Fake degrees proliferate

Another chapter has been added to Pakistan's rich history of academic fraud, with 1,200 lawyers being sent notices by the Punjab Bar Council regarding the authentication of their degrees. In all likelihood, only a small fraction of the lawyers would actually have suspicious qualifications, as the most common problem in such disputes is simply the unwillingness of some people to jump through hoops to have their qualifications verified.

To its credit, the Higher Education Commission has taken several steps to improve the process, including initiating a blockchain-based attestation system that will automatically integrate graduate records from institutions. Under this framework, degrees will be added to the HEC blockchain upon graduation, granting students immediate digital access while enabling employers, government bodies and embassies to verify credentials with a single click.

The HEC must move decisively to expand its programme from the current 25 participating universities to making it compulsory for all degree-awarding institutions, public and private. If the system is to truly serve its purpose, every degree issued in Pakistan must be automatically deposited into the database the moment graduation requirements are met. Half measures will not suffice when the stakes include the national workforce's credibility and international mobility of our graduates, along with public trust in higher education itself.

The government also needs to stop offering amnesty to fake degree holders through regularisation and other means. Such benefits should only be open to people who make honest mistakes. Lying about your qualifications on a job application is straight-up fraud, and under many circumstances, a jailable crime. At the bare minimum, they should be fired and replaced by scores of deserving employees and job applicants who actually earned their qualifications, especially in government departments. Anything less would be government endorsement of defrauding taxpayers.