Islamic Renaissance in Pakistan
Senate body asks govt to release more funds for IIU
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Education
reaffirmed its commitment to the promotion of higher education in the country.
The committee met here at the International Islamic University (IIU) with
Senator Razina Alam Khan in the chair.
It urged the government to release more funds for the IIU, which was currently
facing severe economic crunch, adding that at least the recurrent budget be
released without any delay, said a statement issued by the Senate Secretariat
here on Monday.
The committee took exception to the delay in the release of the third quarter
funds, which are to be provided through the HEC, to the IIU and said it would
take up the matter with the quarters concerned, both at the HEC and the finance
ministry level.
"This university should be a model in the entire Muslim world, but this
objective could only be achieved when it is provided with adequate funds and
complete autonomy," it observed. The committee emphasised the need for
imparting knowledge with a clear Islamic perspective. It urged the university
to strive to become a corner of excellence by bringing about qualitative
improvement and acquiring the services of a highly-qualified faculty.
Only in this manner, the dream of reviving the glorious Muslim traditions of
learning and the Islamic educational renaissance could become a reality, it
said. The committee members asked the IIU administration to make special
efforts for the promotion of social sciences and to strive for winning
international recognition by virtue of higher standards.
The committee commended the efforts of the IIU in spreading the light of
education and its commitment to quality education in the country despite the
odds it was facing.
The Senate body asked the government to implement the four-year undergraduate
programme across the country, so that there was uniformity and consistency. It
urged the philanthropists and affluent sections of the society to help the
management of the university overcome its current difficulties. Earlier, the
IIU president said it was the first ever visit by a parliamentary committee to
the university.
He said the IIU made a humble beginning in 1985 with only 120 students, but
now, it had more than 14,000 students and nearly 250 faculty members, most of
them holding PhD degrees. Students from 46 countries are studying in the
university and their number is close to 1,500, which include 550 Chinese
students, he said.
He added that this year, about 7,000 students took the entry test.
The IIU president said it was expected that the number of students might reach
30,000 within the next 5-10 years. At present, there are nine faculties,
including that of engineering and technology, which has been granted
reorganisation by the PEC recently, he said.
He informed the committee that the present resource crunch was so severe that
the IIU had to borrow Rs 70 million from banks on high interest rates to pay
salaries to the teachers, as the third-quarter fund was yet to be released.
"We have been asked to freeze the expenses at the last-year level, but the
problem is there has been unprecedented increase in the prices of the POL,
electricity, etc. Additionally, we have to give the 20 per cent pay raise
announced by the government to our employees, whose number is 2,500," he
said.
We have no provision to account for these expenses in our budget, he added.
Our degrees are recognised the world over and the teaching faculty is highly
qualified, the IIU president said. The committee assured its support to promote
the cause of higher education in the country.
The meeting was attended by Senators Tahira Latif, Dr Abdul Khaliq Pirzada, Dr
Muhammad Said, Liaquat Ali Bangulzai and Professor Muhammad Ibrahim Khan
besides the faculty members and senior staff of the university.
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