Failure to approve educational qualifications; New obstacle for Afghan students in Pakistan

DID Press: Afghan students who want to return to Afghanistan after years of studying in Pakistan, have faced a serious challenge in the verification of their educational qualifications by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC). This challenge has put their academic and career futures in an aura of uncertainty.

According to these students, they were admitted in Pakistani universities and colleges using their Refugee Registration Card (PoR) and Afghan Citizenship Card (ACC) before the decision of the Pakistani government to repatriate the Afghan refugees, but now the same documents are not accepted by the HEC for the verification of academic qualifications.

According to Pakistani media, the affected students say that when they approached the HEC, they were informed that henceforth the documents issued under PoR and ACC cannot be verified and only passport holders can verify their documents.

According to the statements of these people, they have completed their studies in various universities and institutions of Pakistan, including Peshawar University, with these documents; They have taken admission, appeared in exams and even received official documents issued by HEC, but now the same documents are considered invalid.

This problem is aggravated in the situation that the federal government of Pakistan encourages the return of Afghan nationals to their country. The lack of HEC approval has made the educational qualifications of these students practically useless in Afghanistan and other countries.

Most of the affected students do not have Afghan passports because they have spent their entire education and life in Pakistan under PoR and ACC cards.

The new requirement to provide a passport has severely limited their opportunities to continue their education, employment, and future career.

These students have asked the Higher Education Commission and the government of Pakistan to review this policy and allow their educational qualifications to be verified based on the same documents with which they were admitted and received their degrees.