Academics call for increased budget for public universities

The Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) has demanded that central and all provincial governments increase the budget for public sector universities across the country in the new annual budget 2023-24, writes Afshan S Khan for The News.

FAPUASA president, members of the central executive council and cabinet members of all provincial chapters in a joint statement demanded the federal government allocate PKR500 billion (US$1.7 billion) in the recurring budget for the higher education sector and PKR200 billion in the development budget and have also strongly demanded the provincial governments increase the grants in aid of the universities of their respective provinces.

They regretted that despite a high inflation rate of 38% during the last five years, the budget for the higher education sector remained stagnant. The higher education sector has to face budgetary cuts and delays in payments which resulted in non-payment of salaries to the universities’ staff.
Full report on The News site