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Unregistered` colleges flourishing in Chakwal

2014-12-14
s the Punjab Higher Education Department (HED) and universities concerned keep their eyes shut, unregistered and fake campuses and private colleges are continuing to play havoc with the future of thousands ofstudents.

Dawn has learnt that the campus of a chartered university and more than 50 private colleges, which are not registered with the HED, are operating in the Chakwal district.

Their owners either have managed to get affiliation with different universities by presenting fake no-objection certificates (NOCs) or sent admission forms of students through other affiliated colleges.

According to the rules and regulations, a private college must be registered with the HED. To get the registration, it has to fulfil a number of requirements such as sufficient land, a playground, library, IT lab, laboratory, classrooms and faculty members. But according to the deputy director colleges Chakwal, Prof Nasir MehmoodAwan, more than 50 unregistered private colleges are operating in the district.

These colleges do not fulfil the required criteria for registration but interestingly they are affiliated with differentuniversities.

According to the affiliation rules, only a college registered with the HED can be awarded affiliation but the owners of many unregistered colleges have managed to get their colleges affiliated with the universities allegedly by presenting fake NOCs.

On the eve of new academic year, the owners of these colleges run commercials on local cable channels and newspapers for admissions with lofty slogans to attract the parents and students.

They also post banners and billboards at various public points to trap the students.

Some commercials and signboards also loudly advertise `University of South Asia (USA), Chakwal campus.

The fact is that the Lahore-based USA, which is chartered by the HigherEducation Commission (HEC), does not have any campus or sub-campus in any city except Lahore where it has the main campus. But in Chakwal, `Heritage International College`, which is also not registered with the HED, is operating under the affiliation of the USA. But to lure the parents and students, the owners are projecting the college as a `Chakwal campus of USA`.

They charge a hefty fee from the students.

`USA does not have any campus in Chakwal rather Heritage International College is just affiliated with the university and its owners cannot project the college as a campus of the USA., Tanvir Ali Kazmi, the director academics of the USA, told Dawn. `I would look into the matter,` he added.

Though the third semester is continuing at this campus of the USA, according to its students they have not been given the mark sheets of their first semester.

`The administration has just told us that we all are pass in the first and sec-ond semester but they have not issued us the result cards,` the students told Dawn.

`We have been trapped here as we have deposited more than Rs100,000 as a fee for three semesters. They are not issuing us result cards because the result cards would reveal that it is not a campus of USA rather a college affiliated with the USA,` a student of BCS said.

When contacted, the head of the campus, Zahra Ahsan, came up with an obscure reply: `The signboard which tells `University of South Asia Chakwal campus` can be removed if anyone does not like it.

She said the management of the college had applied for the registration.

`Any student who wants their result card can collect it from my office,` she added. It has been learnt that many unregistered colleges are also operating in the district.

One such college, `Ideal College of Education`, is also operating at Rawalpindi Road in Chakwal city. It has been learnt that students from differentond semester but they have not issued us the result cards,` the students told Dawn.

`We have been trapped here as we have deposited more than Rs100,000 as a fee for three semesters. They are not issuing us result cards because the result cards would reveal that it is not a campus of USA rather a college affiliated with the USA,` a student of BCS said.

When contacted, the head of the campus, Zahra Ahsan, came up with an obscure reply: `The signboard which tells `University of South Asia Chakwal campus` can be removed if anyone does not like it.

She said the management of the college had applied for the registration.

`Any student who wants their result card can collect it from my office,` she added. It has been learnt that many unregistered colleges are also operating in the district.

One such college, `Ideal College of Education`, is also operating at Rawalpindi Road in Chakwal city. It has been learnt that students from differentareas, including Gujar Khan, are admitted to the college but they do not take any classes.

According to the affiliation rules, no college can conduct classes only at the weekend days rather a college must conduct classes six days a week. But according to Dr Abdul Waheed, the owner of Ideal College, his college only opens on Saturdays and Sundays.

`Only weekend classes are held here while we have applied for registration, he claimed.

The students who are pursuing their MEd and BEd degrees at Ideal College are satisfied with the college environment.

`The big advantage of this college for us is that we do not have to come to the college to attend classes rather we study at homes. Another plus point is that despite not attending classes, we are treated as regular students,` a student said.

Students of many other colleges said they did not know if a college should be registered with the HED. `We fear thatif in future any inquiry is launched, our degrees can be nullified,` said another student.

Many other unregistered colleges, including Rawalpindi College of Commerce, Chakwal College of Education, City College are operating without any check and balance while their owners claim they have applied for registration.

`There are around 50 colleges operating in Chakwal district without being registered with the HED,` said the deputy director colleges, Prof Nasir Mehmood Awan.

`They are not registered because they do not fulfil the criteria and universities must carry out an investigation before awarding affiliation to such colleges,` he said.

Talking to Dawn, Prof Dr Shamasul Basr, the chairman of the affiliation committee of the University of Sargodha, said: `Affiliation is granted only after the owner of a college provides a no-objection certificate from the HED.`Our Correspondent