KARACHI, June 13: Terming the proposed amount earmarked for the education sector in the next fiscal year’s federal budget ‘insufficient’ and ‘disappointing’, the college and university teachers’ representative bodies have urged the government to raise the allocation keeping in view the high inflation rate or else it would have a negative impact on the education sector.

Karachi University Teachers’ Society (KUTS) president Dr Aqeel Ahmed said the government allocated Rs24.62 billion for the education sector in the federal budget for 2008-09, which was just Rs100 million more than the current fiscal year’s allocation, although the inflation rate had been officially estimated over 11 per cent while the prices of every item, including lab equipment and chemicals, had registered a sharp increase during the last year.

He criticised the government act of freezing the Rs18billion funds of the Higher Education Commission’s development programme, saying that the move would stop the overall growth recorded in the higher education sector.

Subsequently, this would demoralize those pursuing higher education and were involved in research work in the universities and higher education centres of the country.

Dr Ahmed, who is also a member of the university’s syndicate, described the allocation as ‘relatively lower’ than the previous year’s as the fact of the matter, he said, was that if it was calculated on the basis of double-digit inflation it would mean a reduction.

The amount allocated for the education sector was ‘insufficient’ and no relief had been provided to teachers of government colleges, said Prof Riaz Ahsan, central president of the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association.

He said the SPLA had sought 100 per cent increase in the salaries of college teachers and 60 per cent raise in the house rent while keeping in view the soaring prices of all essential goods and high inflation rate.

However, he said, the federal government in its next fiscal year budget had proposed a mere 20 per cent increase in the basic pay for the government employees of BPS-1 to BPS-19, which was quite insufficient.

He said college teachers were disappointed because contrary to their expectations and the promises made by the former prime minister on the occasion of Teachers Day last year, the government made no announcement to upgrade college teachers on the pattern of varsity teachers.

Prof Ahsan described the government’s inaction as discriminatory, saying that college teachers at postgraduate and degree colleges were ignored while those of universities were upgraded.

Referring to the finance minister’s budget speech in which he reportedly said that the federal government basically performed a supportive role while the provincial government had borne the major expenditures in the education and health sectors, he said the government must realize that the provision of education and health facilities was the basic responsibility of the state.

The argument was supported by Prof Iftikhar Mohammad Azmi, additional secretary of the association, who said that a mere increase of 20 per cent in the salaries would not bring any relief to government employees as a drastic cut announced in the budget on food, fuel and electricity subsidies would continue to hurt the common man, who was already reeling from price hike, inflation and food shortages.

He warned the government that if the government did not take appropriate measures to address the grievances, it would stir unrest among college teachers across the country.