HEC Conducts Workshops on Framework for Financial Autonomy of Public Sector Universities

Islamabad/Lahore/Karachi (PNI) Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan under Higher Education Development in Pakistan (HEDP) project conducted two extensive capacity-building sessions for public sector universities on financial autonomy in Lahore and Karachi. Over 45 senior finance officials including treasurers and registrars from various public sector higher education institutions (HEIs) attended the workshops.
The first capacity-building session of the quarter was held at HEC Regional Centre Karachi, while the second was held in Lahore. HEDP has already trained more than 100 participants from different HEIs in the last three years of the project.

In the first four-day training session in Karachi, more than 23 treasurers and allied staff of HEIs from across the country including the federal capital, Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab attended the training. The thematic areas of the training included the features of the framework for financial autonomy, better financial management, guidelines for endowment funds, internal and external audit, tax matters, and practical examples for the implementation of the framework.
Chairman HEC Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed also graced the occasion with his presence as keynote speaker. Vice Chancellor Dawood University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Dr. Faizullah Abbasi and Vice Chancellor Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam Dr. Fateh Muhammad Marri were the chief guest of the opening and closing ceremonies respectively.

Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed stated that universities should keenly look for innovative ways to generate alternate revenue sources due to diminishing grants by the government. He also stressed the need to digitalise the HEIs processes for the availability of key data for decision-making at the click of a button instead of relying on paper-based reports.

In his remarks, Dr. Faizullah Abbasi emphasised the need for improvement in the financial resource generation of public sector universities in the wake of dwindling federal government grants and mounting expenditures due to inflation. Dr. Marri shared his experiences regarding governance and financial management of public sector universities.

The second capacity-building session in Lahore was attended by a cohort of around 25 registrars of public sector universities and their staff from across the country including federal capital, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The key thematic areas of the training included the features of the framework for financial autonomy, better financial management, improvement in the governance of public sector universities, and practical illustrations for implementation of the framework.

The allocation of public funds for the higher education sector in Pakistan remains low compared to international standards owing to competing demands from other sectors. HEC is thus encouraging public sector HEIs to enhance the revenues from non-traditional sources. It is also one of the key development objectives of the HEDP project, where the governance of the higher education sector is to be strengthened by supporting the financial autonomy of universities. After consultations with around 100 HEIs across Pakistan, a framework for revenue enhancement and fund generation for public sector universities was developed in this regard.

In the collective brainstorming, the programme members suggested automating the processes in the universities and the availability of dashboards for the Vice Chancellors and other administrative members to review the financial status online.

The training activity is led by the Financial Management Specialist, HEDP, Mr. Khawaja Zahid in collaboration with the financial experts who were engaged to conduct different sessions during the training.