates employable.

He said the government was successfully running a skill training programme based on six-month courses. The minister added that the majority of students acquiring skills training were already graduates who required additional skills other than their degrees to get jobs.

He said the government realised that the universities must be autonomous to cope with administrative and managerial challenges. He noted that different issues of universities face delays at various levels due to lack of autonomy.

"We want to enhance autonomy as much as we can." However, the minister also stressed the importance of accountability, which needed to be ensured for autonomy.

He said the higher education institutes must enforce discipline. Mahmood also said that the Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarships were a game changer in the sense that the government was committed to supporting students from low-income families.

He asked the universities to supplement it with scholarships from their own funds. With this support, the universities should also ensure that those who could afford education were asked to contribute fully to the costs.

He said that that was the vice chancellors' duty to provide their students with an environment conducive for studies. Mahmood urged the vice chancellors to provide the government guidance on the issue pertaining to restoration of student unions.