Islamabad, Dec 7 (DNA) Afghan delegation of Ministry of Higher Education highly appreciated the role of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) in promotion of education, especially educating the poor strata of the society and requested AIOU to help Afghanistan in reconstruction of its educational infreastructure as well as training of Afghan teachers.
The delegation which was led by Alhaj Molvi Abdul Baqi Haqqani, Acting Education Minister of Afghanistan visited AIOU today (Thesday).
During the detailed meeting, Prof Dr Zia Ul- Qayyum, VC, AIOU assured the Afghan delegation of maximum cooperation of the university to reconstruct higher education sector in Afghanistan. AIOU will not only provide technical assistance in digital transformation of Afghan universities but would also train their teachers in latest teaching pedagogies and courses development, he said. He, further, added that AIOU will provide scholarships to Afghan students for seeking education at this prestigious national institution of Pakistan. He viewed that AIOU can provide educational facilities to Afghan youth through the regional centers established in KPK and Baluchistan near Afghan borders. Moreover AIOU has, also, planned to establish its campus in Afghanistan and a proposal in this regard has already been shared with education ministry, the Vice-Chancellor said.
Ilhaj Molvi Abdul Baqi Haqqani, in his address, thanked Prof Dr Zia Ul -Qayyum in reconstruction of education sector in Afghanistan. He, greatly, admired the proposal of AIOU of extending educational facilities to Afghan nation through regional centers located near Afghan borders. He expressed his desire to strengthen this mutual cooperation further by getting insights from AIOU’s experiences of digital transformation of AIOU. Joint Secretary, Ministry of Education, Junaid Ikhlaq said that AIOU’S proposal of constructing its regional campus in Afghanistan is in the final stage of consideration and it would be approved very soon.
The members of Afghan delegation included Dr Lutf Ullah Khair Khawa, Dr Usama Aziz, VC, Kabul University, Irfan Ullah, Chief of Staff, Dr Dilawar Silaab, Director Information and Publication as well as Engineer Roh Allah Haqqani, Director, Developmental Programs. On the other hand, Registrar, AIOU, Raja Umar Younis, Deans of all four Faculties, DGRS, Inaam Ullah Sheikh, Controller, Examinations, Director, Admissions participated in the briefing from AIOU. Dr Abdullah Jan Abid, Chairman, Pakistani Languages served as the translator and interpreter during the meeting. Dr Zahid Majeed, Director, International Collaboration and Exchange Office gave a detailed briefing of AIOU’s profile and its contributions to mass education. Afghan delegation visited Central Library, Radio and TV studios, Data Center as well as Printing Press.
 Afghan delegation of Ministry of Higher Education highly appreciated the role of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIO){kind=link}