ISLAMABAD, Mar 5 (APP):Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday said that competitive pay structures were essential to attract and retain talented faculty in universities, warning that the higher education system could face serious challenges if qualified teachers were not retained.
He expressed these views while chairing the eighth meeting of the task force constituted to review the faculty pay scale system in higher education, a news release said.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and provincial higher education departments.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister said salaries under the Tenure Track System (TTS) had remained frozen since 2021, which had significantly reduced the incentive for talented academics to join or remain in universities.
He said the earlier 35 percent salary gap between TTS and the basic pay scale had effectively disappeared over time due to the salary freeze.
“If universities fail to retain competent teachers, the entire higher education system will suffer,” he said, stressing the need to revise the pay structure to make it competitive and attractive for highly qualified faculty members.
The minister said bringing and retaining talent in universities required a rational and sustainable pay framework, adding that revision in the TTS pay scale had become unavoidable in view of changing economic realities.
At the same time, he emphasized that improved salaries must be accompanied by strict enforcement of performance indicators to ensure quality teaching, research and academic output.
The task force approved recommendations to provide faculty members working under the TTS with a salary equivalent to 35 percent above the baseline pay structure.
Ahsan Iqbal directed the Higher Education Commission to work closely with provincial governments to ensure increased budgetary allocations for universities so that the proposed reforms could be implemented effectively.
He also stressed the need to differentiate between the quality of academic qualifications, saying that not all PhD degrees were equal.
The minister proposed that scholars holding PhD degrees from the world’s top 50 universities should be given special incentives and additional benefits to encourage high-quality research and academic excellence in Pakistan’s universities.
He said strengthening the higher education sector was essential for building a knowledge-based economy and achieving sustainable national development.