Sindh universities’ grants not being stopped: HEC chief

Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed has told The News that the grants to Sindh’s universities are not being stopped on June 1, and that the grants the universities receive would continue.

Dr Ahmed said that there was talk of stopping the grants to provincial universities during the time of former federal education secretary Waseem Ajmal. That was the extent of the proposal at that time, he added.

However, he pointed out, the HEC had opposed the proposal because the grants to provincial universities cannot be stopped without the approval of the Council of Common Interests. He said the provincial government has significantly increased the grants to universities, adding that he has heard that the government is now increasing them from Rs26 billion to Rs40 billion. He hoped this would reduce the universities’ financial problems.