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Friday, July 02, 2010
Verification of degrees: HEC tasked to find needle in a haystack
* HEC returns 161 cases to ECP
* Some lawmakers submitted ‘To Whom It May Concern’ certificates instead of degrees
* Some used certificate of sons or fathersISLAMABAD: The mystery surrounding the outcome of the degree verification issue of lawmakers has further deepened, as the Higher Education Commission (HEC) is finding it difficult to complete the task on time due to various issues.
Officials from both HEC and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) are blaming each other for the delay.
These issues have now prompted the HEC to return 161 degree verification cases of lawmakers to the ECP, which included sketchy educational certificates that could not be verified.
HEC officials, requesting anonymity, have revealed that the ECP had sent ambiguous photocopies of degrees and in many cases just affidavits to the HEC.
The sources said that out of 1,095 degrees, HEC had sent back 161 cases to the ECP as some degrees did not contain any date of enrolment and others were certificates of “To Whom It May Concern” that were submitted at the time of filing of nomination papers. These certificates had been accepted by the concerned returning officers, sources said.
In some cases, a candidate submitted the degree of his father or son while filing nomination papers. Sources say these documents were accepted without any verification by the returning officers as well. The sources added that the verification process could have been far easier, had the ECP taken original educational certificates from lawmakers at the time of filing the nomination papers instead of ambiguous photocopies.
This would have allowed the ECP to verify the degrees on its own within a few days, the HEC officials said.
According to the HEC, the copies of the remaining 934 degrees have been sent to universities and institutions for verification with directions to complete the process by the second week of this month. Of these, 300 degrees have been sent to Punjab University, while 21 to Madaris boards and 36 to foreign institutions. The ECP and the HEC are blaming each other for the delay in the verification process.
ECP officials claim that they had started the process of sending degrees to HEC on May 24 when 873 degrees were delivered to the commission.
“Now, degrees of all lawmakers, excluding eight members, have been sent to the HEC, but they have not yet verified a single degree,” the officials said. The official said the degrees of these eight lawmakers would also be sent to the HEC next week.
On the other hand, HEC officials have blamed the ECP for the delay, saying the Election Commission should have submitted original certificates for verification instead of sending photocopies, which in most cases were very dim and in some cases not even readable. Due to these differences the issue of verification of lawmakers’ degrees is expected to be delayed longer. This would further fuel the prevailing uncertainty that is haunting the political circles in the country.
Under normal circumstances, a person can get his degree verified and attested by the HEC within two days. Officials from both the HEC and ECP have rejected claims they are under political pressure over the issue. However, the delay in the verifications of the degrees and the prevailing differences among these government departments has raised doubts about their performance. irfan ghauri
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk