FUUAST entangled in financial quandary

Administration is in debt to teachers, examination staff and vendors for the past three years

KARACHI:

In addition to a competent administration, a stable supply of funding is also important for the smooth functioning of any higher education institution however, both seem to be missing in the unfortunate case of the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences & Technology (FUUAST), which has been battling a severe shortage of funds given the inept management of finances by its supervisory board since the past three years.

The institution, which was established in 2002, came under the governments radar after a mind-boggling report prepared by the acting Vice Chancellor Dr Rubina Mushtaq, came to the fore during a Senate meeting for the appointment of a new Vice Chancellor, which stated that the FUUAST was on the verge of bankruptcy since it had failed to conduct daily operations or provide wages and pensions to its staff since November 2023.

“It is the responsibility of the Vice-Chancellor to keep the university afloat. Only people who are responsible should be appointed for this designation. The university has no permanent Vice-Chancellor, and everyone in the admin is preoccupied with their own issues. Unfortunately, the admin of the FUUAST does not have a serious attitude in the Senate, because of which its matters aren’t dealt with,” regretted Dr Pirzada Qasim, founding Vice-Chancellor of FUUAST, who further revealed that universities in the public sector required grants for operating since the revenue generated from student fee was not enough.

Read: FUUAST, HEC embroiled in controversy

According to statistics obtained by the Express Tribune the present administration of the FUUAST is in debt to teachers, examination staff and vendors amounting to almost Rs1200 million since various dues including salaries, pensions, commutation allowances, leave encashment, honorariums for thesis evaluation have not been paid for the last three years; Rs159 million to 50 employees for commutation, Rs26 million to 24 employees for leave encashment, Rs50 million for an honorarium for thesis evaluation, and Rs105 million for an honorarium for part-time teachers are due. Hence, in the current fiscal year, a loss of around Rs934 million has been anticipated based on the ratio of income and expenditure.

Furthermore, in order to maintain the day to day operations of the university an immediate recovery of Rs1700 million is required in addition to the aforementioned budget.

What has greatly exacerbated the degree of financial loss is the decline in the admission of students, which been a common trend across many public higher education institutions in light of the nation’s economic circumstances.

“Right now, the biggest issue is the availability of funds since the federal government is not ready to provide any additional funding given its commitment to the IMF that no more funding will be provided to any institution. In such a scenario, how is it possible for them to give funds to the FUUAST?,” retorted Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman of the Higher Education Commission.

“So far, the previous Vice-Chancellors at FUUAST have failed to do their job. They refused to listen to anyone including the Chancellor’s office and invested in upgradations and appointments at their own will, which cost superfluous amounts of money. This problem is not a one-day issue, since a more competent administration is the need of the hour,” he added.

While it remains to be seen whether or not a new administration would be able to save FUUAST, any of the five academicians chosen by the search committee to assume leadership of the university as Vice-Chancellor, would be expected to face significant obstacles in trying to save this failing institution given the current abysmal state of its financial affairs.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th 2024.