Islamabad : “Equipping the youth with information technology is the most important need of the hour, if the entire system of the university had not been digitized in time, it would not be possible to carry on educational activities during the covid-19”, said Vice Chancellor, Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Prof. Dr. Nasir Mahmood while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the newly constructed building of Directorate of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Dr. Nasir Mahmood said that no one in Pakistan has such a platform, students have got online facilities because of digitalization and, problems are being solved on a priority basis.
Dr. Nasir Mahmood stated that digitalization was the vision and mission of Dr. Zia Ul-Qayyum. Despite the interruption caused by Covid, AIOU continued its educational activities, which is creditable to the former Vice-Chancellor. Executive Director, Higher Education Commission (HEC) and former Vice-Chancellor AIOU, Prof Dr. Zia Ul-Qayyum, was the chief guest of the event. Dr. Zia expressed gratitude to the university administration for continuing the digitalization policy and emphasized that good initiatives should be carried forward to strengthen institutions. He also stated that the new ICT building is a modern facility, and institutions must be run by planning. After digitization, it is essential to pay special attention to the quality of education and course development, particularly in standardizing the texts of undergraduate, BS, postgraduate diploma programs, and associate programs.
Registrar AIOU, Raja Umar Younis, deans, and principal officers participated in the ceremony. It is pertinent to mention here that the foundation stone of this building was also laid by the former Vice Chancellor, Prof Dr. Zia Ul-Qayyum, who also inaugurated the building today.