HEC summons varsity’s student record

Students were awarded degrees without attending classes

KARACHI: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has discovered an illegal campus of Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education (DIHE) where degrees were issued to students who didn't attend any classes. Many of these students got the degrees after paying thousands of rupees in tuition fees.



On receiving several complaints, the HEC initiated an investigation into the matter, seeking records of the students enrolled at the campus, but the DIHE has failed to provided thus far.

One former DIHE student told The Express Tribune that he was enrolled in the North Nazimabad campus for B Com in 2013 and passed out in 2015. He said that he got his degree verified by the HEC website by making an ID and filling in the required form. In order to take admission in a Master's programme, he needed a migration certificate and hence approached the DIHE. According to him, DIHE's controller of examination Zeeshan asked him for all his original documents. "After a wait of two hours, they told me that the certificate cannot be issued and said that my degree was fake." Refusing to return the degree, the DIHE said that they own the testimonial. He said, "Even if my degree is fake, then they should have put a stamp on it and returned it to me instead of holding my degree with them."

He also narrated the story of another student who was awarded his degree in the convocation but lost it. When he applied for a duplicate degree, the institute refused to issue it.

The student appealed to the HEC to investigate the matter. He said that the institute at first issued the degree and then refused to own it. He also informed that DIHE has agents working in the market who would take money from students and resolve their issues. "I got my degree after paying a tuition fee of Rs110,000 and I won't pay more to agents," he said.

When contacted, the HEC spokesperson told The Express Tribune that the HEC had received complaints about DIHE and on investigating, found that the record of students was missing. The spokesperson added that the HEC has asked DIHE to provide the records. A committee has been formed to further investigate the matter.



On the other hand, DIHE Director Muhammad Abbas Chaudhry told The Express Tribune that the institute awarded degrees to those students who completed the courses. He claimed that there have been 10 convocation ceremonies since 2003 in which more than 8,000 students were awarded degrees. Chaudhry added that the institute was also investigating the matter and if any employee was found involved, they would take action against him. "We are in contact with the HEC chairman. We are ready to provide the record that they want and until the investigation is complete, it would be premature to say anything," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2018.