THOUSANDS of engineering technology graduates are facing systemic career discrimination due to policy inaction. Both the National Technology Council (NTC) and the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) function under the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to regulate technical education. However, while PEC-registered engineers enjoy clear professional pathways and exclusive eligibility for public-sector positions, NTC-registered graduates remain stranded without a defined service structure.

This disparity is fundamentally unjust. Engineering technologists undergo a rigorous four-year bachelor’s programme that mirrors the academic standards of traditional engineering degrees, including midterm exams, sessional evaluations, finals and a compulsory final-year project (FYP). Despite spending four years building practical and theoretical competence, these graduates find themselves locked out of government job opportunities, where recruitment rules blindly mandate PEC registration even for roles heavily focused on applied technology.

The Ministry of Education along with the HEC must address this policy flaw. The government must formulate a clear service structure for NTC-registered graduates, creating distinct technologist cadres in public-sector departments and provincial service rules.

Without dedicated job avenues in the government sector, the hard work and academic investments of all these NTC graduates will continue to go to waste.

Jawad Akhter Siddiqui
Sukkur

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2026