ABDUL KHALIQ QURESHI ABBOTTABAD Number of private institutes of higher education are operating across the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province without being registered with the Higher Education Regulatory Authority (HERA) despite strict directives of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and provincial government that all such institutions must be registered with HERA to legitimize their status. It has been learned that more than 30 private colleges, which are not registered with the HERA Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, are operating in the Abbottabad district. Their owners either have managed to get affiliation with different universities by presenting fake no-objection certificates (NOCs) or sent admission forms of students through other affiliated colleges. While talking to The Nation some educational activists on the condition of anonymity told that as per rules and regulations, a private college must be registered with the HERA KhyberPakhtunkhwa and for registration, it has to fulfill a number of requirements such as sufficient land, a playground, library, IT lab, laboratory, classrooms, and faculty members. These colleges do not fulfill the required criteria for registration hence they are operating illegally. On the eve of the new academic year, the owners of these institutions advertise in newspapers for admissions with lofty slogans to attract the parents and students. They also post banners and billboards at various public points to trap the students. All these colleges are short of basic requirements, including science
