AIOU establishes Virtual Teachers Training Academy Portal

Islamabad : Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) on Tuesday established the Virtual Teachers Training Academy Portal at the Lahore Regional Centre which will be available to teachers across the country.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the portal, AIOU Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Zia Ul-Qayyum said that It would go a long way in eliminating physical barriers hindering the professional development of teachers.

Raja Rashid Hafeez, Provincial Minister for Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education was chief guest at the ceremony while Secretary Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education Department, Punjab, Waqas Ali Mahmood, Prof. Dr. Nasir Mahmood, Dean, Faculty of Education AIOU, Senior Education Advisor JICA-AQAL II Abid Gill, Dr. Shafqat Ali of National Commission for Human Development, Deputy Chief of Party of ALIGHT Pakistan, Kamran Iftikhar Lone, Raja Umer Younis, Director Coordination and Follow-up, AIOU, and Dr. Zahid Majeed were also present on this occasion.

The Virtual Teachers Training Academy Portal has been jointly envisaged and established by AIOU, JICA, and ALIGHT, Pakistan.

Speaking at the ceremony Provincial Minister, Raja Rasheed hoped that the Virtual Teachers Training Academy would help equipping teachers in far flung areas with the latest pedagogical skills and content knowledge leading to quality blended education of the pupils in non-formal schools and literacy.

He lauded the services of AIOU in promotion of education in the country, and commended the efforts of Prof. Dr Zia for digitalization of the AIOU.

He viewed that this the age of technology and every institution had to adopt the latest technology otherwise it would lag behind its competitors.

Professor Dr Zia Ul-Qayyum while explaining about the Portal said that, “it is basically a learning management system which includes content, quality videos, learning activities, assessment and feedback policy to achieve standard training performances of the teachers living across the country, especially the far flung areas.

Deputy Chief of Party of ALIGHT Pakistan Kamran Iftikhar Lone appreciated AIOU for support in the development of the portal and training content/modules, which will help ensure that our educators and learners are primed for success.