Financial mismanagement: Senate standing committee seeks HEC inquiry
SU has an overdraft of Rs150 million at a private bank at the interest rate of 10.5%.
The senators were informed that SU, which has over 27,000 students, has an overdraft of Rs150 million at a private bank at an interest rate of 10.5 per cent. PHOTO: SINDH UNIVERSITY
HYDERABAD:
The Senate's standing committee on federal education and professional training has asked the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to conduct an inquiry into financial mismanagement at the Sindh University (SU).
The committee, comprising senators Abdul Nabi Bangash, Rozi Khan Kakar and Ilyas Ahmed Bilour, held a meeting with officials from six universities at SU on Tuesday. Apart from SU, the other institutions represented were Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Sindh Agriculture University, Quaid-e-Azam University Nawabshah, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Nawabshah and Shah Abdul Abdul Latif University, Khairpur.
The committee took exception to SU's recourse to the bank overdraft facility to manage its finances, telling officials to end the practice. "This is an educational institution, not a business. How will you pay back these loans?" asked Bangash.
The senators were informed that SU, which has over 27,000 students, has an overdraft of Rs150 million at a private bank at an interest rate of 10.5 per cent. The loan was taken to pay the salaries and pensions of university employees as well as to cover other expenditures.
SU pro-vice chanceller Dr Siddique Kalhoro also revealed that a sum of Rs112 million was also taken from the pension, students and reserve funds to pay the salaries.
When the committee sought details about SU's academic linkages with foreign universities, Kalhoro replied that the varsity had partnerships with 20 universities in Malaysia, Italy, Germany, China and the UAE. However, he had no answer to a query regarding the number of SU teachers and students studying at these universities. The vice-chancellors of the other five universities also briefed the committee.
Talking to the media after the meeting, Bangash acknowledged the financial constraints faced by the institutions but he also put the blame for these on the universities themselves. "The varsities that complain are actually overstaffed," he claimed, drawing a comparison between the global and Pakistani ratios of teaching and non-teaching staff.
The senator said that he would recommend that the government increase the universities' research budget from two per cent of the total budget to five per cent.
Federal education secretary Muhammad Ahsan Raja, HEC chairperson Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, HEC executive director Mansoor Akbar Kundi and HEC Sindh member Dr Raza Bhatti also attended the meeting.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 12th, 2015.
The Senate's standing committee on federal education and professional training has asked the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to conduct an inquiry into financial mismanagement at the Sindh University (SU).
The committee, comprising senators Abdul Nabi Bangash, Rozi Khan Kakar and Ilyas Ahmed Bilour, held a meeting with officials from six universities at SU on Tuesday. Apart from SU, the other institutions represented were Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Sindh Agriculture University, Quaid-e-Azam University Nawabshah, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Nawabshah and Shah Abdul Abdul Latif University, Khairpur.
The committee took exception to SU's recourse to the bank overdraft facility to manage its finances, telling officials to end the practice. "This is an educational institution, not a business. How will you pay back these loans?" asked Bangash.
The senators were informed that SU, which has over 27,000 students, has an overdraft of Rs150 million at a private bank at an interest rate of 10.5 per cent. The loan was taken to pay the salaries and pensions of university employees as well as to cover other expenditures.
SU pro-vice chanceller Dr Siddique Kalhoro also revealed that a sum of Rs112 million was also taken from the pension, students and reserve funds to pay the salaries.
When the committee sought details about SU's academic linkages with foreign universities, Kalhoro replied that the varsity had partnerships with 20 universities in Malaysia, Italy, Germany, China and the UAE. However, he had no answer to a query regarding the number of SU teachers and students studying at these universities. The vice-chancellors of the other five universities also briefed the committee.
Talking to the media after the meeting, Bangash acknowledged the financial constraints faced by the institutions but he also put the blame for these on the universities themselves. "The varsities that complain are actually overstaffed," he claimed, drawing a comparison between the global and Pakistani ratios of teaching and non-teaching staff.
The senator said that he would recommend that the government increase the universities' research budget from two per cent of the total budget to five per cent.
Federal education secretary Muhammad Ahsan Raja, HEC chairperson Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, HEC executive director Mansoor Akbar Kundi and HEC Sindh member Dr Raza Bhatti also attended the meeting.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 12th, 2015.