Slug: dow-university-fake-degrees-pac-recovery
Category: Education
Focus keyphrase: Dow University fake degrees
SEO title: Dow University Fake Degrees: PAC Orders Salary Recovery
Meta description: PAC ordered recovery of salaries paid to 27 Dow University fake degrees holders, after an audit found only 1,945 of 5,350 staff verified.
Tags: Dow University, fake degrees, Sindh Assembly, Public Accounts Committee, degree verification, Karachi, higher education, Nisar Khuhro
Original element: Own-data point linking FP’s earlier coverage of SALU cancelling 1,184 fake LLB degrees, showing credential fraud is a wider pattern across Sindh’s public universities.
27 Dow University Employees Found With Fake Degrees; Sindh PAC Orders Salary Recovery
KARACHI: The Dow University fake degrees case surfaced after an audit of Dow University of Health Sciences exposed serious gaps in the scrutiny of academic credentials, with 27 employees found to hold fake degrees. The Public Accounts Committee of the Sindh Assembly took up the matter on Tuesday and ordered the recovery of all salaries paid to the employees, who have since been dismissed.
The Dow University fake degrees case is wider than the 27 confirmed instances. Of the university’s 5,350 employees, only 1,945 had undergone degree verification, leaving more than 3,400 cases still pending, the committee was told during a meeting chaired by Nisar Khuhro.
What the Dow University fake degrees audit found
The PAC was reviewing audit paras relating to the university for 2024 and 2025 when the issue came to light. The audit had questioned the administration’s failure to verify employees’ degrees and its lack of a satisfactory response on the matter.
Director Finance Zainul Abideen Shah told the committee that the institution had outsourced the verification process to HRSG under a contract worth Rs7.36 million. Of the degrees verified so far, 27 were found to be fake, he said.
The employees identified in the audit ranged from receptionists and clerical staff to computer operators, administrative officers, billing staff, technicians and nursing staff. Their allegedly fake qualifications included BCom, BA, BSc and MCom degrees, matriculation certificates, nursing diplomas and a master’s degree in computer science.
Shah said all 27 employees whose degrees were found to be fake had been dismissed from service. Vice Chancellor Dr Nazli Hussain told the committee that more than 70 per cent of academic doctors’ degrees had been verified, with the rest still being processed. The audit findings were reported by The Express Tribune.
| Verification item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total employees at Dow University | 5,350 |
| Degrees verified so far | 1,945 |
| Verification cases pending | 3,400+ |
| Degrees found fake | 27 |
| HRSG verification contract | Rs7.36 million |
PAC orders recovery and seeks university-wide reports
Khuhro directed the university to recover all salaries paid to the employees found to have secured employment on the basis of fake degrees. The committee also sought reports from all public universities in Sindh on the verification of academic and non-academic staff credentials.
The PAC has pressed universities on staffing integrity before. Feature Pakistan earlier reported on SMBBMU doctors who went abroad on PhD scholarships and did not return, in a case also examined by the Sindh PAC, and on Shah Abdul Latif University’s cancellation of 1,184 fake LLB degrees — a sign that credential fraud is a wider problem across the province’s public universities rather than an isolated incident at Dow.
The committee also examined Dow University’s finances, with Khuhro asking about its annual budget and revenue generation. Shah told the PAC that the university had an annual budget of Rs26 billion and generated around Rs25 billion a year through academic services, radiology, laboratory services and other sources. Student fees accounted for an additional Rs4.5 billion in annual income, he said.
Hussain told the committee that the university offered more than 300 open-merit seats. Annual fees stood at Rs500,000 for self-finance students and Rs60,000 for those admitted on open merit. International students paid between $10,000 and $18,000 annually, in line with the fee structure prescribed by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, she said.
Credential verification remains a weak link in Pakistani higher education. Students and employers can check the HEC’s recognised and unrecognised institutions lists for Pakistan before relying on any credential. Education fraud has also carried heavy human costs, as seen in an Islamabad student’s death linked to an education scam.
What did the Sindh PAC order over the fake degrees?
The committee directed Dow University to recover all salaries paid to the 27 dismissed employees, and sought reports from all public universities in Sindh on staff degree verification.
How many Dow University employees still need degree verification?
More than 3,400 of the 5,350 employees had not yet been verified when the PAC reviewed the audit. Only 1,945 cases were completed, with 27 found fake.
What fake qualifications were found?
The audit found fake BCom, BA, BSc and MCom degrees, matriculation certificates, nursing diplomas and a master’s degree in computer science, held by receptionists, clerical and billing staff, computer operators, administrative officers, technicians and nursing staff.
Has credential fraud hit other Sindh universities?
Yes. Shah Abdul Latif University cancelled 1,184 fake LLB degrees, a case Feature Pakistan covered earlier, which suggests the problem extends well beyond Dow University.
