More funds to higher education

A paltry sum has been apportioned to education ministry, which is responsible for lives and fortunes of students

The question of whether or not Pakistan really wants to raise its educational standards has long remained unanswered. The newly-announced allocations for education under the federal budget do nothing to clarify matters. Over 72 per cent of the total education budget for the upcoming fiscal year has gone to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) which, true to name, oversees just higher education. A very paltry sum has been apportioned to the education ministry, which is responsible for the lives and fortunes of an entire host of students in the primary and secondary education system. First of all, throwing money at the HEC, which is itself beset by chronic challenges, and has a strong predilection towards misallocation, is highly absurd. Managerially, the HEC is in a shambles. And has been since 2002. It has no board member for operations and planning, functions are way behind schedule, it has failed to hold board meetings, it has constantly been criticised for bias, poor research practices and injudicious hiring. Throwing Rs71 billion at the commission, without making any provisions to correct its structural deficiencies, may prove to be one of the poorer decisions by the finance minister.

On the other hand, the education ministry — which has changed its name four times in the last three years — may be a federal entity but symbolises ‘education’ in a holistic sense for the country through provincial-level operations. Or is there now a federal vision and direction for addressing the education crisis? There is no clarity of mandate. There has been an untidy proliferation of education projects, some of them doubtless worthy, but quite unorganised. The overall increase of 13 per cent in the education budget may look like good news, but the failure to address a raft of structural problems takes the gilt from the gingerbread. Education remains a poor relation. There is universal agreement that there is a deeply-embedded education crisis in Pakistan. Overall, education has never been prioritised by any government, and spending has never topped more than four per cent of GDP.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2015.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.