AIOU to give pension from interest on endowment fund

Islamabad : Allama Iqbal Open University(AIOU) is spending in billions on the faculty development programme, strengthening of IT infrastructure, expansion of the regional network to the remotest and underdeveloped areas of the country as well as on providing financial assistance to the deserving students”, said VC Prof Dr Zia Ul –Qayyum.

VC AIOU said that the university has taken special measures to strengthen its financial sustainability and consequently university is managing all expenditures on the faculty development programme, enhancement of university infrastructure as well as financial support of the students from its own resources.

He said AIOU is the only university of Pakistan which has established its own endowment fund and from the current fiscal year all payments of pension would be made from its interest. “Within the limited time period of two years, the university has established 10 regional offices in the country. This network is being further expanded as the projects of establishing regional offices in Ziarat, Kashmore, Layya, Khuzdar, Wana and Meran Shah are in the pipeline. Moreover, foundation stones have been laid in Mithi and Moro recently,” he added. Similarly, the university is negotiating with the provincial governments and district administrations for acquiring government land to establish new regional centres in the remotest and underdeveloped areas of Sindh, Balochistan, KP, GB and AJK. In collaboration with Oracle Corporation, AIOU will have a state-of-the-art automated application system to automate all academic, administrative and financial processes of the university by June 2021 making it the only university of Asia which would be fully transformed to automation.

While discussing AIOU’s contributions in providing educational facilities to the underprivileged and marginalised segments of the society, Dr Zia Ul -Qayyum said that university offers free of cost education up to matriculation level to the people of Balochistan and former FATA besides transgenders, prisoners and special children and from spring 2021 semester, this service would be provided to the people of GB as well. University would also initiate the revision of the curriculum at all levels from the next semester, he added.