BAHAWALPUR: The dysfunctional South Punjab regional office of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) is creating problems for the students.

A number of students pursuing higher studies in the public sector as well private universities and other educational institutions have demanded that the HEC South Punjab regional office be revived.

It was opened in 2016 by the then federal minister for education, Baleeghur Rehman, to provide facilities to the students of higher education for immediate resolution of their problems including the attestation of their degrees. For this purpose, the Islamia University (IUB) provided accommodation at its Abbasia Campus where HEC’s officials performed their duties to assist the students.

The regional office remained functional for about two years till 2018 when it was closed down without informing the students. All their requests to reopen the facility had failed to bear fruit.

The ex-federal minister in a recent statement expressed his concern over the closure of the facility. He said that instead of upgrading the office on a par with the HEC offices of other regional headquarters, the authorities had closed the facility without considering the problems of the students. He said thousands of students used to benefit from the HEC centre.

HEC Director Media (Islamabad) Ms Aisha Aikram told Dawn through her email message that, “A sub office of Lahore Regional office was opened at Bahawalpur in order to address queries of students of that areas. At present that sub office has been closed as the flow of information required by students has receded considerably.

The reason for the lack of interest by students is due to availability of HEC Services such as Attestation, Scholarships, R and D projects and Jobs portal online. Students as well as faculty requiring any information are now contacting and gaining information online. HEC also hosts a Call Centre which offers response to questions posed by the public”.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2020