‘HEC to get Rs20 billion more budget to meet educational challenges’

Islamabad: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) will get Rs20 billion more budget from the government aimed at to invigorate and to strengthen the higher educational institutions, besides improving quality education across the country.

According to the official sources, the amount will be allocated on the request of Chairman HEC Dr Tariq Banuri to the Prime Minister for allocation of more budgets for various projects of higher education.

Reviewing the HEC demand, the prime minister directed to provide Rs20 billion on urgent basis to resolve the current issues of the higher educational institutions, they added.

The prime minister constituted a committee under Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood to address the issues keeping in view the resources, financial rules and regulations of the universities, sources further informed.

"This announcement has been made under the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan for promotion of education in country, even though the government was facing financial constraints," the sources remarked.

The total allocation for HEC during the years of 2019-20 was around 60 billion which has now reached to 80 billion with allocation new budget of Rs20 billion, they maintained.

They went on saying that the HEC under Ehsaas Programme, had also allocated an amount of Rs6 billion annually for the scholarships being provided to the 50,000 deserving students of 117 public sector universities.

They further said that the proposal for awarding of laptops to these 50,000 students were also under consideration. In that regard, HEC had suggested the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar to provide laptops to these deserving students as they were unable to purchase at their own, they informed.

The laptops were need of these students, who even could not pay their fees at universities, HEC told Usman Dar, they added.

To resolve these challenges and for the provision of quality education to the students, HEC had given suggestions to ensure the awarding of laptops to the deserving students, they aid adding that approximately expenditures on laptop scheme would be 2.50 billion.

They said that the entire system of HEC had been transferred on e-filing.

HEC, they said was making all out efforts within its domain to strengthen the Vice Chancellors of universities for resolving their problems. It is worth mentioning here that HEC Chairman in a meeting briefed the Prime Minister on the reforms introduced by the commission, modernizing the higher education, and the issues being faced by the institutions.