AIOU offers fee concession to poor students

Islamabad: Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has allocated special funds to help the poor students in shape of fee remission and scholarships.
“We earmark over Rs100 million in our budget annually for supporting the needy students, enabling them to carry on their education. This financial support is available from secondary to PhD level, said Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Shahid Siddique.
This is in line with the government’s policy to encourage the deserving and talented people to continue their future study, said a news release issued here on Sunday.
The University has recently launched nine schemes under which the financial support is extended on regular basis. These schemes are implemented through the University’s 44 regional offices, working at various parts of the country including Azad Kashmir and Northern areas.
Special criteria have been laid down to ensure transparency and fairness in the implementation of these schemes, Dr. Siddiqui said.
There is a special scheme named ‘Earn to Learn’, which provides internship or part-time job to deserving students to help meet their educational expenditures themselves. The students can seek financial support up to three semesters.
Scholarships are given to those students who secure at least 75 marks in their particular discipline. Such financial support is also offered to students, hailing from remote regions where literacy rate is below 50 per cent.
An amount of Rs7.75 million has been allocated in the annual budget for providing scholarships to females, especially those living in backward regions.
AIOU also provides free education to prisoners, enabling them to become useful citizen of the society after completing their imprisonment. Examination are arranged for such persons within the jail’s premises.
The needy students can avail the facility of scholarship and fee concession in the new admissions, starting from August one. For this purpose, they can contact their concerned regional offices.