Alvi for introducing special tools for differently-abled persons

President says out-of-school children issue needs to be addressed collectively

ISLAMABAD:

President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday called for introducing special educational tools for differently-abled persons particularly the visually and hearing-impaired ones to facilitate them to pursue higher education.

The president also emphasised that the huge number of out-of-school children was a major issue that needed to be addressed with the collective efforts of educational institutions, civil society and non-governmental organizations.

He made these remarks while chairing a follow-up meeting on Allam Iqbal Open University (AIOU) at the President's House. The meeting was attended by AIOU Vice-Chancellor Dr Zia-ul-Qayyum and senior management staff of the university.

Addressing the meeting, the president underscored the need for skill-based courses to equip the youth with employable skills, particularly in the IT sector. He also underlined the need to introduce two-year associate degree programmes to cater to the needs of demand for skilled professionals. He stated that the AIOU needed to further increase its outreach through online and distance learning modes to increase the number of graduates in the country.

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The president urged the AIOU management to effectively utilise the latest ICT tools in that regard. AIOU vice-chancellor told the meeting that during the last two years, the university had transformed its operations through massive technological interventions under its "digital transformation policy".

The meeting was informed that the AIOU was the first public sector university to launch an integrated automated suite of applications that had automated all academic, administrative and financial processes of the university.

The AIOU vice-chancellor apprised the meeting that over 1.2 million students were currently enrolled in the institution whereas more than 4.43 million students had graduated in various disciplines so far.

The president appreciated the initiatives undertaken by the university, particularly in enhancing its outreach and digitisation of the institution.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2022.