Senate orders HEC to resolve Al Khair University degrees issue

Islamabad: More than 11,000 graduates of Al Khair University have been left in uncertainty for years because the Higher Education Commission has neither attested their degrees nor conducted the test it made compulsory.

Some affected graduates told a Senate committee that they completed their studies around 14 years ago, built careers on their degrees and are now facing dismissal from their jobs. One student told the committee that he was now 50 years old and could lose his employment because his degree had still not been cleared.

The issue came before the Senate Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training, chaired by Senator Bushra Anjum Butt. The committee was informed that 11,515 students were waiting for a test required by the HEC.

However, despite introducing the condition in 2018, the HEC did not conduct even one test for the affected Al-Khair students between 2018 and 2024. This means students were told that they could not receive degree attestation without passing a test, but the HEC failed to arrange that test for several years.

Committee members described the situation as serious negligence. They questioned how people who left classrooms many years ago could now be expected to return and sit for an academic examination.

Senator Bushra Anjum Butt said the affected people were no longer young students. She observed that many had families, jobs and long professional careers. The committee questioned why students should suffer for failures in monitoring the university and its affiliated colleges.

The chairperson criticised the HEC for allowing an institution to operate for 15 to 20 years and later placing the entire burden on its students. She asked how a university campus could continue operating for such a long period under the HEC’s watch before authorities suddenly decided the students’ degrees required further testing.

The dispute relates mainly to degrees earned through colleges affiliated with Al-Khair University. The committee was told that the HEC asked the university to submit student information on May 20, 2016.

According to the university’s representative, the required data was submitted on June 7, 2017. The HEC later issued a policy on August 31, 2018. Under this policy, students admitted to affiliated colleges up to a certain earlier date were accepted.

However, students enrolled after 2011 were told that their degrees would be attested only after they passed a special test. The Al Khair representative said thousands of students remained stuck because the test was never conducted.

The committee was also told that the HEC had previously placed a similar test condition on students of Global Institute, Lahore. However, the test requirement for those students was later withdrawn and their cases were cleared in 2023.

Al Khair graduates demanded equal treatment. They argued that if students from another institution were cleared without the test, the same rule should be applied to them. Committee members also questioned why the HEC could quickly resolve one university’s case while leaving thousands of Al Khair graduates waiting for years.

Several affected students appeared before the committee and explained how the dispute had damaged their lives. A female graduate said her BEd detailed marks certificate had already been verified.

She received a job on the basis of the qualification and later completed an MEd from Allama Iqbal Open University using the same BEd. However, she said her original degree was now not being attested, placing her job at risk.

Another student said the HEC chairman had promised during a May 18 meeting that the matter would be settled before Eid. According to the student, no solution followed and he was now facing termination from employment.

A third affected graduate told the committee that employers had started removing people from jobs because their degrees were not being verified. He said he was 50 years old and could not understand why he was being asked to solve an issue created many years earlier by the authorities.

At the beginning of the discussion, HEC Executive Director Dr Ziaul Haq told the committee that the old Al Khair matter had already been settled. However, when Al Khair representatives and affected students came forward, the committee found that thousands of cases were still pending.

The chairperson then directed the HEC to apply the same standard that was used in the case of Global Institute, Lahore. She ordered the HEC to call a meeting of its commission and decide the Al Khair issue within 10 to 15 days.

The committee also directed the HEC to submit a complete report explaining how the matter would be resolved. The Senate panel made it clear that students should not be punished for delays, weak monitoring or policy failures by regulatory institutions.