- HEC chairman asks students to check authenticity of institutions, programmes before taking admission
ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) is committed to protecting rights of students amidst the mushroom growth of illegal institutions and launch of unauthorised academic programmes.
Addressing a monthly meeting with the HEC staff at the Commission Secretariat here on Wednesday, HEC Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri said that the commission has recently resolved the issue of attestation of degrees of a private university.
He said that the HEC has not only provided a solution to the issue, but it has also advised the university concerned to pay compensation to the students who have suffered in terms of wastage of time, financial loss in form of fee payments, and mental agony.
In future, “if any university is found cheating the students, it will be penalised,” he said. He stressed the need for making the students aware of fictitious universities and programmes before they take admission.
The public should check the authenticity of institutions and programmes before taking admission so that the students do not suffer due to the shortcomings of institutions, he emphasised. He underscored that private universities are not allowed to affiliate colleges.
With regard to degree attestation procedure, Dr Banuri directed the HEC staff to respect the time of applicants and help them out as much as possible. He said that deliberations were being made to further simplify the attestation procedure through online attestation. He said that the HEC was also taking decisions with regard to cases lying pending in the PhD country directory.
Referring to visit of Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood to HEC, Dr Banuri said that the government was committed to supporting the commission’s efforts for the promotion of the higher education in the country.
