Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has announced to open its full-fledged regional office in Afghanistan to promote education, impart training of teachers and reconstruct educational infrastructure there.

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The office would be set up after getting permission from the federal government, AIOU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Ziaul Qayyum said this while talking to APP.

He said that the initiative had been taken after a request made by the Afghan Ministry of Higher Education delegation during its recent visit to Pakistan.

“Allama Iqbal Open University is already helping Afghan students residing in refugee camps acquire education,” said the VC.

Meanwhile, according to the teaching methodology of AIOU’s website, the difference between the traditional formal education system and the open distance system of education lies essentially in the teaching methodology.

As far as the curriculum is concerned, it is more or less the same.

The university is part of the Ministry of Education/Higher Education Commission system and abides by the mutually agreed curricula.

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The university employs a non-formal method of correspondence via radio and television broadcasts, special textbooks and reading materials prepared on a self-learning basis, part-time teachers (tutors) engaged nearest to students’ residences. And a system of study centres for applied training is spread throughout Pakistan.