ISLAMABAD: In a concerning development, highly qualified faculty members working under the Tenure Track System (TTS) in public sector universities have been disregarded in the annual budget’s salary increase, sparking criticism and discontent within the academic community. The All Pakistan Tenure Track Faculty Association (APTTA), representing over 5,000 professors, associate professors, and assistant professors in government universities, expressed its disappointment in a statement released on Thursday.
According to Dr. Yasar Shah, the president of APTTA, the last salary increase for TTS teachers was implemented in 2021, leaving a gap of six years since the previous adjustment. Despite more than two years having passed, TTS teachers have not received any salary increments, leading to growing unrest among academic staff.
This neglect is particularly distressing as the country grapples with a staggering inflation rate, which has reached a record high of forty percent. While government employees have benefited from notable salary increases to mitigate the impact of rising prices, TTS teachers have been deprived of such relief.
President APTTA emphasized that two years ago, the government’s Finance Division, under the directive of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, issued a notification approving a 35 percent salary gap between TTS and Basic Pay Scale (BPS) schemes. However, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has failed to enforce this notification during the past two years, exacerbating the frustration among TTS teachers.
In response to these circumstances, President APTTA demanded an immediate 50 percent salary increase for TTS teachers. Furthermore, he urged the government to link future salary increments for TTS teachers to the annual national budget to ensure equitable treatment. He also called for the swift implementation of the TTS/BPS salary gap notification to rectify the existing disparity.
The TTS community has appealed to the Chairman of HEC, considering his role as the chief patron of higher education in Pakistan, to intervene and investigate this issue. They hope that he will take prompt action to fulfill the government’s salary increase announcement for TTS faculty members.
President APTTA conveyed to the HEC that if their demands are not met by the end of June 2023, TTS teachers nationwide will exercise their democratic right to stage a protest outside the HEC headquarters. This ultimatum highlights the seriousness of their concerns and their determination to seek a resolution to their grievances.
As the deadline looms, the academic community and concerned citizens anxiously await the response from the HEC and the government, hoping for a swift resolution that acknowledges the invaluable contributions of TTS teachers and ensures their fair treatment in the budgetary process.
