Long queues: Degree attestation at HEC a herculean task

The process takes weeks and months; HEC says people do not come prepared.

ISLAMABAD:

The degree attestation has become a herculean task at Higher Education Commission (HEC) for the students, graduates and senior citizens.

Every day endless squabbles take place among the staff and those seeking attestation of their degrees at the HEC main office in Islamabad.

People decry lack of facilities and absence of clear requirements whereas the HEC staff argues people come do not come with complete documentation.

Visitors complain about a new query every time they show up at the counter. “Why do they not tell everything at once” said Ali a PhD student.

He said even on the website the requirement for doctoral degree attestation is nine days but “it is my 20th day.”

An official of the attestation branch told on the condition of anonymity that during the last 10 years only four or five staffers have been added.

“We are overburdened. We have requested for 10 more officials and increase in the number of attestation windows,” he said.

Another official justifying the delay said the number of universities has gone up from 60 in 2002 to 158.

Shahzada Pervez, is coming for the last 15 days but he said “every time a new mistake or missing document is pointed out.” The officials told Pervez that spelling of his name varies from the one on his son’s degrees. Such altercations are a routine. People arrive at the building as early as 5am. The one with complete documents also need nearly a day to get through the process.

The HEC charges Rs800 per verification and apparently earns millions of rupees but there are no special counters for senior citizens or people with disabilities.

The students are required to first register online and get a token from the HEC before showing up on the counter.

HEC chairperson Dr Mukhtar Ahmad admitted the issues in attestation despite opening of centres in Peshawar and Lahore. He said they have sent a summary to the education ministry for the human resource while HEC is also considering opening offices in Karachi and Quetta to reduce the workload. “We cannot hire staff because of ban on recruitment,” he added.

He said plans were also afoot to build a state-of-the art facility to address the issue while urging the people to carefully read information on the website and come with complete documents.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2014.