Shut down public sector universities!

Dr Lubna Zaheer

Does a shadow of evil hover over Pakistan’s education sector? We take one step forward and two steps back. It's a downhill journey we're on. Good and positive news about the education sector is rarely heard as there are heaps of negative and disturbing news.

Much disappointing news has recently been discussed in educational circles that the federal government has reportedly slashed the annual budget of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for the upcoming financial year 2024-25 from Rs65 billion to Rs25bn. Earlier, the HEC used to provide sufficient funds to 160 public universities across the country. After this deduction, the funds of the commission will be spent only on the federally administered universities.

For the past several decades, we have been discussing the budget allocated for the education sector with repeated demands for more allocations. Just take the example of Malaysia when Mahathir Muhammad as the Prime Minister took over the government, he allocated a huge budget for the education sector. The result was that Malaysia developed at lightning speed. Today, students from other countries turn to Malaysia for relatively affordable and quality education. On the other hand, we have this situation that Pakistan spends hardly 1.7 per cent of GDP on education, which is less than all the countries in the region.

What to talk about India even Bangladesh is ahead of us in the education sector. When the election season comes, all the political parties in their election manifestos raise the issue of reforming the education sector. They make tall claims and declarations and when they form the government and get a chance to take practical steps, they remember their economic constraints and financial difficulties.

There is no doubt that economic difficulties surround our country. However, the aspect of understanding is that the future building of our young generation depends on the education sector. It should be spent on this most important future building. After all, despite all the financial difficulties, we also spend a huge budget on our defence. No government compromises on the defence budget. The authorities should understand that the importance of education is no less than defence in any way. Therefore, it’s necessary to spend on the education sector regardless of economic constraints.

Every year when the national budget is prepared, the HEC asks the government to increase the budget. This time too, the commission demanded an increase from Rs65b to Rs126b, but the government has further reduced it. The picture of our public sector universities is so bleak that every month the government universities get bogged down in paying salaries and pensions. Most universities in the country are at a loss. Imagine that even an institution like the University of Punjab University is barely carrying the burden of salaries and pensions. Management has to make regular adjustments every month. How will these universities survive when the aid or grant from the HEC is also stopped? On the one hand, we all want the education sector to improve. Scholars criticise why Pakistani universities are so far behind in global rankings. There is also criticism about why university professors don’t support the government in policy-making and why our universities are failing to produce world-class scientists. The problem is when you don't support universities in providing financial comfort, how will they be able to focus on quality and other academic matters?

Currently, Shehbaz Sharif is holding the position of the Prime Minister. Even if you disagree with him politically, you have to admit that as the Punjab chief minister, he paid special attention to the education sector, established Daanish schools, gave huge scholarships to poor and intelligent students through the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) and introduced various schemes including laptops, opened doors of education in Punjab for Baloch. During his tenure, the children who secured positions were awarded foreign educational tours. It was expected that the premier would substantially increase the education budget keeping in view the past practice of the PML-N rules, but the Shehbaz government has indicated a reduction in the dedicated budget for education.

Believe it or not, it will be difficult for the government universities to breathe after this budget cut and these have to be closed. How will the administration of the universities meet their expenses if they do not receive assistance from the commission? How will they pay salaries to teachers and employees? How will they pay the heavy electricity bills? Where to get cheap fuel for student buses? The only solution the public sector universities is to increase the student fees to meet the funds. If these universities start charging the same fees as private educational institutions. Will this solution be acceptable to the government? Will the child of the poor be able to get higher education after this increase? The answer is definitely no. We all know that students studying in government universities belong to poor and white-collar families. Increasing the fees means that you will close the doors of higher education to poor students with your own hands.

If the government wants to keep the doors of higher education open for the children of the poor, the federal government must reconsider the decision to cut the budget as a whole or in part. Another solution is that the provincial governments carry this financial burden. After the 18^th constitutional amendment, the education sector is still the responsibility of the provinces. The federal government can justify withholding funds by citing this amendment, so the provincial governments should provide funds to the universities of their province.

I am aware that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz is interested in educating and providing facilities to the youth. The Punjab government has reportedly asked for the details of the funds usually received from the HEC. Now it’s up to the provincial chief executive whether to provide these funds to the provincial universities or convince his paternal uncle PM Shehbaz to withdraw the decision to cut the funds. As the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) is also aiding the centre, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah could convince the premier in this regard. Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa must also come forward to demand the federal government withdraw the decision to slash funds because of the financial difficulties of the provinces.

If none of these options are implemented and universities are not supported to bear the burden of financial problems, we should be prepared for further deterioration in our higher education system and the bankruptcy of universities. The government should then shut down all universities to avoid becoming a laughing stock in the world.

-- The writer is a professor and analyst specializing in media and communication studies. She can be reached at lubna.zaheer91@gmail.com

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