Fake nursing school dupes over 50 students in Karachi

A fake nursing school dashed the hopes of at least 50 aspiring nurses in Karachi, The News reported on Monday.

When Mohsin Sarwar and his 47 other classmates arrived at the King Solomon’s Institute of Nursing to resume their studies, they were confused to see the doors shut. 

The students reached out to teachers and owner of the college but received no response. 

“Next day, one of our class fellows received a phone call made by the daughter of the owner of the institute. She assured that the management had decided to shift the institute somewhere else and all the students will be informed later about it,” student Sarwar told The News.

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The aspiring nurse added that the owner’s daughter also directed the students to deposit their fees in the bank account of the institute, which some students did.

When the students did not hear back from the college administration in the following weeks, they attempted to contact teachers but found the numbers off. 

“We got admissions to the institute in September 2018. Initially, the college arranged classes for the students, and students and teachers punctually attended the institute. But later, the teachers started to leave one by one,” shared Sarwar. “When the students complained about the situation, there was no one to hear them.”

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According to The News, the 50 students that got enrolled in the institute in 2018 now believe that they were duped by Chairman of the King Solomon’s Institute of Nursing Tasadiq Rahat.

The publication also reported that the institute had received Rs70,000 as admission fee from each student and a monthly tuition fee of Rs7,000.

“During the last two years, each student has paid more than Rs200,000 to the institute. The students not only lost their money but the cheater also wasted two years of 50 students,” said another student Muhammad Zaib.

The News reported that the students after receiving the admissions had realised that the institute was not registered with the relevant authorities and had approached Rahat, but were assured by the owner that the institute was genuine and had received the same in written as well. He had also told the students that if they failed to appear in the nursing board exam then their fees would be returned.

The English daily reported that Rahat took advantage of the closure of educational institutes due to the coronavirus pandemic and shut down the institute.

“When we came back to the institute, we found that our institute had been running in a rented building. The owner has now shifted all the furniture from the building,” said one of the affected students, Danyal Bhatti.

Difficulties in registration of case

The News reported that the students had approached the police to register a case against the owner but the police had initially refused to do so.

However, a case was registered on October 27 only after the students protested in Korangi Industrial Area. But, so far, no arrest has been made.

The students had also approached the Federal Investigation Agency but they were told that the case does not fall in their domain and the same response was issued by the anti-corruption authorities.

On the other hand, the Sindh Nursing Examination Board in Karachi confirmed that King Solomon’s Institute of Nursing was not a recognised school. It had also issued a notification on June 24 that it had not received any information about whether the college is registered with the Pakistan Nursing Council or it has obtained a no-objection certificate from the Sindh government.

The board had also requested anti-corruption officials, police and the FIA to take disciplinary action against the institute.

Originally published in The News