Islamabad, November 10, 2023: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) under the Higher Education Development in Pakistan (HEDP) project conducted an extensive capacity-building session for public sector universities on financial autonomy and revenue generation.
The purpose was to encourage higher education institutions (HEIs) to develop projects that enable them to generate funds and revenue on their own. Seventy-five senior finance officials, including Vice Chancellors, treasurers, and registrars from various public sector HEIs attended. The workshop was focused on 26 HEIs to whom the project has disbursed Rs. 30 million each for this activity to equip these to submit their planned projects on time and learn from other HEIs’ experiences.
The allocation of public funds for the higher education sector in Pakistan remains low compared to international standards. The situation remains vulnerable owing to competing demands from other sectors on Pakistan’s national budget. Moreover, except for Sindh, the financial contribution by the provincial governments for HEIs is also negligible. Realising this, HEC is encouraging public sector HEIs to enhance the revenues from non-traditional sources beyond government grants and student fees. It is one of the key development objectives of the HEDP project, where the governance of the higher education sector is to be strengthened by revenue diversification and fund generation from non-traditional sources. Accordingly, after consultations with around 100 HEIs across Pakistan, two frameworks – one for revenue enhancement and fund generation and the other for improving financial autonomy for public sector universities have been developed. Relevant stakeholders comprising the senior management of public sector HEIs from across Pakistan were engaged to review, improve, and provide feedback on this draft framework.
Despite legal and institutional challenges, some of the HEIs have made substantial progress on this initiative and in their brief presentations they shared their project ideas that others can take advantage of. These included Khyber Medical University, Peshawar; University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore; UET Taxila; Hazara University Mansehra; IBA Sukkur; University of Sargodha; and Karakorum International University, Gilgit.
Vice Chancellor BUITEMs Dr. Khalid Hafeez and Vice Chancellor Hazara University Dr. Jameel Ahmed were chief guests on the occasion. They shared several local and international examples to make the most of this funding opportunity.
Project Coordinator HEDP Dr. Masood Hussain shared multiple examples from the West and neighboring countries as to how they started this journey years ago and are now benefiting from it. Members were also briefed that under Component 6, overall, more than 100 HEIs were given substantial financial support focusing on their IT readiness and making them self-sustainable. This is in addition to the public grant funding from the HEC regular stream for public sector universities.
HEDP is a five-year project (2019/20 – 2023/24) being implemented by HEC to expand upon its key higher education priorities. It aims to support research excellence in strategic sectors of the economy, improve teaching and learning, and strengthen governance in higher education.
Follow the PNI Facebook page for the latest news and updates.
