Distance-learning: AIOU increasing outreach while maintaining quality

VC shares achievements, his vision of where he wants to see the varsity in future.

ISLAMABAD:

The quality, performance and accessibility of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) not only improved during the last few years but also expanded to the remotest areas of country.

“During my tenure we have focused on bridging the yawning gap between the academia and the industry to increase employment opportunities for the graduating students,” AIOU Vice-Chancellor Dr Nazir Ahmad Sangi said in an exclusive interview with The Express Tribune.

“Accreditation with all of the country’s chambers of commerce and industry was part of this effort, besides revising and revitalising the academic strategy, curricula and delivery system,” he added.

To maintain quality and performance of the institution, a directorate of quality assurance has been established which conducts periodic evaluations.

About the outreach in the far-flung areas, he said they were increasing accessibility in remote areas like Umerkot, Gwadar, Qallat and Kohat by establishing regional centres. “Besides, we have increased number of tutors, and during the last three years the number has risen to 15,000.”

Dr Sangi said that they were not only constructing new centres but looking for non-functional buildings to make them useable. Quoting an instance he said recently Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) handed them years’ old abandoned technical college at Mera Begwal a suburb of the federal capital.

“We will make it a model technical college equipped with modern technology with boarding and lodging facility for students of rural areas. We are doing the same in Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces,” he said adding that a directorate of technical education has already been established for the purpose of monitoring the progress on this count.

Besides, he remarked, to minimise the technical and other problems of students, they were introducing an SMS service for queries related to admission and fee instead of making them to come in person.

The university is offering a number of short technical courses and the strength of students in those courses has risen from 700 to 7,000 in three years.

AIOU hosted a meeting of Asian Association of Open Universities in October last year which was attended by over 200 local and Asian delegates. AIOU was elected to its executive council as member for next three years. “At this annual moot of Asian open varsities we signed several contracts and memoranda of understanding,” he said.

About recognition of its programmes abroad he said, recently a Sri Lankan university commended and verified their programme while China has also sent an invitation for coordination in distance learning programme.

For extending education facilities to children in the disaster and conflict-hit areas Sangi said the varsity has arrangements in place to immediately start classes for displaced children in tents.

About the future programmes of varsity, he said they were building a cost-effective examination centres for students of Balochistan whereas 10 acres of land has been allocated in Gwadar. Besides, the Government of the Punjab has donated the varsity six acres of land in Toba Tek Singh.

University through history

The Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) was established in May 1974 under Act No. XXXIX passed by the Parliament of Pakistan. It was initially named as the People’s Open University, renamed as Allama Iqbal Open University in 1977 at the eve of the first centenary of the national poet, Allama Muhammad Iqbal.

AIOU is the first open university in Asia- a unique institution because of its philosophy, system, approach, functions and overall structure. The University with its main campus at Islamabad and huge network of  regional centres spread all over the country is serving its clientele all over Pakistan and in the Middle East.

AIOU is a distance learning  institution which provides multi-disciplinary education from basic to doctoral level programs.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2014.