Financial woes risk closure of 20 KP universities

Financial issues could lead to the closure of up to 20 universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a new report revealed on Monday.

The report, generated by the governor’s office, has revealed that universities in the province run a deficit of Rs1.70 billion and are more than Rs6 billion in debt.

The financial crisis has worsened to a degree where the staff at many universities have not been paid their salaries. Administrative affairs have been halted in multiple universities as well.

The report has also revealed that 29 universities were set up in the university without proper planning. The institutions were created for ‘political reasons’, even in places where the number of students did not merit it. It adds that four universities were created in Swat alone.

Revealing another detail about the mismanagement of how the universities are run, the report says that 12 universities in the province do not currently have a vice-chancellor and eight out of these are being run by pro-VCs.

Another 8 universities will lose their chancellors to retirement this year, the report adds.