Caretaker Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Muhammad Yusuf Sheikh Wednesday visited Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) and praised its academic standing and rich country-wide infrastructure network.
On his arrival, he was welcomed by the university’s Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Shahid Siddiqui and senior academicians and officers.
While acknowledging the university’s academic contribution, the minister said it was doing a great job in the educational sector.
The initiatives taken during the last four years, particularly for the professional development of its employees and the students are highly praise-worthy, he added.
He also commended the university for its special focus on the society’s welfare activities, providing free education to the marginalized sections of the society as well as the area like FATA and Baluchistan, the students of which get free Matric education.
The minister said he also briefed the Senate Committee on Education about the good work of the university. It was noted that there has been tremendous progress at its part since its establishment in 1974.
He said the university has honour of having Dr Shahid Siddiqui as its Vice Chancellor who enjoys high professional caliber, with illustrious academic background.
Stating with pride, his personal years’ long interaction with this university, Yusuf Sheikh said he knew how it built up its image as a Mega educational institution in the country.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor gave a detailed briefing to the minister, highlighting the initiatives taken during the last about four years.
He particularly mentioned the targets achieved during the period that included promotion of research culture, professional development, revision of curricula and text-books, development of new academic programs, reconstruction of University’s image and establishment of accessibility center for visually impaired persons.
He also told the minister about the University’s financial assistance schemes and the employees’ welfare initiatives.
The university also took responsibility giving educational response to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, setting Chinese language centers with the collaboration of the Chinese universities, he added.
