Islamabad: The All Pakistan Tenure Track Faculty Association (APTTA) has urged the Government to expedite the review of the revised Tenure Track System (TTS) salary notification issued by the Finance Division in July 2026 and to reconvene the consultative process involving all relevant stakeholders.
APTTA welcomed the Federal Cabinet's recognition of the longstanding issue of TTS faculty salaries and the revision of salary scales with effect from 1 July 2026. However, the Association maintains that the notified scales do not fully implement the Prime Minister's decision of 20 September 2021, which stipulated that a 35% differential between BPS and TTS faculty salaries should henceforth be maintained.
The Senate Standing Committee has also asked the Ministry of Finance to review the 2026 notification. During the Committee proceedings, Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani pledged to look into APTTA's concerns and pursue the matter with the relevant stakeholders. The Association had formally placed its concerns before the Ministry of Finance pursuant to the proceedings of the Senate Standing Committee.
Following this commitment, the Minister of State for Finance conducted two consultative meetings, attended by representatives of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, Ministry of Law and Justice, and APTTA. APTTA appreciates this engagement and the Government's willingness to hear the concerns of TTS faculty. However, no further meeting has been held since 6 August 2026, leaving the consultation process incomplete.
APTTA therefore urges the Minister of State for Finance to convene the next meeting at the earliest opportunity and bring all stakeholders together to reach a consensus-based and sustainable solution. This would be consistent with the earlier Task Force process, in which the Finance Division, Planning Division, Education Ministry, HEC, public-sector universities and APTTA participated and arrived at unanimous recommendations after extensive deliberations.
APTTA maintains that the most appropriate solution remains implementation of the unanimous Task Force and HEC recommendations, including the PIDE-based benchmark, a 35% premium over gross BPS faculty remuneration, automatic future indexation and an adequate recurring governmental funding mechanism. The Association has also raised the unresolved issue of the period from 20 September 2021 to 30 June 2026 and consequential financial adjustments.
APTTA has further cautioned that requiring universities to bear the financial impact entirely from their own resources could lead to unequal implementation because public-sector universities have significantly different financial capacities. A reliable federal funding mechanism is therefore essential for uniform implementation and the long-term sustainability of the TTS.
If implementation of the Task Force recommendations is not considered feasible, APTTA has proposed, as an alternative, an across-the-board 66% increase in the pre-1 July 2026 TTS salary scales, along with consequential and back benefits.
APTTA hopes that the consultative process initiated by the Minister of State for Finance will now be resumed without further delay and that the Government, HEC, relevant ministries and TTS faculty representatives will reach a fair, transparent and lasting consensus that safeguards the future of the Tenure Track System and Pakistan's higher-education sector.