AIOU Launches LMS To Facilitate Students: Dr Ziaul Qayyum

FAISALABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Jan, 2021 ) :Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has launched Learning Management System (LMS) to facilitate its students at maximum extent.

This was stated by Vice Chancellor AIOU Dr Ziaul Qayyum while addressing a meeting at AIOU Regional Campus Faisalabad on Thursday. He said that information technology has brought revolution in the world. Therefore, we should also transform our education system by adopting information technology so that we could compete with rest of the world. For this purpose, the AIOU has initiated LMS and this project will be completed by June with an estimated cost of Rs 600 million. This project will also bring innovative revolution in education system of Open University, he added.

He said that coronavirus pandemic caused delay in the AIOU project. However, after completion of this project, the entire AIOU education system will be run through LMS. "I am responsible for solving problems of my organisation and for this purpose we have formulated a digital transmission policy," he said, adding that the administration had about 2.5 million computers which would be used in database. In future, paper marking and all other matters would be done through computer system. The university will also conduct workshops online. However, at the same time, the workshop facility was also available on campus. Student attendance at workshop will also depend on the learning management system instead of manual attendance system.

He said that all registered teachers of the university will update their profiles in April after which their entire matters including collection of assignments, their checking, tutorial and bill payment will be done through online system and only hardworking tutors will be encouraged. He said that we should adopt a new working style. We should work with the new system instead of putting obstacles in it and finding flaws in it. The university is solving all problems gradually and it will provide more educational facilities, he added.

He said that Open University has also planned to set up a Student Facilitation Centre at its main campus for convenience of the students in which all modern facilities would be provided.

Any student who would come to this center and get his grievance lodged, he will not have to go to any department of the university but the student will sit in the facilitation center and center staff will be bound to solve his problem there. The center will have seating capacity for 150-200 students. As soon as the CDA approves plan for the project, construction work for its building will begin, he added.

Dr Zia further said that Open University was imparting education to 1.2 million students and for this purpose it had to hire about 35,000 tutors for every semester and this number was increasing day by day for which the university was in dire need of improving its system. He said that the Open University has set up a training program for tutors but it is being delayed due to coronavirus. British university teachers would come to Pakistan and train the tutors of Open University. Eight hundred master trainers will be trained in the first phase of this program, he added.

Responding to a question, he said that the university prints about five million books. Some books are produced at the university's own printing press, while others have to be printed from the outside, with great care for quality. However, printing presses were shut down last year due to the coronavirus, which delayed the delivery of books. However, these books were scanned and placed on the university's website so that students could use them.

He said that we have formulated a policy of strict monitoring of papers during examinations so that there are no complaints of paper leaks from anywhere and in this case we have achieved a great deal of success on which the Controller Examinations deserves credit. He said that the university was also reviewing its curriculum so that the graduating students could be able to face competition in practical life. We have also decided to add some skills to the matriculation curriculum. The Open University is providing quality education in its meager resources and also providing free educational facilities to many students.