ISLAMABAD: All Pakistan Tenure Track Faculty Association (APTTA) of university teachers 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.
There are two types of faculty members in public-sector universities BPS scale and TTS faculty.
‘APTTA welcomed the federal cabinet’s recognition of the longstanding issue of TTS faculty salaries and the revision of salary scales with effect from July 1, 2026. However, the association maintains that the notified scales do not fully imple-ment the prime minister’s decision of September 20, 2021, which stipulated that a 35pc differential between BPS and TTS faculty salaries should henceforth be maintained, read a statement issued by the APTTA.
It said the Senate standing committee had also asked the finance ministry to review the 2026 notification. The statement said a few months ago 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 finance ministry pursuant to the proceedings of the Senate standing committee.
The statement said following this commitment, the minister of state for finance conductedtwo consultative meetings, attended by representatives of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), ministries of finance, education and law, as well as APTTA.
The APTTA appreciates this engagement and the government’s willingness to hear the concerns of TTS faculty.
However, no further meeting has been held since August 6, 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 par-ticipated and arrived at unanimous recommendations after extensive deliberations,’ read the statement.
APTTA maintains that the most appropriate solution remains implementation of the unanimous Task Force and HEC recommendations, including the PIDE-based benchmark, a 35pc 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 September 20, 2021 to June 30, 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 sig-nificantly different financial capacities. A reliable federal funding mechanism is therefore essential for uniform implementation and the longterm sustainability of the TTS.
‘If implementation of the Task Force recommendations is not considered feasible, APT TA has proposed, as an alternative, an across-the-board 66pc increase in the preJuly 1, 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,’ the press release read.