Autonomy of Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan: A Case Study of University of Education, Lahore

Abstract

The study encompasses the concept of university autonomy in the context of higher education reforms of Pakistan in 2002. It uses case study research methodology and explores two core dimensions of university autonomy namely administrative autonomy and financial autonomy. The study aims to describe the nature and extent of administrative and financial autonomy at University of Education, Lahore. The data collected is of qualitative in nature and is collected mainly through observations, in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyses of the available documents. The research employs amalgamation of judgment and snowball sampling techniques. The respondents included members of administrative staff and the senior faculty of the university. The conclusions drawn from analysis of data tell that university enjoys sufficient amount of administrative autonomy as it can set its future direction, appoint faculty and staff to meet its present and future needs of human resources and can award or revoke affiliations to various educational institutions for the purpose of awarding degrees, but has low levels of financial autonomy as it is heavily dependent on government funding for its recurring/non-developmental and developmental expenditures.

Key Words: administrative autonomy, financial autonomy, nature of autonomy, extent of autonomy, higher education reforms.