ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training has moved a summary to the President Office for approval of new names against the vacant seats of Executive Council of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad.

An officer of the ministry of education said that a few days ago, the ministry moved a summary to the Prime Minister Office for onward submission to the President Office for approval of the new name of the executive council of the distance learning university.

Earlier, AIOU sent the summary to the Higher Education Commission (HEC), proposing three names against each post—the nomination of three persons of eminence, one Aalim and one woman.

Sources said that HEC made some amendments and replaced some names with new ones and also mentioned the names of outgoing members in the panel so that if the president wants to retain someone, he could do so.

The sources said that HEC sent the summary to the education ministry during the second week of December, and a few days ago, the education ministry, after making further changes, sent a list of final panellists to the president’s office.

“AIOU initially proposed some names, then HEC proposed some new names. Similarly, we [education ministry] also replaced some names. So it is sort of a mixture of AIOU/HEC and the ministry’s recommendations,” said an officer of the education ministry. He said that soon President Arif Alvi, who is the chancellor of AIOU, will make a final decision in this regard.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2024