Higher Education Commission (HEC) has launched an online portal for the issuance of equivalence certificates against the degrees issued by Pakistani educational institutes. According to an official statement, the equivalence portal has been integrated into the already functional HEC’s e-services portal. From the submission of the receipt of challan fee to the submission of educational documents, the online equivalence portal has digitalized the entire process of obtaining an equivalence certificate of a local degree. “They can apply from their homes by creating an online profile at ‘eservices.hec.gov.pk’ and upload HEC attested educational documents from Bachelor’s onwards along with paid fee challan,” the statement said. Moreover, the online portal will let applicants track the status of their applications. It will send the system-generated equivalence certificates to their emails. Those who cannot use the online facility can still get equivalence certificates against local degrees by applying manually. Speaking in this regard, a spokesperson for HEC termed the launch of the equivalence portal a ‘revolutionary step’, adding that HEC will take similar steps in the future to facilitate students. The spokesperson said that the equivalence portal has been developed after taking input from all Pakistani universities and other degree-awarding institutions.