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HEC MS engineering project: Students' problems
HEC accelerates MS engineering project
Islamabad, Feb 05, 2008: Scholars from Pakistan are very talented and have all the
academic skills to project themselves as international scientific figures. The
selected candidates for the subject field are capable of doing research in their
relevant field to the extent of global environment.
Prof Dr Sohail H
Naqvi, Executive Director Higher Education Commission (HEC), stated this while
seeing off Pakistani scholars in a farewell ceremony who were leaving for their
MS Engineering in South Korea here Monday morning at the HEC
auditorium.
Prof Ji Won Yang, Vice President Korea Advance Institute of
Science & Technology (KAIST), through a video conference system offered all
support and assistance to the scholars selected by the HEC for their higher
educational studies. He was of the view that Pakistani scholars have almost all
the skills to gain knowledge from the research and faculty of KAIST.
Most
of the scholarship projects of HEC are aimed at producing trained faculty
members who could be placed in the universities, currently passing through
massive expansion phase, owing to increasing the young population base of the
country. However, there is one scholarship programme specially designed for
engineers, aimed at preparing high-tech workforce for industrial sector, who are
able to work at cutting edge technologies. The News
Inapt accommodation for students visiting HEC office
Islamabad: Students face tough times
getting documents attested by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), which is a
requirement for admission to foreign institutions.
Hundreds of students
visit the HEC headquarters here from across the country for attestations but the
relevant authorities fail to facilitate them. The attestation counter has been
set up at the gate with no shelter for the students to sit and wait for the
lengthy official procedure. Resultantly, they have to stand in lins on a service
road, exposed to harsh winter rains and rash traffic.
Having gone
through all this, they find that the counter in charge is often absent.
Momin Khan came from Peshawar to get his documents attested. He said that he had been standing in the line since morning but the
officials had not yet issued him a token mentioning when his turn would come to
submit documents.
Lame excuses: "Power is out so tokens cannot be
issued," Khan quoted officials as telling him the reason for the delay. He said
officials gave students such lame excuses to cover up their incompetence.
He said it was regrettable that HEC officials push students from pillar
to post instead of resolving their problems urgently.
Nazim Farooq, who
came from Lahore, said after getting tokens, the students had to wait long hours
before windows of the departments concerned opened for them. "the window key is
missing so there is a delay in its opening," an official told Farooq justifying
the delay.
Poor information service: Students complained of a poor
information service on telephone. They said the operators told them that the
relevant officials were busy in meetings every time they called to get some
information on telephone.
"I have telephoned HEC Deputy Director Abid
many times to know about the documents required for attestation but I am always
told that he is attending a meeting. No one else is ready to give me information
in Abid's absence," Nazir Malik said.
He said he had to travel from
Sargodha to Islamabad only to know that some of the documents would be attested
by his university before the final attestation from the HEC. Hence, he said, he
had to face extra trouble only because of a poor information service.
Arrest threats: Another student said the mismanagement ran against the
HEC claims of encouraging students for higher education. "They (HEC officials)
threaten us with arrests if we raise voice against the mismanagement," said a
student asking not to be named. Instead of threats, the HEC should put its house
in order, he said.
An official said on condition of
anonymity that the number of students visiting the HEC was increasing because
Sweden universities had opened admissions. He said the HEC had not made
arrangements to accommodate the rising number of students.
Students told
to stay out: Hassan, the HEC official apparently dealing with public affairs,
said that the students were being accommodated appropriately. He said
they were told to wait "outside" the office (on the service road) to avoid
"rush" in HEC. He did not answer when asked what the office space was for if
students were not allowed even to sit there after their long journeys.
He said, "There is no place on the HEC premises to accommodate the
students." He claimed that the officials were doing their best to facilitate the
students. Daily Times
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