Zubair Qureshi
The Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) provides ten scholarships to Egyptian university students and faculty members to learn Urdu language at AIOU on the annual
basis.
Similarly, for the Pakistani students learning Arabic and other disciplines the Egyptian government has made a principled decision to establish the Institute of Arabic Language at AIOU.
This will also promote mutual collaboration and strengthen educational and cultural ties between the two countries.
In this regard, the Egyptian Ambassador to Pakistan, Dr Tarek Dahrough held a meeting with Vice chancellor of the AIOU Prof Dr Zia-ul-Qayyum recently and conveyed to him his government’s decision.
He was accompanied by Amer-us-Syed Nasir-ud-Din Syed and Second Secretary of Egyptian embassy, Ahmad Rida.
The AIOU VC welcomed the ambassador upon his arrival and expressed gratitude to him on behalf of the university and the students.
The Egyptian ambassador informed Prof Dr Zia that the Egyptian government was looking forward to establishing Al-Azhar School System in Pakistan in collaboration with
AIOU.
He, further, proposed to establish the ‘Institute of Arabic Language’ at AIOU which would not only offer courses in Arabic language but also engage in multidimensional activities including online lectures of Al-Azhar academia, certificate courses and educational visits of Al-Azhar faculty, scholars and stude-
nts.
He appreciated VC, AIOU for his contributions to mass education and apprised him that Egyptian Ministry of Religious Affairs has declared AIOU to be an institution of high standards.
Therefore, Egyptian embassy intends to further cooperate in organizing seminars, conferences and workshops at AIOU.
Prof Dr Zia-ul-Qayyum assured him of his full cooperation in making this objective a concrete reality.
After formal approval and necessary arrangements AIOU and the Egyptian embassy will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish an institute of Arabic language at AIOU.
Dr Zahid Majeed, Director, International Collaboration, Dr Abdul Aziz Sahir, Chairman, Department of Urdu and Dr Sami Ullah Zuberi, In charge, Department of Arabic were also present on this occasion.
