Students of AIOU asked the government to include the university in the Prime minister (PM) laptop scheme so that its PhD and MPhil students can continue their education.
The students of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) on Tuesday, asked the government to include the university in the Prime minister (PM) laptop scheme so that its PhD and MPhil students can continue their education.
They believe that AIOU, the largest and most prestigious public university, was not included in the PM laptop program.
According to the Effect Positioning 2023 of the Times Advanced education, Allama Iqbal Open College was positioned first among 66 public and confidential colleges in Pakistan while it is positioned 25th among 1304 colleges around the world.
Because hundreds of students, particularly PhD and MPhil students in a variety of fields, who were continuing their education in accordance with other public sector universities, would be impacted, the students describe the decision to exclude them as a complete injustice.
Ambreen Iqbal, an MPhil student, stated, “AIOU is the only university in Pakistan that was included in the top 25 universities of the world.”
She stated that she and her colleagues come from middle-class families and cannot afford to purchase laptops for research purposes. She also stated that the exclusion of AIOU from the PM laptop program ended their hopes of obtaining a laptop.
Another PhD student, Ahsan, citing his senior colleagues, stated that AIOU students had previously been left out of the PM Laptop scheme on the basis that the university was providing education through distance learning.
However, AIOU students were later included in the program because, like other public sector universities, all PhD and MPhil students in various departments received face-to-face instruction.
Fauzia Hameed, a M.Sc. Chemistry student, said that she and her classmates were excited to see the PM Laptop program resume, but they were disappointed to learn that the university was not included in the program.
She called upon Shaza Fatima, PM Exceptional Partner on Youth and Issues Administrator HEC Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed to remember AIOU for the PM PC Plan.