Unverified degrees: Fate of PIMSAT graduates hangs in the balance

Degrees of thousands of students who graduated from the institute have failed to receive HEC's seal

KARACHI: Across the globe, seeking higher education is considered the golden ticket to a better life because a university degree provides a wide range of personal, financial and other lifelong benefits to graduates. This, however, does not seem to be the case for thousands of students who graduated from the Preston Institute of Management Science and Technology (PIMSAT).



Instead of opportunities, PIMSAT graduates are facing problems that they had not imagined in a hundred dreams. Even after several years of graduation, the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) has not verified the degrees of PIMSAT graduates in Karachi. Without obtaining verification from the HEC, a degree is neither recognised as genuine in Pakistan nor the rest of the world.

Owing to the absence of HEC's certification, PIMSAT graduates cannot enrol themselves in a master's programme in any other local or international university. What's more, many graduates who had successfully landed a job overseas on the basis of their PIMSAT degrees were compelled to quit their jobs and be repatriated to Pakistan.

The HEC has already barred PIMSAT from granting admissions to more students, but those who had already been enrolled at the institute have their academic and professional future hanging in the balance.

Several affected students told The Express Tribune that when they visited the HEC office in Karachi, they were told to contact the commission's head office in Islamabad. However, their queries were not entertained there either.

"I graduted from PIMSAT a few years ago and have been struggling to get my degree verified by the HEC, but nothing has been done so far," a former PIMSAT graduate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. "I contacted the university as well as the HEC in Islamabad several times. I was told that the matter is under investigation and a decision regarding the verification of the degrees will begin soon but I am losing hope," he lamented.

The student added that when he approached PIMSAT's administration, they turned him down by saying that the institute's job was to issue the degree and now it is the responsibility of the HEC to confirm the credentials.

"The bottom line is that students are exhausted now. We have spent millions to complete graduate studies but the degree we earned is nothing but a piece of paper."

Narrating her experience, Tehsin Anwar, another PIMSAT graduate, said that she graduate from the institute in 2016. Since then, getting her credentials verified has been nothing short of an ordeal for her.

"When I approached the Karachi Office of the HEC for the confirmation of my credentials, I was told that a list of undergraduate students has been sent to the commission's head office in Islamabad. However, I never heard back from them," she said. "When I contacted the head office directly, they also demonstrated a dilly-dallying attitude towards the matter."

Anwar said that she sent several emails to the students' chairman at the HEC and when he finally replied, he too referred the case to another relevant officer instead of resolving the matter.

"They keep shifting our cases from one officer to another without doing anything about it," she said.

"I also contacted an officer at the Karachi HEC office who said that the verification process has been halted because of issues with PIMSAT so students should ask the institute to expedite the matter," she added. "When I contacted the institute, they told me that the HEC does not even attend phone calls from PIMSAT, therefore, they cannot do anything about it."

Another student named Muddasir, who enrolled in PIMSAT in 2012, said that he had been contacting the commission to verify his degree for many years but all in vain.

Muddasir added that at the time of his graduation, he learned that new admissions have been banned at PIMSAT and that the HEC has also stopped confirming students' credentials.

"When I contacted the HEC's Karachi office, I was told that PIMSAT has not been able to fulfil some of HEC's criteria because of which the degrees of its graduates are not being verified. However, students are not interested in what's going on between the university and the commission. We paid a monthly fee, studied hard and completed our education. It's been four years and no progress has been made. What's our fault?" he questioned.

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Mudassir also said that students filed a complaint regarding the matter at the Prime Minister's Citizen Portal, in response to which they were told that the degree of the varsity's Karachi campus was verifiable. However, the HEC has adamantly turned a deaf ear to students' pleas.

Meanwhile, an HEC official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Express Tribune that in an investigation held against PIMSAT in 2017, it was revealed that the institute had been giving admissions in excess to the permitted limits, while also demonstrating other irregularities like directly awarding degrees in violation of the HEC rules.

"We had to verify degrees of 9,000 students, however, we received a series of lists with the names of 125 students, 2,000 students and 500 students, respectively, after which the HEC decided to constitute an inquiry committee," he said. "The HEC asked PIMSAT to send us the list of its final graduates but the institute had no record of it."

The HEC official added that a report regarding the matter has been sent to HEC's attestation and accreditation director-general, Tahir Abbas Zaidi, for review.

"After completing an inquiry into the matter, the HEC will take further action. The data verification report also presents some recommendations for PIMSAT," he said.

The Express Tribune approached the acting director of the Higher Education Commission Karachi Region, Hakim Talpur, who said that the HEC has approved a list of 8,000 students who graduated from PIMSAT in 2015. However, the fates of those who graduated from the institute after 2015 are yet to be decided.

When contacted, Zaidi confirmed that the HEC had received a report regarding the data verification of PIMSAT graduates, which had been submitted to the HEC chairman Dr Tariq Binori.

"We understand the gravity of the situation and I assure students that the issue will be resolved soon," he said. "We will start the process of verification regarding admissions through HEC's quality assurance committee."

The Express Tribune also contacted the head of PIMSATS who said that the case is now pending at the Supreme Court of Pakistan and a decision regarding the fate of graduates will be based on the findings of the HEC's inquiry committee.

"The HEC has planned to carry out the verification of the degrees. However, we have been barred from admitting new students for which we have to comply with the commission's requirements first," he said. "Once we meet all of the pre-requisites set by the HEC, all the degrees will be verified and we will also resume new admissions at PIMSAT."