The Layyah Campus of the Government College University Faisalabad (GCUF) will start its first distance learning programme this year, Vice Chancellor Zakir Hussain said on Tuesday. Also, new associate degree programmes would be offered at all campuses soon.
He was chairing the 11th meeting of the Academies Council.
Prof Hussain said that various distance learning programmes were being run from the main campus in Faisalabad and had been successful.
“We are still far behind the developed nations in higher education. Distance learning is the best way to extend opportunities to those who cannot pursue higher education because they don’t have the means to attend colleges or universities.”
The VC said that he had noticed a rising trend of distance learning programmes. He said the university was ranked the sixth best university of Pakistan.
He said a new campus in Faisalabad was being set up to meet the demand of increasing enrolments at the campus. He said it would be completed by 2015. Tender notices for hostels and academic blocks have been issued, while those for the administration block and auditorium would be issued shortly. The new campus is spread over 200 acres.
Registrar Muhammad Ayub, Deans Muhammad Shahbaz Arif, Naureen Aziz Qureshi, Hafeezur Rehman Tahir, Pervez Azeem, Senior Human Resources Advisor Sheikh Akram and Admin Director Muhammad Mushtaq also attended the meeting.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2013.