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Fearing a cut on budget for higher education sector, Chairman Vice Chancellors Committee Dr Mohammad Ali has said that fee may be increased by up to 10 percent if deemed necessary. Addressing a press conference after being elected as new head of VCs Committee, Ali said that fee structure in public sector universities is very reasonable; however, he urged for mobilising resources to generate more funds. He further said that getting PhDs in one subject is the major reason behind unemployment.
Despite an overall 10 percent cut in the budget of government entities, the vice chancellors and rectors of universities earlier expressed trust in the government to protect the higher education sector's budget.
In the 23rd Vice Chancellors' Committee meeting chaired by Dr Masoom Yasinzai and attended by 137 vice chancellors and rectors on Monday, the university heads appreciated the government's commitment towards higher education, while seeking the government's further support to meet the rising financial requirements of the universities.
The meeting elected Quaid-i-Azam University Vice Chancellor Dr Mohammad Ali as the new chairman of the Vice Chancellors' Committee. The meeting was also attended by Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri, and HEC Executive Director Lt-Gen Muhammad Asghar (retd).
The meeting said that HEC undertook an extensive budgetary assessment exercise jointly with the Ministry of Finance, and according to which the estimated requirement of the higher education sector for FY 2019-20 is Rs 103.550 billion. However, the higher education sector, as per Indicative Budgetary Ceilings (IBCs), has been allocated a recurring grant of only Rs 58.50 billion for FY 2019-20.
Acknowledging the government's support for higher education and research, the VCs hoped that it will translate into significant release of funds. They also resolved to mobilise various non-government and non-tuition fee fundraising means and ensure initiatives aimed at efficient use of resources.
The meeting discussed in detail various agenda items including higher education sector's funding and emerging challenges, four-year integrated undergraduate programme, relevance in digital age, and HEC policies and regulations.
Addressing the vice chancellors, Dr Tariq Banuri highlighted the issues and challenges pertaining to financial crisis faced by the higher education sector. He informed the meeting that President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan and Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood have assured him of their support to the higher education sector.
While government funding is an integral component, the chairman pointed out that the financial crunch can be addressed through three complementary components which are government support, non-government fundraising and efficient use of resources. "We are also committed to undertaking complementary activities, namely fundraising and service efficiency."
Proposing measures regarding fundraising, he said the sector needs to mobilise alumni to generate funds, seek philanthropists' support, urge bilateral donations, encourage and formalise consultancies, attract fee-paying foreign students and strengthen public-private partnership.
Referring to efficient use of resources, he said the operational expenditures need to be controlled, while rationalising faculty to student and faculty to staff ratios, controlling non-salary expenses and targeting of funds towards most important areas are also needed.
Dr Masoom Yasinzai said the higher education is going through a tough time as far as its financial requirements are concerned. He acknowledged that the government is facing economic hardships which has created this situation; however the sector will eventually come out of these constraints with the government's support. "The universities must play their role in fundraising and looking for new avenues to generate funds," he stressed.
He appreciated Dr Tariq Banuri for bringing much-needed reforms into the higher education sector. He assured that universities stand by HEC in its pursuit for excellence in the higher education sector. "We all are a family and have to work together for the uplift of this sector," he stated.
On the occasion, HEC Consultant Academics Dr Zulfiqar Gilani, briefed the VCs on HEC's plan with regard to four-year integrated undergraduate programme. He said HEC is exploring possibilities of developing the programme in order to inculcate in students the abilities of critical thinking, evidence-based observation and research and lifelong learning.
"As in the rest of the world, the undergraduate degree should be a terminal degree for most students, who on graduation should have adequate knowledge and skills for employment or other gainful work. Also, graduates interested in further education, like masters or MPhil or doctoral studies should have sufficient knowledge and adequate grounding in research."
HEC Consultant Academics Asif Shahid Khan highlighted HEC's efforts to assist universities in staying relevant in the digital age. He said HEC is expanding the scope of Pakistan Education and Research Network (PERN), while building an educational cloud to give faculty and students access to infrastructure needed for research in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud computing, etc.
Shedding light on HEC's regulatory reform project, HEC Legal Consultant Dr Daud Munir said the initiative aims to structure HEC's regulations and guidelines in order to create a highly enabling regulatory environment for new and existing higher education institutions. "Well-formulated regulatory frameworks can actually create greater autonomy rather than constraining environment."
He said HEC is working on additional tiers to improve quality of higher education. "It is creating effective reporting, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to facilitate better implementation and compliance of the regulations."

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019

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