KARACHI: In a first move of its kind, the federal government on Monday established a satellite campus of a Lahore-based public sector university in the city’s Orangi Town localities.

Virtual University works under the ministry of information technology and telecom and its campus would help a large number of students living in Orangi Town to acquire “world-class education” and become graduates of the educational facility in five different fields.

Federal Information Technology and Telecom Minister Syed Amin-ul-Haque of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan unveiled the plaque of the project here. The ceremony was also attended by Karachi Administrator Murtaza Wahab of the Pakistan Peoples Party.

As the MQM-P and PPP are getting closer in the wake of the no-confidence motion against prime minister, both Mr Haque and Administrator Wahab appreciated each other’s efforts to make the project a reality within shortest possible time of one month.

Minister Amin-ul-Haque says varsity will offer five programmes to students

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Haque, who is an MNA from the same Orangi Town constituency, congratulated Karachiites over the first VU campus in the city.

“This campus will bring revolutionary changes in the life of residents of Orangi Town through world-class teaching facilities,” he said. “The university will offer degrees in five different fields at its Orangi Town Campus.”

Appreciating the cooperation and efforts of Administrator Wahab, he said he left no stone unturned after he was requested to provide a building in Orangi Town for setting up the VU campus. “He met all our requests and demands on an emergency basis.”

He said that the MQM-P had promised the residents of Orangi Town that they would be offered best possible education and health facilities in their neighbourhood.

The dream, he said, had come true and the party believed that it had owed people of Orangi Town and other parts of Karachi who had voted for its members and made them members of the parliament.

Speaking about the VU, he said that the varsity had more than 130,000 enrolled students and over the years it had produced 2.4 million freelance IT professionals through its DigiSkills training programme, which had enabled Pakistan in earning massive foreign exchange and enhanced its international ranking in the freelance industry.

He asked the city administrator to hand over the “ruined schools of Orangi Town to MQM-P and it will turn them into state-of-the-art schools”.

He said his ministry had launched and completed many projects in Sindh. “I assure you a revolution is coming from the Sindh digital project.”

On the occasion, Administrator Wahab praised the efforts of the IT minister in fulfilling his commitment with the people of his constituency by bringing the VU campus to Karachi.

“I think it’s a gift for the people of Karachi and Orangi Town. The KMC [Karachi Metropolitan Corporation] was inspired seeing the efforts of Amin Bhai and we decided that we have to meet every requirement without any delay. I firmly believe if we work together, we can give a strong system to the youth of Karachi,” he added.

Virtual University Rector Prof Dr Arshad Saleem Bhatti said that VU graduates were preferred in IT industry due to hands-on training as a self-learner while its graduates were working in dynamic fields across Pakistan at key positions including the army.

He said that several students had won many international and local competitions.

The Orangi Town campus was built in just one month with all necessary facilities like campus manager office, faculty room, visitors’ room, waiting area, computer lab, female common room, scientific store, video conference room, lab and all the required facilities, he added.

IT & Telecom secretary Dr Sohail Rajput and MQM-P MPA Ali Khurshidi also spoke.

Virtual University, which is Pakistan’s first university based completely on modern information and communication technologies, was set up in 2002 to promote distance education as its primary objectives.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2022