Cruel cut

Many of the ills which today face our country – poverty, illiteracy and the militancy that stems from these – are rooted in inadequate funding over many decades for education. It is disheartening to learn that the amounts allocated have been slashed further. The chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has written to the prime minister requesting a review of the Rs7 billion cut in the budget for the organisation. Just over Rs15 billion was proposed this time round, compared to more than Rs22 billion last year. The heads of several public-sector universities have indicated that they may not be in a position to meet their operating budgets because of the drastic cut in funding from the HEC.

Given that the literacy rate officially stands at only 57 per cent, more should be done to ensure every child is enrolled at school and to open up opportunities even limited schooling can bring. Money taken away from the HEC has not been allocated for education in any form but has gone under different heads, with defence, debt servicing and administration taking huge bites out of the budgetary pie. It seems almost a crime to leave an organisation, which has worked to push up the standards of higher education and to check evils like plagiarism, in the lurch. We must hope the HEC’s desperate plea will be heard. It is a good sign that several parliamentarians have already raised the matter in their speeches on the budget. Pakistan needs desperately to bolster education at all levels. The HEC must be allowed to continue the excellent work it is doing in its own sphere of expertise without brakes being hastily applied in this fashion and causing the educational vehicle to skid further off track.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2010.