Unaccredited courses: Court unhappy with PEC, HEC

Summons PEC officials on Sept 15 to submit replies on students’ petition against an army-run institute.

ISLAMABAD:

A local court has expressed displeasure at the ignorance of Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) and Higher Education Commission about professional institutes running unaccredited courses and deceiving gullible students.

Justice Athar Minallah of the Islamabad High Court Wednesday summoned the PEC chairman and its registrar to appear in the court on September 15 and submit their replies on a petition filed by some students seeking remedy against the management of an army-run institute for deceiving them.

The students through their counsel contended that they were enrolled in the engineering department of the Army Public College of Management Science (APCOMS) and later they came to know that it was not registered with the council. They said the institute wasted four years of their lives.

The judge observed that the college had been advertising public notices and soliciting admissions despite having no accreditation for the courses which were being offered.

“It is an obvious case of deception and defrauding innocent young people,” the judge observed.



He further observed that the ignorance of PEC and Higher Education Commission (HEC) is more alarming, as they were unaware of the illegality.

The judge directed PEC, APCOMS and HEC to take appropriate action and measures in protecting the future of the petitioners.

The judge observed that “degree awarding institutes in the field of engineering have failed to protect the legitimate rights of bonafide students”.

The judge was of the view that the conduct reflects a callous attitude and lack of realisation that the future of a large number of young people has been jeopardised, which needs to be remedied.

The petitioners including Khurram Naseer Raja were enrolled in the engineering department of the college in 2004 but after graduation, they learnt that the college was not recognised by the PEC and the degrees awarded to them were merely pieces of paper.

The students through their counsel Mohsin Akhtar Kayani contended before the court that the institute had been established under the administrative control of the Army Training and Evaluation inspector-general.

The institute allegedly deceived the students as at the time of their admission they were not informed that it was not recognised by the council.

The petitioners informed the court that they had been seeking jobs in different national and international organisations after completing their education. In interviews were asked to produce PEC registration certificate and then we came to know that the institute was not recognised by the PEC, the petitioner said.

The counsel said that in 2008 when his clients approached the college management, they were told that the matter had been taken up with the PEC authorities.

He adopted that despite a lapse of six years, the students were still waiting for the reply from the college management and most of them were still jobless.

PEC has refused to recognise its engineering degrees as the institute is not meant for engineering studies and does not possess engineering expertise.

During the last hearing, the court had directed PEC, APCOMS and National University of Modern Languages (NUML) to submit detailed replies. The court had also asked the PEC to inform the court about those universities running unaccredited courses.

Justice Minallah expressed his displeasure after he was informed that the PEC had not submitted its reply.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2014.