ODL model of new scholarly world: Butt

Kolkata, Mar 04 (UNI) Open and distance learning is an efficient model of inventing a new scholarly world, Islamabad's Allama Iqbal Open University Vice Chancellor Mahmood H Butt today said.

Delivering the third endowment lecture on 'Open and Distance Learning' organized by Netaji Subhas Open University, Prof Butt said ODL model could play wonder in bringing more and more people under the umbrella of education. ''ODL, knows no border and it adds to the social, academic and economic growth of a country,'' he said.

According to Dr Butt, ODL is a passport to good life and tool to do good for mankind as it is open to all and open to all disciplines of knowledge. ODL transforms lives and serves society by providing affordable and accessible education through technology-supported distance learning system, he added.

Dr Butt hoped that open and distance learning could bring forth some more Nobel laureates from this part of the subcontinent in another 10 years.

He said the Pakistan government has increased allocation in higher education 1500 times to create notable scholars who could train good tutors to give opportunity of education to general masses, more particularly to those, who drop out from schools reaching class seven or eight. According to him, out of 160 million population of Pakistan, 40 per cent come under the age group of 14 years and children of this age group often drop out from schools.

Md Salim, MP and Chairman, West Bengal Minorities and Finance Development Corporation, presided over the function and Vice Chancellor of the Netaji Subhas Open University prof Surabhi Banerjee were present on the occasion.

UNI