War of words erupts between HEC, education minister
LAHORE: The disagreements between the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and federal education minister over the verification of parliamentarians’ degrees remained the topic of discussion in academic circles and resulted in an open a debate about the status of the final reports that will be prepared by 36 varsities and submitted to the HEC on July 27.
The disagreements between the HEC and the federal education minister have astonished the public as they fail to understand why the authorities concerned want to disturb the verification process, especially when 75 percent of the work has already been completed.
While speaking to the media on July 22, Federal Education Minister Sardar Assef Ahmad Ali said that the HEC is carrying out verification of the parliamentarians’ degrees in violation of the constitution, adding that only the education ministry holds the authority to review degrees. He said that a high-level commission, comprising members from the law ministry, would be constituted to further review the HEC-verified degrees. He also said that the HEC should have sought the education ministry’s permission before starting the degree verification process.
Separately, the HEC, while replying to the minister, announced that the commission is an autonomous body that functions directly under the prime minister. The spokesman from the HEC said that according to a 2002 ordinance, HEC has the power to determine the authenticity of degrees, diplomas and certificates awarded by institutions within the country, as well as abroad.
The federal education minister issued this statement after the meeting between Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and HEC Chairman Dr Javaid Laghari, in which the prime minister assured the HEC chairman of full support from the government and promised to release the chairman’s brother who was recently arrested by Sindh police.
After the great support and encouragement by the prime minister, and following orders by the Supreme Court, the education minister’s statement came as a surprise for everyone, including educationists and the general public. Until now, 50 parliamentarians’ degrees have been declared fake and the HEC has given a 27 July deadline for varsities to submit reports regarding the degree verification.
Varsities’ efforts: Educationists said that all varsities are currently busy preparing the BA/ BSc results and officials and teachers, besides performing these duties are also working hard to verify the degrees. “Instead of acknowledging their efforts, the education minister is constantly criticizing them,” the educationists said, adding that the minister had never before intervened in any other matter of corruption or mismanagement at the universities, and now when a positive step is finally being taken, he is repeatedly criticising these administrations.
Some circles, on the other hand, appreciated the education minister on taking an initiative against the HEC, saying that varsities working under the HEC have become a hub of “corruption and mismanagement”. They said that a large number of teachers at the Punjab University (PU) have been reportedly involved in incidents of corruption; for example, a PU dean and a director recently passed some students illegally and even admitted some students to the university by violating rules set of PhD admissions.
Under these circumstances, some educationists have requested the education minister to ask the HEC about the authenticity of the report that will be prepared by the corrupt officials.Daily times
