Special students : AIOU upgrades free education plan

ISLAMABAD: The Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has upgraded its free education plan for the special students with enhanced facilities including provision of study material through a computerised accessibility centre.

Over the years, AIOU maintained its policy of providing education to the physically handicapped and visually impaired students free of cost from Matriculation to PhD level, said Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Shahid Siddiqui.

The number of enrolled students in these categorically immensely increased in the recent year. The university is providing free education to all types of special need students.

In the recent admissions, a large number of special students mostly visually impaired have shown interest even in MPhil and PhD programs. Only the Faculty of Education received more than 20 applications for the admission in these programmes. Such students are provided writers in exams.

An Accessibility Centre has been established at the AIOU’s Central Library. It is the first-ever E-Learning facility being provided to this special category of people by any public sector educational institution free of cost.

“This facility is not confined to only AIOU’s students but all those who are interested to get themselves educated through E-learning. The needy students will be able to access HEC’s digital resources, e-Books, research articles, journals, and thesis and course material of their programs without any extra charges,” the vice-chancellor said

The centre is equipped with computers, scanners, printers, different software through which needy students especially visually impaired or blind could access e-content through internet.

“The university will also arrange orientation and introductory sessions that can benefit them for their professional development and academic up-gradation,” Dr Siddiqui added.

Dr Siddiqui said it was a matter of great pride for AIOU that, one of its Master-level student Ashraf Bhatti, who has been the part of the Pakistan Blind Cricket team. He was declared man-of-the-match in 2002 World blind cricket tournament and is coaching the team.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2016.