The Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) on Thursday hired the services of Pakistan Postal Services to send books to students through urgent mail service (UMS).

The AIOU, a distance learning institution, suits students who cannot get formal education. The university sends books to students at their home addresses and students send their assignments to university by post.

The AIOU vice-chancellor, Prof. Dr. Ali Asghar Chishti said the postal service had agreed to streamline the system to ensure that the students get books at the shortest possible time.

“We are also considering collecting students’ admission forms and fee by post. University is giving a Rs150 million business to the postal services per semester for delivery of books, assignments and degrees,” he said.

Students can also check the status of their book’s delivery from the university’s website and through official phone numbers, Dr Chishti said.

A student of AIOU Mohammad Bilal while talking to Dawn said that a large number of students got books in the middle of their semester and some students even did not get them.

“It would be better if books are sent through urgent mail service because students will be able to complete their assignments on time,” he said.

—Text by Kashif Abbasi and Ikram Junaidi

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2014