Under the Higher Education Development in Pakistan (HEDP) project, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) held a comprehensive capacity-building session for public sector universities on income generation and financial autonomy.
Encouragement to create programs that allow higher education institutions (HEIs) to make money on their own was the goal. Attendees included 75 senior finance officials from various public sector HEIs, including vice-chancellors, treasurers, and registrars.
The purpose of the workshop was to equip the 26 HEIs, to whom the project has awarded Rs. 30 million each, to submit their planned projects on time and gain knowledge from the experiences of other HEIs.
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In Pakistan, state funding for higher education is still allocated at a rate that is below international norms. Due to conflicting demands on Pakistan’s national budget from other sectors, the situation is still precarious.
Furthermore, the province governments’ financial support for HEIs is likewise quite small, with the exception of Sindh. Understanding this, HEC is pushing public sector HEIs to increase their non-traditional revenue streams outside of government funding and tuition.
One of the main goals of the HEDP project is to strengthen the governance of the higher education sector by generating funds from non-traditional sources and diversifying revenue streams.
As a result, two frameworks have been devised, one for revenue enhancement and fund production and the other for strengthening financial autonomy for public sector institutions, following consultations with around 100 HEIs throughout Pakistan.
