Karachi:

Despite Pakistan’s deteriorating financial crisis and growing fiscal deficits at public universities, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) continues to approve lavish expenses using public funds. In its latest relocation, HEC has issued letters to the principal and principals of universities in the public sector across the country and invited them to attend a conference in a discount, Morocco – at the expense of their own university budgets.

Organized by HEC itself, the conference is scheduled for the last week of June in Morocco’s capital. The Commission has asked interested the principal to confirm their participation and contact HEC Islamabad before May 28. However, travel costs must be covered by university funds – which primarily derives from taxpayers’ money and student fees.

Public universities in all four provinces receive funding from the federal government via HEC, while institutions in SINDH are also supported by the provincial government with several billion rupees annually. According to the SINDH government policy, if a university head travels abroad, the leave announcement typically clarifies that the expenses must not be paid by the university or government.

In this case, however, HEC’s letter explicitly places financial responsibility for the Morocco tour of universities themselves. Meanwhile, reports show that HEC will cover the travel expenses for a few senior officials from his own budget.

This development comes as several universities are struggling with financial distress. Regular employees at the Federal Urdu University have reportedly not received wages for months, while retired staff await decaying pensions.

The University of Balochistan faces a similar crisis. Even the newly established federal university in Hyderabad is short on funds, and several institutions in Sindh are reportedly borrowing from the banks just to pay staff.

Ironically, the conference was originally scheduled to be held in Pakistan on May 12. However, the room was changed to Morocco because of what HEC described as “regional conditions.”