I HAVE done my bachelors in chemical engineering (BE) in 2016 from the University of Karachi, which is a university recognised by the Higher Education Commission (HEC). I am also registered as an engineer with the Pakistan Engineering Council.

It is a requirement for engineers in Pakistan to have their engineering degrees recognised and attested by the HEC. Degree attestation from the HEC is also required for further education in Pakistan or in any foreign country.

The HEC has been refusing to attest my BE degree since 2019, arguing the title mentioned on my degree is ‘bachelor of engineering’ while the degree title on the HEC website is BE. There is no difference in both aforesaid nomenclatures except BE is the abbreviation of bachelor of engineering.

This matter should be resolved between the HEC and Karachi University, but, instead they make me suffer. The HEC has attested degrees of my other classmates and also attested the degrees of those who passed out later from the Karachi University with the same engineering degree title as mine.

After my continuous follow-ups, the HEC sent me an email mentioning that the nomenclature of the degree programme from BE to bachelor of engineering on the HEC website could be changed only if the focal person of the university requested the HEC to do so.

The focal person of Karachi University did so on my request, and confirmed to me through email that she had done what was required by the HEC, and that final action remained to be taken by the commission.

The HEC has, however, not taken any action. I also visited the HEC Karachi office on Aug 11, but there was no staff at the office, for they have been working from home since the lockdown started. In this situation, I have only been able to contact HEC representatives by phone or email.

According to my university focal person, she even tried to contact the HEC representative over the phone but he was not attending the calls. This apathy by the HEC is making lots of students suffer.

The institute where I am pursuing my MBA degree is now allowing me to attend a new semester before I submit my attested BE degree.

I hope responsible persons in the HEC will look into this matter and help me get my BE degree attested by the HEC. Otherwise, I will not be able to pursue further education and it can also have a damaging effect on my career.

Maaz Shoaib
Karachi

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2020