PAKISTAN
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University leaders demand action on fake universities

Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission this month issued a public notice listing 153 illegal universities and degree-awarding institutions, but academics say the rising trend of fake universities cannot be discouraged without punitive action against management of the bogus institutions.

According to university leaders, the perceived failure of the authorities to take action against Karachi-based Axact over its alleged role in a global fake degree scandal is behind the growth in bogus institutions.

"The trend of selling bogus degrees is rising due to government's inaction against Axact,” Tahir Amin, vice-chancellor of Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan, told University World News. “The investigation agencies raided Axact's offices but there was no crackdown against many such firms involved in selling fake degrees and diplomas."

He said: "The people involved in this business are playing with the future of our generations and damaging the credibility of our higher education system. People behind bogus universities must be booked and penalised," Tahir said.

According to Higher Education Commission or HEC data, of the illegal universities or degree-awarding institutions operating in Pakistan, 100 were in Punjab province, 36 in Sindh, 11 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, four in the federal capital Islamabad and two in Pakistan's part of Kashmir.

Many fooled

Vice-chancellor of Lahore's University of the Punjab, Zaffar Mueen Nasar, said: "Some aspiring graduates knowingly and wilfully obtain fake degrees from such universities and the rest are fooled by fascinating names. In both cases, it is the responsibility of the government to take stern action against practitioners of this wicked business as only punitive action can help stop this practice."

The latest HEC list of illegal or fake universities published in January contains some alluring names for aspiring graduates who wish to acquire international certifications. Among many other un-accredited, fake or illegal universities existing in all four provinces some bogus names include ‘Mishigan International College’, ‘American International College’, ‘American University of London’, ‘American International University’, ‘UK College of Information Technology’ and ‘American World University International.’

A large number of illegal universities mentioned in the HEC notice do not exist, some are run from apartments and commercial buildings and issue degrees not recognised by higher education authorities of the federal or provincial governments.

The list includes American University of Hawaii. In 2015, a Hawaiian court ordered its operation as a university to be halted and imposed a civil penalty of US$500,000 against the university management. A 2013 BBC News report revealed that the American University of London, an unaccredited distance learning institution that also operates in Pakistan, was selling degrees to individuals without requiring any academic work.

No legal action

In a case in 2010 in the High Court in Lahore on the mushrooming of illegal universities and colleges, the HEC was directed to take steps to ensure students and parents were made aware of bogus institutions.

The HEC assured the court it would take such steps, as well as legal action. It has since published lists of fake institutions, the latest on 10 January. However, the authorities have not yet initiated legal proceedings against bogus institutions.

HEC Media Director Aayesha Ikram told University World News: "We are working in close cooperation with all the provincial governments through a steering committee of provincial education secretaries. We have identified and located illegal universities and informed the provincial governments for legal action against those institutions.”

She added: “Ours is a supervisory role and it is expected that provincial governments would exercise their executive authority to curb such practices within their jurisdictions."

Ikram said that in the wake of the Axact saga, degree verification systems have been made “more robust, secure and reliable” and employers and genuine institutions are advised to refer to the HEC’s verification services to ensure degrees are genuine.

"The Axact scandal was online, where fake foreign degrees were handed out. It has no connection with universities in Pakistan. However, HEC provides regular alerts to create awareness among the public," she said.

But Barrister Javed Iqbal Jaffrey, who was involved in the 2010 case, told University World News that the dismissal in 2016 of the case against Axact's management and the acquittal by the court of Axact’s management could encourage others.

"I am striving against diploma mills since 2010 and nothing has happened except for awareness notices,” he said.