QAU graduates waiting for degrees

Thousands of students who graduated two years ago from various Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) run colleges which are affiliated with the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) are still waiting to be awarded their degrees.

Manahil Khan completed her B.Sc in 2014 and has now earned an M.Sc from the National Defence University (NDU). However, she said she could not apply for scholarships or for a government job without her bachelors degree.

“Students have been facing a lot of problems because they don’t have their degrees. QAU was to issue us our degrees within a year but whenever we ask, we are told to wait,” said another student.

When asked, QAU controller Sardar Babar said since this was the first time the university had given affiliation to colleges, which was why it was facing a few problems with issuing degrees. However, he said, the university had now given an order to a government printing corporation for printing degrees.

“We will start issuing degrees next month,” he said, adding that the university had issued detailed mark sheets to all students.

Tug-of-war between FDE DG, CADD ministry

The FDE director general and some officials from the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) are in a tug-of-war over the power to make transfers and postings at the FDE, which has had an effect on the performance of the governing body.

The FDE, which is responsible for looking after the affairs of 422 educational institutes, is headed by Director General Shahnaz A. Riaz, who is said to not have a good working relationship with the CADD ministry. According to sources, certain groups in the FDE support the CADD ministry while others back the DG.

The confrontation between the FDE DG and the CADD ministry started last month when the DG removed Director Admin retired Major Abdul Waheed and appointed a schoolteacher, Yaseen Awan, to the post.

Mr Waheed refused to give up his charge and contested the DG’s decision. However, he had to leave his post a few days later. The DG made several other postings at the FDE, appointed another schoolteacher as deputy director schools and reshuffled several other officers.

She had given Director Training Asif Niazi additional charge as director schools but on Thursday, Area Education Officer Tarnol Sadia Adnan was appointed director schools.

Through a notification issued on Thursday, the CADD ministry declared all transfers and postings of officers in grade 17 and above made by the DG in the last one month void. It also said that the DG will not make transfers and postings in grade 17 and above as this is the CADD ministry’s mandate.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2016