ISLAMABAD: Meeting of Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) executive council under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Kaleem Ullah Bareach with Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed was held here the other day at HEC Islamabad. President ASA Prof. Dr. Siraj ul Islam, GS ASA Dr. Farooq Buzdar and Dr. Adnan Fida represented COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI) in this meeting.
Chairman categorically said that HEC considers FAPUASA as the only faculty association and they are always ready to resolve the concern of FAPUASA. Chairman was concerned that recurring budget of Rs. 65 billion is the same since 2018 and it should have been around Rs. 128 billion as expenses are increasing with the passage of time. HEC also showed concern regarding the mismanagement of budget and bad governance in universities which ultimately affect the universities severely. He emphasized that provinces should play their role after the 18th amendment for growth and development of higher education institutions.
Regarding demand for an increase in the federal and provincial budget and grants-in-aid for universities. President FAPUASA Prof. Bareach suggested a stakeholder conference regarding the increase of the budget in higher education. Chairman agrees to fund and host the subject conference along with FAPUASA. The council members expressed that the proposed amendment bill in the HEC ordinance violated the 18th constitutional amendment and undermined the provincial autonomy, and the federal government presented the bill without the consultation of stakeholders and provinces. After thorough deliberation, the council unanimously rejected the amendment in the HEC ordinance 2002 bill.
The ED and DG HRM HEC agreed the 35% salaries difference between BPS and TTS scale, whereas ED also agreed that annual increment should be given to TTS faculty members just like BPS. FAPUASA approved the recommended promotion policy for BPS faculty. The ED HEC emphasized that two Selection Boards should be conducted in a year and the same has been included in the ranking of universities. In case of noncompliance the ranking of the universities will be affected. The endorsement issue of COMSATS University Islamabad was also taken up in this meeting. HEC agreed to solve the subject matter and share the list of endorsed faculty members soon. It was informed to HEC that faculty should not be responsible for lapses and delays in the administration end, so all cases should be endorsed.
Chairman HEC gave a proposal to launch a scholarship scheme for non-PhD faculty members of public sector universities. In this scheme all non-PhD BPS faculty members can complete PhD in coming five to six years from Pakistan. Proposal of group insurance was discussed, and Chairman agreed to implement the group insurance scheme for TTS faculty members as well. HEC agrees to send a letter to the Ministry of finance for 75% tax rebate. HEC agrees that PhD Thesis evaluation can be done inside Pakistan and the same has been approved in recent graduate policy. HEC agreed for the timely implementation of the government’s decision regarding increasing the salary in universities.
Further, HEC clarifies that the condition of approved supervisor is only required in case of HEC projects or HEC funding, otherwise according to new graduate policy of HEC, there is no such mandatory requirement. Regarding attestation for PhD degrees, HEC is working on a swift process where the database of all universities will be connected with HEC and degrees will be attested within a couple of days. –PR
