Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Pakistan Collaborates with UT

The collaboration that Universitas Terbuka (UT) has entered into is not established with local institutions but also formed with other organizations abroad. It relates to the UT’s vision to be a world’s class open and distance university (ODU). UT has formed partnership with foreign institutions that serve as the world’s class benchmark. The Rector of Universitas Terbuka (UT), Prof. Ojat Darojat, M.Bus., Ph.D. has been trusted as the President of Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) for 2020 – 2022. With AAOU, UT together with more than 50 (fifty) other world’s class universities continue to endeavor to provide open higher education which is flexible, affordable, and reliable in terms of quality for all. One AAOU member that continues to maintain good relationship with UT is Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) Pakistan.

As one effort to realize its vision toward a world’s class university, Universitas Terbuka (UT) establishes cooperation with its partners abroad in addition to its local partners. One form of recognition by the international world to UT is the elected UT’s Rector, Prof. Ojat Darojat, M.Bus., Ph.D as the President of Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) who was unanimously elected in 2019 in Lahore, Pakistan for 2020-2022. AAOU is an association of all-Asia open and distance universities consisting of 50 member institutions. One of the UT’s closest partners in AAOU is Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Pakistan. Both institutions have strong commitment to promote distance learning education in Asia.

AIOU is a State University in Pakistan and the second largest higher education institution in the world with the total number of 1.2 million students per year in average. Like UT, AIOU also implements open and distance higher education system (PTTJJ) with 44 campuses in various regions in Pakistan. As a university in the center of the global Islamic political state, AIOU invites the UT’s Rector from Indonesia that has 90 percent of its population are Muslim as the guest of honor to attend the meeting of the COMTECH Inter-Islamic Network on Virtual Universities (CINVU) held from 10 May to 13 May 2022 in Pakistan.

In response to the UT’s Rector’s visit as well as in order to strengthen the partnership and promote the education system that will adopt strong points of both universities, AIOU visited UT’s Headquarter in a campus tour called Faculty and Staff Exchange Program starting from 31 July – 6 August 2022. It is expected that through this exchange, UT and AIOU will be able to share some ideas, thoughts, and experience in the implementation of ODL (open a distance learning) system and promote the education for both institutions, in particular, and for the world, in general.

On 1 August 2022, the partnership was marked with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between UT and AIOU as the framework in order to promote good friendship and work relationship through mutual partnership in teaching, research and joint projects of UT and AIOU. The signing was done at Universitas Terbuka Convention Center (UTCC) UT’s Headquarter in Pondok Cabe witnessed by the delegates from AIOU and the chief officers in the UT’s Head Office.

In his address, the UT’s Rector, Prof. Ojat Darojat, M.Bus., Ph.D. warmly welcomed the visiting guests and partnership between UT and AIOU. UT can learn so many lessons from AIOU in order to achieve the targeted number of the students.

AIOU’s delegates were introduced by Dr. Zahid Majeed. Then, the program continued with the remarks made by the Vice Chancellor of AIOU, Prof. Zia Ul-Qayyum. Prof. Zia highly appreciates the cooperation with UT as the efforts to promote better education that will always move forward. It is also addressed that the collaboration is one of the most essential factors in advancing education. "Because what matters in this world is regarding collaboration, research and development, student learning, and specialty in education quality in order to promote the education of the people together.

“We would like to learn from UT about quality assurance as UT is advanced in this regard. Meanwhile, we can further explore other potential collaboration, such as dual-programs, research and development of teaching materials in English Language so that foreign students can also study. Apart from that, together we can do the post-doc program, too.”