Getting degrees after graduation takes years, grumble students

KABUL (Pajhwok): Some students of universities, who have graduated in past years, complain about the lengthy procedure and long wait to get their degrees issued by the institutes, saying they lose job opportunities due to lack of documents.

Sara Azizi, a private university graduate, said she was graduated two years ago, but was yet to obtain her degree.

She said she went to the university several times to get her degree, but every time she was told that the issuance of degrees had been postponed.

Sara said even students who graduated before her had not received their certificates. “Due to such issue; we face many challenges and even lose chances of scholarships and jobs”, she added.

Zamir, who graduated a year ago from Kabul University, said some of his classmates had received their diplomas, but he had not.

He said after their convocation, the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) directed the university to issue degrees to those who wanted them in two weeks and half of his classmates were able to get their degrees, but the rest were unable to get theirs.

Adiba is another student who graduated from one of the private universities of northern Takhar province. She said they had paid the fee for their diplomas, but still they were not given the documents.

Rishad Ahmad said he graduated from a private university four years ago and was yet to obtain his degree despite continuous attempts.

Mostly private university students complained about not getting their degrees despite passage of years after their graduation.

Pajhwok asked some officials of private universities about the reason for not issuing degrees to graduates.

Deputy head of a private university, who did not want to be identified, told Pajhwok the main problem was that most private universities were not registered.

However, Ziaullah Hashimi, MoHE spokesman, rejected the claims that the ministry had been slow in issuing diplomas and other educational documents, saying the process continued normally.

The MoHE issued 500 diplomas for graduates every day, he said.

aw/ma