Shahadatul Almiya, Shahadatul Aliya degrees equal to MA Arabic degree: LHC

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) held that the degrees of Shahadatul Almiya and Shahadatul Aliya are equal to the degree of MA Arabic.

The court passed this order on the petition of Nuzhat Shahbana having a degree of Shahadatul Almiya and observed that the appellant is entitled to be considered for the appointment of SESE (Arabic teacher).

The schools education department had advertised recruitment of SESE on the basis of certificates (sanads) from religious institutions (deeni madaris) recognised by the University Grants Commission.

The appellant in response to the advertisement applied for the post. She appeared in the NTS examination and thereafter a list was prepared for conducting an interview wherein the name of the appellant appeared at serial no. 3.

Subsequently, a tentative merit list of candidates was prepared wherein the name of the appellant was not included.

A law officer argued that the appellant was required to have a BA degree with Shahadatul Almiya to be qualified for the post of SESE but she did not possess the same; therefore, she was not entitled to be considered and left out from the remaining recruitment process.

The counsel of the appellant argued that the appellant had the degree of Shahadatul Almiya which has been declared equal to MA Arabic by the Higher Education Commission (HEC). He said the appellant possessed the requisite qualification and she should have been considered.

The court after hearing both sides said the respondents have not considered all the aspects of the matter properly.

The court said the degree of Shahadatul Almiya has been declared by the HEC equivalent to MA Arabic. It further said in the equivalence certificate, it has clearly been mentioned that it was for the purpose of teaching Arabic and Islamic Studies in colleges and universities.

The court allowed the petition and observed that perusal to all the notifications/ letters issued by the government and equivalence certificate, the educational qualification of the appellant is to be treated equal to MA Arabic and she is entitled to be considered as eligible for the appointment of Arabic teacher.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024