ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: Allama Iqbal Open University plans to establish a research complex at a cost of Rs50 million to provide modern research facilities to the scientists. The university also plans to set up a council to widen the scope of distance learning.

This was stated by the AIOU vice-chancellor, Dr Altaf Hussain, while talking to this agency. "The university is playing a pivotal role in achieving the goal of 'education for all', human resources and women development," the vice-chancellor maintained.

Replying to a question, he said the university had started various IT programmes, including setting up of Attaur Rehman Research Complex (ARRC) at a cost of Rs50 million which would be completed by March next.

The ARRC would be made the world's most trust-worthy research complex like the Dr Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy. Modern research facilities in the fields of physics, chemistry and biology will be available in the proposed complex both for students as well as scientists.

The university has already imported research equipments and machinery of worth Rs50 million for the complex. Replying to another question regarding funding for the complex, he said it was being set up with the endowment fund of the university and no single penny had been demanded from the government.

"The endowment fund was Rs470 million, when I took charge as VC and now it has reached Rs1.002 billion", he added. Dr Hussain said the non-formal education system of the university should neither be ignored nor given less importance and more allocation should be made by the HEC to support its various important projects.

There was dire need of provision of land for its regional campuses in various cities, the VC exhorted, pointing out that at present most of the campuses are working in private rented houses and bungalows and the university is spending high amount on rent.

"Being one of the major universities of the world, it is unfortunate that its campuses are not on its own buildings and facing a lot of problems in this regard", he added.

He further said, we can construct multi-purpose building like the campus recently set up in Peshawar at a cost of Rs25 million. Dr Hussain also said that the education standard of the university was rising and an increase in the enrolment day by day shows a trust on the education system of the university by the people.

The university has not raised the fee and due to increase in the enrolment, the university is expected to collect Rs1 billion this year from the fees. Dr Hussain further informed that the university had started Ph.D, M.Phil and other science and technology programmes and hired experienced teachers, retired professors and scholars as teaching staff.

He said that the university was also working on a mission to further raise the education standard of distance learning and to bring it at par with the formal education system, so that the working people could get benefit from it.

He also said that a non-formal middle school programme had been initiated from Turbat, under which primary level education would be completed within six month, middle level within three years and the scope of this programme would spread across the country.

Giving detail of the future programmes of the university, he said that multi-purpose buildings were being planned to provide all the facilities to the students under one roof. A bridge is being constructed to link both parts of the university land with each other and spreading our system of education expeditiously, he concluded. -APP