ISLAMABAD, AUG 01 (DNA) –  Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) will provide free education to prisoners, disabled of all categories and dropout girl students, with additional support that includes the provision of textbooks and allied material.

These marginalised sections of the society will be eligible to take admission in any academic program, as already approved by the university’s Executive Council; this was announced by the Vice Chancellor Dr Shahid Siddiqui while addressing a ceremony arranged by Officers Welfare Association (OWA), in which the university’s retired employees were given shields as a token of their outstanding contribution to the development of AIOU as a leading educational institution in the country.

While eulogising the hard work and devotion of the outgoing employees, he said that their contribution had been remarkable in expanding the scope of education and enabling the university to take care of even those who are unable to undertake their study due to financial constraints.

There are about nine financial assistance or scholarship schemes which support such students, he said, adding that: “We want to ensure that fee-payment should not be a hurdle in educational pursuits”.=DNA

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