The Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Associations (FAPUASA) has issued an urgent call to significantly increase the budgetary allocation for the higher education sector in the upcoming fiscal year 2025-2026.
In a joint meeting with AGEGA at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, the leadership emphasized on collective efforts for betterment of higher education sector.
Expressing their grave concern over the stagnation in the higher education budget since 2017 to PKR 65 billion. FAPUASA highlighted that despite the rapid expansion of universities and research centers from around 120 to 156 institutions, the annual recurring grant has remained fixed at approximately PKR 65 billion. This unchanged allocation fails to account for the increase in operational costs, and more than a 130% surge in salaries and utility expenses.
FAPUASA further noted that even the Higher Education Commission’s recent demand of PKR 86 billion as recurring grant for FY 2025-26, though higher than previous allocations, falls significantly short of the actual financial needs of universities across the country.
