RAWALPINDI: Graduates of the Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU) will get degrees from the University of Health Sciences (UHS) as the former is yet to be recognised by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

The Rawalpindi Medical College (RMC) got the status of university on May 5 after the Punjab government promulgated ‘The Rawalpindi Medical University Ordinance 2007.’

After approval from Punjab Governor Rafique Rajwana, a notification for the new university was issued on May 6. The provincial government also appointed RMC Principal Prof Dr Mohammad Umer as the acting vice chancellor of the university for six months.

Admissions for the new batch of first year started in August. But students who were already enrolled in the RMC would get their degrees from the University of Health Sciences. On the other hand, the RMU has still not put in place its basic infrastructure, including the syndicate.

A senior official of the health department told Dawn that the graduates would face problems in coming days as they would complete their education from the RMU and get the degrees of the UHS.

He said the graduates would be facing problems while applying for jobs in Pakistan and abroad. The documents of the doctors will show that they studied and obtained degrees from two different universities, he added.

When contacted, RMU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mohammad Umer said the HEC recognised the university a week ago. He said the recognition of the university was the main thing and other issues would be sorted out soon. He said names for the syndicate members had already been forwarded to Lahore for approval.

However, HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed told Dawn that the commission had issued NOC to the RMU for enrollment of students and asked the university management to fulfil the requirement of its recognition such as infrastructure, equipment and faculty members.

“The RMU is a government institution and the HEC will recognise it soon. But the university would have to develop the needed infrastructure. We asked the university to not give admissions in its name and they enrolled the students for the University of Health Sciences,” he said.

He said the RMU had been allowed to enroll students who would get the degrees of the University of Health Sciences as the defunct Rawalpindi RMC was affiliated with it.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2017