THE matter of degree accreditation is giving my family sleepless nights. My son was a student of the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF) from 2016 to 2020 in the Department of Structures and Environmental Engineering under the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology. At the end of the period, he earned a degree of BSc Environmental Engineering.

Being an engineering degree, it requires due registration and accreditation by the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC). The PEC registration was supposed to be obtained by the university. As things stand, from 2016 onwards, no batch has been successful in getting the PEC licence.

The university continues to advertise fresh undergraduate and graduate programmes without doing anything to make its degrees worth the paper they are written on.

If a university is not eligible to provide its graduates with PEC registration, why is it seeking fresh applications? If the programme is not accredited, why the university is not prohibited from publishing fake advertisements? The university is clearly making money at the cost of the students.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC), PEC and UAF should together resolve the issue that involves hundreds of degree-holders who are seeking job opportunities for their better future.

Malik Shahid Hussain Awan
Lahore

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2024