Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) will form a scout force with the help of its two million students and teachers across the country, who will play dynamic role in rehabilitation activities at the times of disasters, said Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Nazir Ahmed Sangi while speaking as the chief guest on the Muslim Aid Day.
Muslim Aid, a UK-based relief and development agency, under the theme of “Universal Primary Education Delivering the Second Millennium Development Goal” arranged the event.
For creating awareness of the importance of education, declamation contests and tableaus were presented by the children of Muslim Aid school from Burma and Tarlai. Lauding the matchless contribution of Muslim Aid to emergency relief, including food, shelter and medical support, education and skill training, Prof Nazir Sangi said AIOU was one of the mega universities of the world and the doors of this mega university were open to each and every citizen. AIOU had waived off full fee of its Matriculation, Intermediate, BA and B.Ed progammes for the Semester Autumn, 2011 for the flood affected students of Balochistan and Sindh and 50% fee concession had also been granted in the remaining programmes.
He said AIOU had taken full advantage of the modern techniques of communication to facilitate and support its students all over the country, e.g. provision of information through web and use of video conferencing for better quality education through lectures, workshops, viva etc through expert faculty members. In addition, he said helping needy and deprived people, providing equal educational opportunities to underprivileged students and to those residing in far-flung and backward areas around the country was their focal point, He added AIOU had started various schemes like students’ support fund, video conferencing system, constructing its own buildings in various cities, setting up model study centres at village and town level. AIOU would continue its efforts to uplift the socio-economic condition of neglected people and impart quality education to eliminate illiteracy from the country, he said. Speaking on the occasion, Martin Dowson, head of Basic Services Unit, Department of International Development, British High Commission, said the Muslim Aid aimed at achieving universal primary education by 2015. He said their objective had been to send non-school-going children, specifically those in crisis and those subject to child labour, to schools and enhance quality of education by arranging capacity-building programmes for the teachers of target schools.
Prof Nazir Sangi presented the university shields to Martin Dowson, British High Commission and Khobaib A Vahedy, country director, Muslim Aid, UK. He also distributed certificates and gifts among the students.
