Commonwealth Scholarship for Masters & Doctoral, UK 2014

Higher Education Commission of Pakistan is accepting applications for Commonwealth Scholarship for Masters & Doctoral, UK 2014. Application are invited from all over Pakistan and AJK. Scholarships are available for all disciplines for year 2014. Commonwealth Scholarship for Masters & Doctoral, UK 2014. Eligibility criteria for each program covered by the Commonwealth Scholarship for Masters & Doctoral, UK 2014 is described here on this link.

How to Apply?

• Fill out the HEC application form which can download from the official website or the link here. 
• Then fill out Commonwealth application form online at bit.ly/cscuk-apply and select HEC as your nominating agency while filling out form. Once the form is filled, get 3 print outs of the filled application form. 
• The attested copies of your academic and necessary documents must be attached with the form.
• You are required to submit application fee of Rs. 500/- and submit its original receipt along with the application which is to be deposited in online account of HEC in HBL, Account no. 17427900133401, HBL, Shalimar Recording Company Branch, Sector H-9, Islamabad.
• Interview would be conducted by HEC of selected candidates.
• Incomplete applications will not be entertained and everyone meeting the criteria is encouraged to apply.
• Application forms (3 Copies) along with above mentioned requirements must be sent to HEC on the following address latest by 20th Oct, 2013.

Engr. Waheed Ahmed Mangi
Deputy Director (HRD/Incharge FFSP/Commonwealth United Kingdom)
Higher Education Commission, H-9, Islamabad
Email: whahmed@hec.gov.pk, shkhattak@hec.gov.pk

Equivalence Degree Issuance by HEC

Equivalence Degree Issuance services are provided by Higher Education Commission (HEC). We require these services when we have either got a foreign degree from international institute or some other local degree that is not recognized in all disciplines equally. Equivalence degree is issued which is accepted and recognized by all institutes and disciplines unanimously. HEC issues degree starting from bachelors level while secondary level degrees are issued by local board offices. You can get equivalence of both general educational degrees and deeni asnaad.

How can you proceed with degree issuance?

You are required to fill form to apply for equivalence degree issuance. Form E_01 is available if you want equivalence of your general educational degree and form E_02 for Deeni Asnaad. Forms are available on HEC website. After completely filling the forms you may send your complete application addressing the Director General (A&A), Higher Education Commission, Sector H-9, Islamabad, (Tel: No. + 92-(051) 90400917, 90400913, 90400912, Fax: +92 (051) 90400902.

Necessary Documents

Along with form, you are required to submit the following documents:

• Attested copy of your all certificates/degrees in translated form
• Attested copy and original degree/certificate obtained from abroad along with attested translation
• Photocopy of transcript year-wised
• Registration proof for degree (admission form etc.)
• Printed/photocopy of syllabus from official record of institution regarding degree
• Thesis copy for research degree
• Evidence of completion of studies in abroad (Passport entry exits etc.)
• Study-leave order (for in-service employees)
• Proof of scholarship (for scholarship holders)
• certificate related to previous studies
• Copy of CNIC
• Bio-data indicating specifically the period of study spent abroad
• Fee (non-refundable)

Fee For Equivalence

Bachelors, Bachelor (Hons)/Masters

For Local Degree the charges are Rs. 1500 and for Foreign degree its Rs. 5,000

M.Sc (Hons)/M.S/M.Phil. or equivalent

For Local Degree the charges are Rs. 2000 and for Foreign degree its Rs. 5,000

Ph.D. or equivalent

For Local Degree the charges are Rs. 2000 and for Foreign degree its Rs. 5,000

Fee of Duplicate equivalence Letter

For Local Degree the charges are Rs. 300 and for Foreign degree its Rs. 300

Degree Attestation by HEC: Facilities opened in Lahore and Peshawar

Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan is highest education authority in Pakistan. It not only regulates the education system and approves universities' charter after careful evaluation but also involved in degree attestation in order to confirm the validity of degrees. HEC attests the degrees/diplomas or certificates issued by HEC recognized universities only which may be private/public. Further neither does it recognize foreign degrees. For many years, HEC was providing attestation services only in Islamabad city. In order to facilitate people, it has opened two more facilities for attestation at its regional centers which started their working on 3rd June, 2013.

One facility is opened in Lahore and other in Peshawar. This action would make it easier for many residents of the particular city and nearby towns and cities to get their degrees attested. Following are the details of location of both offices:

HEC Regional Centre 

55-B/2, Gulberg III, Lahore 

Email: nhussain@hec.gov.pk

HEC Regional Centre

Phase-V, Hayatabad, Peshawar

Email: zahmad@hec.gov.pk 

Procedure of Attestation

There is a particular process for getting your degrees attested by HEC
. There are announced official timings for degree attestation from 8:00 am to 11:00 am. During this time period, token numbers are issued which help you wait for your turn. Total of 240 token are issued for a day, any number going beyond that is neither issued nor entertained. Further, they do not exceed their time limits in order to entertain the applicants. You can also apply online at HEC's official website for degree attestation.

First of all to begin with degree/diploma/certificate attestation process, you must have original certificates/degrees from Matric onwards along with transcripts/DMCs; Detailed list is as follows:

1. Original matric certificate
2. Original intermediate certificate
3. Original degree
4. Original transcripts/detail mark certificates (DMCs) showing date of admission and completion                           of program
5. Copy of Computerized Identity Card 
6. Authority letter duly attested by a Grade 17 officer for the authorized person 

Further there are few other important requirements of degree attestation by HEC such as;

1. The name of the candidate should be same on all documents provided, i.e. both on degrees and NIC.
2. The father name of the candidate should also be same on all the degrees and identity documents provided
3. Date of birth should also match on all documents provided
4. Both Degrees/ Transcripts issued on the same date, or overlapping semesters between an Undergraduate Degree and a Graduate Degree will not be recognized/ attested by HEC.

Note: If applicants are unable to fulfill any of the above requirement, HEC will not attest the degrees/diplomas/certificates. 

Attestation Fee

There is charged fee for per document attestation by HEC. It charges Rs. 800 for original document attestation and Rs. 500 for photocopied degree/diploma/certificate attestation. Those who go by themselves have to pay the fee on the counter but those applying online and does no go by themselves have to submit their charges to OCS which also provide shipment service for degree/diploma/ certificate attestation. OCS shipment service charges are Rs. 155 for Islamabad and Rs. 240 for the rest of the Pakistan (excluding attestation fee).

Stop Playing with Us HEC !

Nowdays Higher Education Commission is doing a non sense as usual. They are really making a fuss for the students of MBA. I mean HEC which is supposed to be an institute for the help and betterment of education in Pakistan and students of Pakistan but it is really taking some decisions which are making a huge uncertainty among all the higher level students. I am going to do my best to explain what they are doing for the "betterment" of students in Pakistan.

Now that is HEC old road map for MBA in Pakistan. As this map shows everything quit clearly which is alright in every aspect. But now they are doing some blunders or may be non sense is a better word to use.

You can see from the map above that for one year MBA students have to cover 30 to 36 credit hours and there is no time limit mentioned. But now HEC has declared that there is no more 1 year MBA, the minimum time limit imposed by HEC for MBA after 4 year business bachelors is 1.5 half years. Okay now if you are wondering that what is non-sense about that then here it is, the credit hours for MBA are remains the same that is 30 to 36 hrs. So one can conclude that HEC has wonderful thing for students by giving them 6 more months to study same courses which they can done in 1 year.

Same is the case with 2 year MBA and 3 year MBA, HEC has increased number of years by 6 months in both cases with same credit hours. Now no one can justify these blunder which HEC has done with us.

Its not me who is upset with these actions even HEC's National Curriculum Revision Committee members are took by surprised with this decision of HEC. I will not disclose the name of that Respectful Member who told me that "I am a member of HEC revision committee and I was one of them who made above given road map back in 2007 but HEC didn't inform me as well many others about this meeting and this decision took me by surprise".

After having this conversation I was forced to think that there must be some "hand" behind all this thing otherwise there is no logic to extend study duration of students.