Pakistan

Four more degrees declared fake

Four more degrees were declared as fake on Monday.

Express July 26, 2010

ISLAMABAD:

Four more degrees were declared as fake on Monday, while the Higher Education Commission called an emergency meeting of vice chancellors of all national universities on July 28.

The parliamentarians include three MPAs and one MNA.

JUI MNA Maulvi Agha Muhammad's degree was proven as fake. He obtained his degree from Jamia Dar-ul-Hudda Habibabad near Khairpur.

PPP's Tariq Mehmood Alwana's degree was rejected by Azad Kashmir University. Accordng to university sources, the record of his degree was not found at all.

Karachi University rejected the degree of PML Q's MPA Muhammad Khan Toor. Toor was elected MPA from Balochistan.

Another PPP MPA from Sindh Jam Ikramullah Dharejo's degrees of BA and MA were rejected by Karachi University. Dharejo's record was not found in the university gazzette.

Deadline set for verification of degrees

Meanwhile HEC Adviser Mehmood Raza set July 27 as the deadline for all universities to verify all degrees.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Raza said the commission cannot reveal the names of fake degree holders and is directly answerable to the prime minister.

He revealed that 46 degrees of parliamentarians have been found fake while 224 degrees are authentic, adding that cases on 11 degrees are pending in courts.

The HEC adviser said a report on fake degrees had been forwarded to the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Education, while a copy of the report will be sent to the Education Ministry on the directives of the prime minister.

Raza said no foreign university has refused to provide information, adding that they just want degree holders to contact them directly for verification.

Cleared, doubtful and fake

Earlier in the day the committee of the Election Commission (EC) devised a strategy to divide degrees of parliamentarians into three categories: Cleared, doubtful and fake.

According to the chairman of the committee, the degrees of 1,100 parliamentarians will be scanned and preserved.

This excludes 70 parliamentarians who made their way into parliament, after the graduation condition was waived.

Also, all those whose degrees have been declared bogus will be heard. Their case will then be forwarded to the Chief Election Commission who will be taking the final decision.

COMMENTS (2)

Jamil | 13 years ago | Reply The number keeps climbing! According to http://fakedegrees.zzl.org the number of fake degree holders is closer to 75

Syed A. Mateen | 13 years ago | Reply Whether it is a matter of a parliamentarian or some one is seeking for a job, people acquire degrees to fulfill their personal ambitions. The reason behind acquiring a degree whether genuine or fake is to reach to a certain level where a person’s ability and skills are acknowledged. It is unfortunate that the criteria to judge a person’s ability have become a degree, no matter whether it is a genuine degree or fake degree. In some cases, people who have no degrees have more knowledge and information comparing to a person who holds a genuine degree. To go through a straight process in a genuine way is far better than acquiring a fake degree through illegal means, as whenever it is established that a person is in possession of a fake degree, he or she stands no where in the society. Many people who could not get a chance to study up to a degree level are still holding positions in the society, as in self employment, it is not necessary for a person to hold a bachelor or masters degree. The case of possessing a fake degree is not restricted to Pakistan; in fact the menace is possessing a fake degree is a global issue.

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