The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday suspended the Higher Education Commission (HEC) notification regarding the equivalence of the graduate engineers and B.Tech graduates.

Justice Babar Sattar issued notices to Federal Secretary Education and HEC after a preliminary hearing into the petition filed by Pakistan Engineering Council. On behalf of PEC, Barrister Raheel Ahmed took the stance that the HEC notification was in violation of the PEC Act and the Supreme Court decision.

He said that BSc Engineering and B.Tech Technology were not equivalent degrees, but HEC declared the two equivalent and issued a letter to the provinces asking them for implementing its decision. The petitioner told the court that the notification issued by HEC had created confusion, and some institutions had started entertaining applications of the B. Tech degree holders for the posts specified for engineers only.

He asserted that the notification had created serious concerns for PEC and the engineering community, as according to the PEC Act and the Supreme Court decision, non-engineers were not allowed to perform the duty of engineers.

It is to note that PEC had challenged the HEC equivalence notification on 25 January. The notification was issued on 8 December 2021 by HEC, declaring a bachelor’s degree in engineering (16 years education) equivalent to a bachelor’s degree (16 years education) in equivalent technology.

HEC had issued notification after the decision of the 10th meeting of its Accreditation and Equivalence Committee. According to HEC, the committee had approved the modification after due deliberation and a PEC representative was also present in the meeting.

Source: Pro Pakistani