Allama Iqbal Open University Pakistan

Allama Iqbal Open University Pakistan

Allama Iqbal Open University (or AIOU), founded in 1974, is a university in Islamabad, Pakistan. It is one of the world's largest universities by enrollment, with 1,806,214 students in 2004–2005.
History

Allama Iqbal Open University was established under an act of parliament in 1974 as a pioneer in non-formal and distance education in Pakistan. It was then the world's second open university; the first such university was established in the UK in 1969. AIOU provides an opportunity for working people to enhance their qualifications without giving up their jobs or homes. In Pakistan distance education is particularly suited to the female population as it offers them an opportunity to study at home. Similarly, people living in the tribal and far-flung areas far from conventional educational institutions, have an opportunity to be educated.

Study for the certificates and degrees is at the students’ pace and convenience. The AIOU study media includes paper materials, radio and TV, satellite transmission, online teaching, non-broadcast media, tutorial instruction and group training workshops.

The AIOU started with five courses and an enrolment of around 1,000 in 1975-76. At present the number of programmes produced is 116, with 1,377 courses. In 2007-08, student enrolment reached 1,031,951 and course enrolment 2,982,420, out of which the female participation rate has been 51 percent. Four sets of faculty in 36 academic departments and an Institute of Mass Education offer courses from functional non-credit to M.Phil/Ph.D level.

The university offers 19 Ph.D courses, 192 at M.Phil/MS, 516 Masters level, 67 in Teachers Education, 282 Bachelor/Diploma, 80 Higher Secondary School, 30 Secondary School, 12 Women's Middle Education, and 114 Functional Non-Credit/Women's Basic Education courses.

The university broadcast 264 radio and 382 TV programmes in 2005-06. The university broadcasts educational programmes on FM radio at 91.6 MHz. The university has established a video-conferencing network in seven regions to conduct classes online for Computer Science courses. The regional network consists of 36 Regional Campuses/Centres with 82 part-time regional coordinating offices throughout Pakistan. The university has 1,274 study centres for students studying in the fields of science, technology and computer sciences in collaboration with private institutions in all major cities of Pakistan.

950 examination centres are established at Tehsil and District level. Up to 2007, 1,121,382 degrees, diplomas and certificates have been awarded. Presently the sanctioned posts of the university number 1,899 including academicians, administrative and servicing/supporting staff. About 1.6 million books besides other allied materials are printed and supplied to the students yearly. The Central Library of the University is equipped with a collection of around 114,000 books. The annual recurring budget of the university for 2007-08 is Rs.1921.848 million, of which the university generates 87 percent from its own resources. At present the endowment fund of the university is estimated at Rs.2.4000 billion.

Administration and governance

* Chancellor (President of Pakistan)
* Pro-Chancellor (Federal Minister for Education, Ministry of Education)
* Vice Chancellor (Chief Executive Officer/Head of the institution)
* Executive Council (Governing Body)

Faculties and their departments

Faculty of Arabic and Islamic Studies

Established in 1974, the faculty has been upgraded as the Faculty of Arabic and Islamic Studies in 1998, with the following departments:

* Arabic Language and Literature
* Hadith and Seerah
* Islamic Law (Fiqh)
* Islamic Thought, History and Culture
* Quran and Tafseer

Faculty of Education

Established in 1984, the Faculty of Education's origin predates the university. A National Institute of Education was established in 1973 as a part of the Federal Ministry of Education, to improve education at school levels through in-service training of Master Trainers. This institute became a part of the university in June 1975. The Faculty of Education has the following departments:

* Adult and Continuing Education
* Distance and Non-Formal Education
* Educational Planning and Management
* Science Education
* Special Education
* Teacher Education (Secondary)
* Teacher Education (Elementary)

Faculty of Sciences

Renamed as Faculty of Sciences, the Faculty of Basic and Applied Sciences was established in 1982. It comprises the following nine departments:

* Agricultural Sciences
* Biology
* Chemistry
* Computer Sciences
* Engineering and Technology
* Environmental Sciences
* Home and Health Sciences
* Mathematics and Statistics
* Physics

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities

The Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities was established in 1982. The thirteen departments of the faculty are:

* Business Administration
* Commerce
* Economics
* English Language and Applied Linguistics
* History
* Iqbal Studies
* Library and Information Sciences
* Mass Communication
* Pakistan Studies
* Pakistani Languages
* Sociology, Social Work and Population Studies
* Urdu
* Women's studies

Academic programs

The university has undergraduate, graduate, Master’s, M.Phil, and Doctoral programmes.

At a glance

Allama Iqbal Open University
Motto	Education for all
Established	1974
President	Dr. Nazir A. Sangi (Vice Chancellor)
Admin. staff	1899
Students	1,800,000+
Location	Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan
Website	www.aiou.edu.pk