| 23 November 2004 | Tuesday | 10 Shawwal 1425 |
Blasts on rail tracks
The number of unrecognized, and thus illegally operating, university campuses and medical institutions in the country is staggering. A recent prominent advertisement in the newspapers titled "Parents Alert" taken out by the Higher Education Commission lists 85 campuses of 10 locally chartered universities which are operating outside their jurisdiction, and 93 other campuses of 31 institutions claiming foreign affiliation which are operating unlawfully.
This works out to a total of at least 178 campuses of higher learning, which are officially labelled as illegal. Meanwhile, according to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council's latest list of 63 medical colleges in the country, only 18 are recognized while 11 are unrecognized, including several public sector medical colleges.
Included among the unrecognized is one private medical college in the outskirts of Islamabad, which has apparently been in existence for the past eight years! Its students, who have been left high and dry, have been making occasional headlines and even gone on strike in front of Parliament House but to no avail.
It is not known for how long the rest of the above unrecognized educational institutions have been in operation and how many students who have studied there have wasted their money, they now being either degree less or hold worthless degrees.
The standard official response to this problem has been that it is the responsibility of students and parents to check whether the institution or college is recognized or not.
The authorities concerned - first the health ministry and PMDC in the case of medical colleges, and now HEC in the case of the higher educational institutions - have tried to launch awareness campaigns to inform the public about which institutions are recognized and which are not. But the lists of recognized and unrecognized institutions do not only change every year but are also not usually published well before the annual process of admissions begin, thus resulting in a lot of uncertainty and confusion for parents and intending students.
Parents in turn are asking how these illegal institutions have come to be established and why have they not been closed down and stopped from operating and admitting students.
Part of the problem lies with the relevant authorities initially giving "provisional" recognition to institutions, both public and private, which do not meet all the criteria for full recognition.
The HEC's Parents Alert advertisement does not list those institutions which are operating provisionally, that is, they do not as yet fulfil all of the HEC's criteria to be a degree- awarding institution but have been allowed to run courses, being given up to February 2007 to fulfil all the pre-requisites.
Similarly, out of PMDC's list of 63 medical colleges, more than half or 34 are provisionally recognized, that is, they are allowed to run courses but have been given a stipulated time of two years to fulfil all the conditions necessary for full recognition.
The main drawback with provisional recognition is that some if not many of these institutions do not manage to fulfil the conditions within the stipulated time before the first batch of students graduate, thus leaving the students in a quandary.
The major reason for the establishment and existence of illegal institutions is the lack of a law or laws, both federal and provincial, that regulate the operation of medical colleges and other educational institutions, enabling the relevant authorities to take action by closing down illegal institutions as well as provisionally recognized institutions that fail to fulfil all the required conditions within the stipulated time.
On the one hand, medical colleges and educational institutions are being established under provincial legislation, the provinces being competent to do so under the Constitution.
On the other hand, according to the Punjab health minister while replying to a question in the provincial assembly in September, taking any action against these colleges and institutions fall under the purview of the federal government. In fact, some of the unrecognized medical colleges were actually established by provincial governments without getting the relevant clearance from the PMDC.
Neither the federal government, national organizations like the PMDC nor the provincial governments are empowered with the authority to take action against and close down unrecognized and illegal institutions and colleges, even though such institutions have mushroomed all over the country in the past decade and a half.
The federal ministry of education has announced on several occasions in the recent past the intention to have a law regulating private educational institutions but this has yet to materialize.
In September, the Punjab health minister reportedly told the provincial assembly that his government was "considering" making a law to regulate private medical colleges. Why only "considering" now when such a law should have been in place years ago?
In fact, whenever the PMDC tries to regulate the medical colleges by scrutinizing their working, opposition inevitably arises from one quarter or the other. For instance in 2001, when the PMDC directed 29 medical colleges (13 unrecognized and 16 provisionally recognized) not to admit students or conduct examinations for six months pending a re-inspection, the Sindh health minister protested that the PMDC had no legal standing to formulate and enforce such regulations, which he claimed, if challenged in a court, would stand null and void.
The PMDC's jurisdiction was legally challenged last year, when a medical college chartered in the Punjab province filed a petition against it in the Lahore High Court, which in turn declared that the PMDC had no authority to recognize medical colleges in the country, its role being only limited to the recognition and registration of doctors. The Supreme Court later suspended the Lahore High Court ruling but the case still remains pending.
Attempts to formulate regulations regarding the operations of educational institutions have often prompted accusations that the government, and the PMDC and now the HEC, are trying to discourage the setting up of these institutions in the private sector, which generate employment opportunities for the people and help achieve the country's educational goals. But institutions which do not meet the required standards are neither in the interests of the people or the nation, and laws are needed to curb their establishment.
Unless the federal and provincial authorities concerned can go beyond merely warning the public by issuing lists of legal and illegal institutions, and are able to take legal action against the illegal ones, the latter will continue to be established and to operate.
Blasts on rail tracks
Referring to blasts on a rail track in Hyderabad, Khabroon writes that the explosions occurred half an hour before the Bahauddin Zakaria Express crossed the track. Had the train been half an hour late, a massive disaster would have taken place. Rail traffic was suspended for a couple of hours for repairing the track causing inconvenience to hundreds of passengers.
The daily says that bomb blasts on rail tracks and terrorist activities are now every day recurrence. The failure of law-enforcement agencies to curb terrorism has added to the sense of insecurity among the people.
It says that blasts on rail tracks reveal poor security arrangements and provides a licence to miscreants to strike at will. The paper calls on the railway authorities to take effective measures to protect tracks and on the government to curb the terrorists before it is too late.
Commenting on the liquor tragedy, Kawish says that once again in Ramazan, when liquor shops remain closed, consumption of poisonous home-made liquor has claimed over 20 lives in Hyderabad. It points out that the sale of home-made liquor has been going on for years and it will be naïve to believe that police are unaware of it.
Ironically, police act only after a tragedy has taken place. This time, it has arrested a few people involved in manufacturing and selling illicit liquor but has also taken action against owners of some paint-shops on the ground that spirit bought from their outlets was used to make poisonous liquor.
The paper says that the action must not degenerate into an extortion campaign against paint traders. What is required is immediate action to expose the police officers who patronize the illegal liquor trade.
Ibrat says that because of government's failure to act in emergency situations and provide succour to affected people. The Edhi Foundation's work in this field has been commendable.
It deplores that Edhi's ambulance centres have been attacked and set on fire in Karachi and Faisal Edhi, a son of Abdul Sattar Edhi, has received death threats. It calls upon the government to take a serious notice of the matter and provide protection to the Edhi family and their network of humanitarian services.
Awami Awaz regrets police crackdown on a congregation of Eid prayers in the Kotri area at the behest of land grabbers. It says that according to a report of the area Mukhtiarkars, the disputed plot belongs to the revenue department and a case is pending in a court.
The plot has been used as Eidgah for a couple of years but now an influential person wants to build a commercial plaza on it. Police resorted to aerial firing and arrested some people to prevent the faithful from offering Eid prayers at the place.
The daily adds that the dispute has led to a series of protests by the people of the area but the Sindh government has taken no notice of it which shows its apathy towards people's problems.