Resistance to new technology should be discouraged: President

LAHORE:President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday said resistance for modernisation and new technology should be discouraged and access to knowledge should be feasible for everyone.

He said poverty, illiteracy and unemployment could be eliminated through economical goal oriented education and easy access to knowledge for all. Addressing the concluding ceremony of three-day 33rd Annual Conference of Asian Association of Open Universities hosted by Virtual University at a local hotel, President Alvi said access to knowledge ought to be easier for everyone and copyright should not be implemented on universities’ academic material.

He said that Internet was an affordable option to further expand knowledge horizons and stressed the students to extensively benefit from digital technology devices - tablets and laptops - for getting access to diverse reference material. “Our society and bureaucratic systems resist modernisation in the society and this attitude should change now,” he added.

Dr Alvi said the concept of a classroom and textbooks has changed altogether as computers, laptops and tablets are part and parcel of modern teaching methodology. He highlighted that open distance learning (ODL) is also a modern technique in which students are not bound to a specific place or time.

He said that distance learning was getting popular in the world and lauded the role of VU and Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) for imparting knowledge through ODL. Later, the President gave away awards to prominent students of the open universities for their performance and presented souvenirs to organisers of the conference. It is pertinent to mention that some 450 representatives of open universities from 12 countries attended the conference. Meanwhile, the President gave away awards to prominent students of varsities over their performance.

Sikhs’ Langer hall renovated: Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) and Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) inaugurated a newly renovated two-storey Langer hall.

Dr Aamer Ahmed, ETPB Chairman, and Satwant Singh, PSGPC president, were the chief guests of the ceremony. The Langer hall has the capacity to accommodate around 1,500 Yatrees at a time. The Langer hall is built for preparations for 550th birthday celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak.