Rs 6bn blended virtual education project hits a snag

ISLAMABAD: While the virtual/distance learning system has been a successful experiment in attempts to increase the accessibility of education in remote and far-flung areas of the country, the Rs 6 billion project of virtual education hits a snag for the non-release of funds.

With the world transitioning to virtual education following the Covid-19 pandemic, the government in Pakistan had also initiated a project “Blended Virtual Education Project for Knowledge Economy” in 2020, at the cost of Rs 6 billion. The project, which was won by the Virtual University of Pakistan, has successfully launched its virtual learning courses in several of remote universities in Southern Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Gilgit Baltistan.

However, according to the details available with this scribe, the non-release of project fund by the relevant authorities is severely impacting the implementation and execution of this project, which aims to counter the lack of higher education institutions, improve enrollment in tertiary education, and meet the shortage of skilled human resources and inadequate physical infrastructure in the conventional mode of education.

The documents reveal that out of the total Rs 6 billion, only Rs 98 million has been released so far. While Rs 2 billion were required to execute the project following its expansion across the country, only Rs 250 million have been allocated in the ongoing fiscal year. As per insiders, the allocated amount is not even sufficient to execute the main project. This amount was only meeting the salaries of staff recruited under this project. “None release or any cut in the approved fund would ultimately fail the important project,” said an official familiar with the project.

According to details, the PC-1 of the project prepared by the Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunication, approved on April 14, 2021 was to be executed by Virtual University of Pakistan (VUP) in collaboration with other Partner Universities, especially from far-flung areas of Pakistan.

Under the project, the VUP is to provide various facilities to partner universities which include furnished computer labs, including 30 computers, networking, servers, multimedia, printers, UPS, and a 20 KVA generator. Furthermore the university would also provide Learning Management System (LMS), and or access to VU LMS to support partner universities, faculty training for online teaching, and student training via trained faculty, and many others.

After execution of the project, agreements have been signed with partner universities including the  Balochistan University of Engineering and Technology Khuzdar, Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water & Marine Sciences at Lasbela, Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University, University of Gwadar at Gwadar, University of Loralai, University of Turbat at Balochistan, Karakoram International University at Gilgit, University of Baltistan at Skardu, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University at Sheringal, Dir Upper, the University of Agriculture at Dera Ismail Khan, University of Swat, Ghazi University at Dera Ghazi Khan, Lahore College for Women University, Mian Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture at Multan, University of Narowal, University of Sufism and Modern Sciences (USMS) at Bhit Shah and National Skills University at Islamabad

According to the documents, the project covers many aspects and fulfills needs of universities across the entire country. Under the project, over 180 skills based courses were being developed which will enable youth to not only do their own business but also go abroad as skilled workers.

As per details, the Blended Education Corners (BECs) have been set up and started courses in three universities including the University of Swat, University of Baltistan, and Lahore College for Women, University of Lahore.

In addition, under this project, 35 District Headquarters (DHQs) will be established across the country where all the teaching programs of the Virtual University will be offered under the blended method of teaching. So far, four district headquarters have been established in Islamabad, Quetta, Multan and Karachi. Apart from this, the establishment of district headquarters in Barkhan area of Gilgit-Baltistan is also being implemented. The main objective of setting up these district headquarters is to provide affordable university level education opportunities in areas where there is either no university or the existing university capacity is low.

For the promotion of technical education, useful courses are being introduced through a blended teaching method in collaboration with the provincial Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) and National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC). Under this, 8 TEVTA centers will be established in each province where technical courses will be introduced in mutual consultation between TEVTA and the virtual university, through which students will be able to acquire technical skills and gain respectable employment.

A university professor remarked, “a blended virtual project is a project of great importance which can play an important role for the promotion of technical and non-technical education at university level in Pakistan. Currently, there are around 288 universities in the country, while it is inevitable to have at least 400 universities to achieve the desired educational goals. Under this plan, the rate of higher education can be increased to 20 percent from less than 10 percent at present, without setting up any new universities.”