ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee on Wednesday directed the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to find solution for students whose results were withheld by the university their college was affiliated with after the institution was declared illegal.

The committee was also informed about the large number of education institutions in the country.

HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed told the Senate Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training about degrees being sold in the market as well.

Dr Ahmed was briefing the committee on the issue of Islamabad Law College, a private institution the students of which have been waiting for their LLB-I results for a year.

The committee was discussing a public petition agenda regarding the law college, which was affiliated with the Islamia University of Bahawalpur which was later un-affiliated by the university for not meeting the standards.

The petitioner, Mohammad Akmal informed the parliamentarians that the results of students who sat exams for LLB-I in 2016 have not been announced yet when exams for part-II are underway.

“All of us students paid Rs60,000 in fee each but now our future hangs in the balance because the university withheld our results after un-affiliating the college,” he said and requested the committee members to intervene and save their futures.

He said when the exams were happening, the college, HEC and the university were in court regarding the affiliation issue and that the students were given permission to sit the part-I exams by the court.

The Islamabad High Court had later decided in favour of the university which had withheld the results of all 209 students who had given the exams.

The HEC chairman told the committee that the private law college had been facing a shortage of students since 2012 when it applied for a no-objection certificate and that the shortage had worsened in 2014.

He said the college had kept announcing admissions and enrolling students despite HEC warnings.

“We declared the college illegal and also published several advertisements in this regard,” he said.

Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak said the responsibility of protecting students from fake colleges falls on the HEC and that the commission had failed in stopping such institutions from functioning.

Senator Khattak said the HEC’s role was that of a referee’s and that just the issuing of advertisements is not enough. He said the college building should have been sealed and FIRs registered against operators of the illegal college.

The committee directed HEC to come up with a solution to save the students’ future and Senator Khattak suggested the commission should arrange for an assessment test of the students in question via a third party so that those who pass the test can continue with their part-II from any other affiliated college.

Federal Minister for Education Mohammad Baligur Rehman said the students were facing a difficult situation as the matter was in court when they were allowed to appear in the exams and the court later decided against the college.

The minister said the HEC was working on coming up with a solution to save the students’ future.

The HEC chairman requested the committee to hold an in-camera meeting where he can provide details about the illegal educational institutions and their operators.

He also told the members of parliament that HEC had taken action against many departments of various universities for not meeting the set criteria.

The HEC chairman said the commission had also un-affiliated a large number of colleges from universities for not fulfilling the criteria.

“There were around 500 colleges affiliated with the University of Gujrat and we un-affiliated around 250 of them,” he said. According to the HEC website, there are over 150 un-recognised educational institutions across the country.

The committee also discussed the Apprenticeship Bill, 2017 and decided it will be passed after detailed discussion by the senators, the education ministry and the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2017