Legislators’ intransigence halts verification process: HEC
ECP says it is not authorised to demand submission of educational certificates.
ISLAMABAD:
With around 230 parliamentarians, including Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, failing to submit their educational credentials, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has declared that the degree verification process has ended in a “stalemate”.
HEC Executive Director Dr Sohail Naqvi said that “the authentication process to verify MPs’ education credentials has ended in a stalemate,” adding that the commission will only be able to continue its functions if the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) hands over the required educational certificates.
The ECP, however, has said that “it does not come under its [ECP’s] jurisdiction to ask legislators to submit their educational certificates for verification.”
According to ECP Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan, more than 65 out of the 1,170 educational certificates of parliamentarians are dubious or fake. Khan told The Express Tribune that the ECP deals with bachelors’ degrees, adding that only about a dozen cases had been cleared. The ECP has filed charges against 25 legislators and others are being dealt with by the ECP and the courts.
Official documents made available to The Express Tribune state that the verification of around 543 degrees is pending as legislators have not submitted their Secondary and Higher Secondary degrees, despite several reminders by the HEC over the past few months.
Some parliamentarians have only submitted their matriculation of Higher Secondary Educational Certificates while others have not submitted any certificates.
Legislators who have yet to submit their educational credentials include the Prime Minister Gilani, federal ministers Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Firdous Ashiq Awan, Farzana Raja, Faisal Saleh Hayat and Manzoor Wattoo among others. MNAs Asfandyar Wali, Kashmala Tariq, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Qamar Zaman Kaira, and senators Chaudhry Shujaat and Jamal Leghari have also not submitted their certificates.
Earlier, ECP officials, while briefing a parliamentary panel, admitted that the verification process had slowed down due to the non-cooperation of parliamentarians.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2011.
With around 230 parliamentarians, including Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, failing to submit their educational credentials, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has declared that the degree verification process has ended in a “stalemate”.
HEC Executive Director Dr Sohail Naqvi said that “the authentication process to verify MPs’ education credentials has ended in a stalemate,” adding that the commission will only be able to continue its functions if the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) hands over the required educational certificates.
The ECP, however, has said that “it does not come under its [ECP’s] jurisdiction to ask legislators to submit their educational certificates for verification.”
According to ECP Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan, more than 65 out of the 1,170 educational certificates of parliamentarians are dubious or fake. Khan told The Express Tribune that the ECP deals with bachelors’ degrees, adding that only about a dozen cases had been cleared. The ECP has filed charges against 25 legislators and others are being dealt with by the ECP and the courts.
Official documents made available to The Express Tribune state that the verification of around 543 degrees is pending as legislators have not submitted their Secondary and Higher Secondary degrees, despite several reminders by the HEC over the past few months.
Some parliamentarians have only submitted their matriculation of Higher Secondary Educational Certificates while others have not submitted any certificates.
Legislators who have yet to submit their educational credentials include the Prime Minister Gilani, federal ministers Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Firdous Ashiq Awan, Farzana Raja, Faisal Saleh Hayat and Manzoor Wattoo among others. MNAs Asfandyar Wali, Kashmala Tariq, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Qamar Zaman Kaira, and senators Chaudhry Shujaat and Jamal Leghari have also not submitted their certificates.
Earlier, ECP officials, while briefing a parliamentary panel, admitted that the verification process had slowed down due to the non-cooperation of parliamentarians.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2011.