Edu endowment fund plagued by ad-hocism
According to sources, the federal government took control of the Rs50 billion funds to bypass the PTI-led provincial government and to instead spend the funds on recommendations from politicians belonging to the coalition government. photo: file
Pakistan's only federal education endowment fund, the Pakistan Education Endowment Fund (PEEF), has been without a permanent head for the past seven years, relying on temporary appointments instead.
Senate Standing Committee on Education was informed on Friday that the fund, managing assets exceeding Rs7 billion, has faced administrative hurdles due to ad-hoc leadership.
Ministry of Education additional secretaries have been given temporary charges, with a female officer currently serving as acting CEO for the past year.
It was disclosed that between 2019-20, officials within the fund were involved in a significant corruption scandal, leading to a case filed with the FIA.
The misappropriated sum of Rs116 million, siphoned through bank accounts, was recovered from the implicated officials, who have since been dismissed.
Secretary of Education Mohiuddin Wani told the Senate committee that the lack of a commercial audit since the fund's inception in 2016 enabled the corruption. A subsequent audit uncovered the irregularities, prompting disciplinary action and recovery of the embezzled amount.
Despite these challenges, the acting CEO, Syeda Hajra Sohail, reported progress in the scholarship program. PEEF distributed 10,000 scholarships this year, significantly up from its usual 3,000.