IIU president inaugurates distance learning portal

Islamabad: The Online Distance Learning Portal of the Directorate of Distance Learning (DDL) of International Islamic University (IIU) was inaugurated here at the new campus by university president Dr. Hathal Homoud Alotaibi on Thursday.

With the opening of the portal, the university has allowed enrollment in the 8 weeks online certifications in training design and delivery, Business etiquette and personality development, Urdu short course for foreigners, Academic writing and Arabic language.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, IIU President said ODL portal is a milestone that has been achieved as per the aspirations of president of Pakistan and University Chancellor Dr. Arif Alvi. He said the hard work of the DDL team resulted in success and now the university has been introduced to the virtual world. He added this is the age of competition and IIU , in pursuit of meeting all the global standards, has taken a major step towards success and transformation through ODL mode.

The IIU president said the university in the next semester will be in a position to announce ODL based degree programmes.

He said that initially, three target zones are on the list to reach the central Asian states, China and Africa for the university online programmes. He emphasized upon the faculty to take an active part in the DDL’s initiative and also hoped that dedication towards academic excellence shall continue. He also discussed the global financial circumstances and the need of universities to manage resources. He opined that universities will have to think out of the box while making no compromise on the quality of education.

Discussing the encouragement of the hardworking officials, IIU President said that soon a new policy shall be introduced that will be based on rule and justice. He added that promotions of the faculty members will be dealt with in light of the rules of the new policy.

Dr Hathal also announced that a comprehensive reward policy is also being prepared under which prizes would be given to the 3 best programmes, best researcher, best student, best teachers and best faculty of the university for the year. IIUI President appreciated the hard work of Prof. Dr. N.B. Jumani and his team to make the ODL portal a successful project.

Prof. Dr. N. B. Jumani, Vice President, Administration & Finance/ Director DDL, shared the details of the journey of ODL portal and said the world had explored indispensable and significant results and the importance of ODL.

He said the IIU as per the vision of the IIU President and the Chancellor had been working hard to establish a platform according to the contemporary requirements. He thanked his team members and hailed their untiring efforts and dedication.

The ceremony was also attended by Vice President R&E Prof. Dr. Ahmed Shuja Syed, Vice President Academics Prof. Dr. Ayaz Afsar, Vice President Female Campus, Prof Dr Samina Malik, deans, senior faculty members and relevant officers.