The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has raised concerns over the state of education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with Chief Justice Shah questioning whether sufficient attention and resources are being directed towards the province’s education sector.
The observations came during the hearing of a contempt petition filed by around 90 students, including Lentha Iqbal and others, over the non-implementation of an earlier court order concerning their need-based scholarships.
The students approached the court after the University of Peshawar (UoP) allegedly failed to release funds under the Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) Need-Based Scholarship Programme (NBSP).
Advocate Umar Hussain, representing the petitioners, told the court that the PHC had allowed two similar petitions in April, directing the HEC to arrange and release the remaining scholarship funds to the university according to the programme’s terms.
He said the court had also instructed the University of Peshawar to promptly distribute all scholarship amounts received from the HEC among eligible students instead of retaining the funds.
According to the counsel, the scholarship programme is intended to assist financially disadvantaged students enrolled at public-sector universities. He argued that funding constraints could not be used as a justification for withholding scholarships or making reduced payments to eligible students.
Representatives of the University of Peshawar, including Advocate Khalid Rehman and Assistant Registrar (Legal) Riaz Ali Khan, appeared before the bench.
Riaz Ali Khan sought additional time to address the matter, informing the court that the university was facing a financial deficit exceeding Rs2 billion.
He said salary payments for the previous month had been delayed until the 16th, while funds required to pay salaries for the current month were still unavailable.
During the proceedings, Chief Justice Shah expressed concern over the university’s financial and administrative situation and questioned the government’s handling of Peshawar’s oldest university.
The bench also discussed concerns surrounding university-owned land, observing that some occupants were reportedly paying rent as low as Rs500 while subsequently renting the properties to others for amounts reaching Rs500,000.
The assistant registrar said several legal cases had been initiated in connection with the disputed properties.
The chief justice also noted that several departments at the University of Peshawar were reportedly being closed because of declining student enrolment and interest.
The bench linked the university’s difficulties, among other factors, to what it described as unnecessary recruitment.
The university’s representative, however, clarified that no non-teaching staff had been recruited since 2012 and maintained that the institution continued to face a shortage of faculty members.
After hearing the arguments, the PHC adjourned the proceedings and directed the university administration to address the students’ scholarship issue. The court also issued a notice to the HEC seeking its response to the petition.
