Concern over bid to cut higher education budget

LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) is concerned that the government’s bid to reduce budgetary expenditure on higher education through the Higher Education Commission (HEC) will affect both the existing and prospective students, especially those from poorer vulnerable or marginalised groups.

HRCP in a statement said the state had a duty to ensure that higher education is accessible to the students from low-income backgrounds, especially those from under-resourced areas such as Balochistan, interior Sindh and western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Equally, it is critical that the bodies such as the HEC and provincial education commissions ensure that such funds are spent effectively and directed towards the deserving students who would otherwise have no opportunity to pursue higher education, it said. The human rights organisation said this meant bolstering the resources available to older as well as newer universities.