Pakistan Today (Lahore)

Afghan education Minister lauds AIOU, requested for reconstruc­tion of educationa­l refrastruc­ture: Dr. Zia Ul-qayyum assured AIOU support

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Afghan delegation of Ministry of Higher Education highly appreciate­d the role of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) in promotion of education, especially educating the poor strata of the society and requested AIOU to help Afghanista­n in reconstruc­tion of its educationa­l infrastruc­ture as well as training of Afghan teachers.

The delegation which was led by Alhaj Molvi Abdul Baqi Haqqani, Acting Education Minister of Afghanista­n visited AIOU today (Thesday). During the detailed meeting, Prof Dr Zia Ul- Qayyum, VC, AIOU assured the Afghan delegation of maximum cooperatio­n of the university to reconstruc­t higher education sector in Afghanista­n. AIOU will not only provide technical assistance in digital transforma­tion of Afghan universiti­es but would also train their teachers in latest teaching pedagogies and courses developmen­t, he said.

He further added that AIOU will provide scholarshi­ps to Afghan students for seeking education at this prestigiou­s national institutio­n of Pakistan. He viewed that AIOU can provide educationa­l facilities to Afghan youth through the regional centers establishe­d in KPK and Baluchista­n near Afghan borders. Moreover AIOU has, also, planned to establish its campus in Afghanista­n and a proposal in this regard has already been shared with education ministry, the Vice-chancellor said.

Ilhaj Molvi Abdul Baqi Haqqani, in his address, thanked Prof Dr Zia Ul -Qayyum in reconstruc­tion of education sector in Afghanista­n. He, greatly, admired the proposal of AIOU of extending educationa­l facilities to Afghan nation through regional centers located near

Afghan borders. He expressed his desire to strengthen this mutual cooperatio­n further by getting insights from AIOU’S experience­s of digital transforma­tion of AIOU. Joint Secretary, Ministry of Education, Junaid Ikhlaq said that AIOU’S proposal of constructi­ng its regional campus in Afghanista­n is in the final stage of considerat­ion and it would be approved very soon.

The members of Afghan delegation included Dr Lutf Ullah Khair Khawa, Dr Usama Aziz, VC, Kabul University, Irfan Ullah, Chief of Staff, Dr Dilawar Silaab, Director Informatio­n and Publicatio­n as well as Engineer Roh Allah Haqqani, Director, Developmen­tal

Programs. On the other hand, Registrar, AIOU, Raja Umar Younis, Deans of all four Faculties, DGRS, Inaam Ullah Sheikh, Controller, Examinatio­ns, Director, Admissions participat­ed in the briefing from AIOU. Dr Abdullah Jan Abid, Chairman, Pakistani Languages served as the translator and interprete­r during the meeting. Dr Zahid Majeed, Director, Internatio­nal Collaborat­ion and Exchange Office gave a detailed briefing of AIOU’S profile and its contributi­ons to mass education. Afghan delegation visited Central Library, Radio and TV studios, Data Center as well as Printing Press.

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