Sindh

Sindh University outsourcing degree printing in the interest of transparency

Move is to counter fake degree scandals, announces VC

Our Correspondent May 05, 2017

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HYDERABAD: Sindh University (SU) has announced that it will no longer print academic degrees itself in order to avoid fake degree scandals. A meeting on Thursday, chaired by SU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Fateh Muhammad Burfat, decided to handover the printing duty to Pakistan Security Printing, Karachi, to 'ensure transparency, fairness and security of the degrees'.

"Sindh University had confronted criticism and tackled cynical unproven scepticism from certain social quarters in the past regarding veracity of degrees," the VC observed. "This is why I have decided to get all the varsity degrees printed from Pakistan Security Printing, Karachi."

This second biggest university in the province has an enrolment of 32,000 students at its main campus in addition to 3,000 students at its six other campuses, said SU spokesperson Nadir Mugheri.

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Prof Burfat expressed his hope that the planned move would lend more credibility to the degrees. "Like you can tell apart a genuine cash bill from its fake version by just testing its texture, tone and quality; the same way you will be able to do so in the case of SU degrees after they are printed at Pakistan Security Printing," he said.

The spokesperson said the degree printed by the printing company will not contain the name of the recipient. That will be printed by the varsity. "… but it will carry a barcode and other security signs and serial numbers," he told The Express Tribune.

SU also decided to hire a private courier service for the delivery of admission forms and examination papers to the affiliated colleges. The move will save prospective students from travelling to the varsity to obtain and submit the admission forms. The dispatch of the examination papers to the colleges through the existing postal service takes up to four days and is a 'major reason for the leakage of question papers', acknowledged Examinations Controller Ghulam Murtaza Siyal.