Virtual University of Pakistan: Pioneer in innovative education

The University: From the very beginning to its current standing as one of the leading universities of the country, Virtual University (VU) has always been a pioneer in introducing cutting-edge teaching methodology, utilising services of the best faculty and offering diverse academic programs at affordable fees.
The Virtual University is Pakistan's first university based on modern Information and Communication Technologies. It was established by the Government of Pakistan in 2002 as a public sector, not-for-profit institution with a clear mission: "To provide extremely affordable world class education to aspiring students all over the country"
The Charter The Federal Charter empowered the university to establish several different faculties or schools and enabled it to offer its programs throughout the country instead of being limited to any single province. Its main focus is to provide easy access to high quality tertiary education, thereby supplementing the capacity of existing universities.
The Technology The Virtual University of Pakistan delivers education through advanced technology to its students. The pedagogical model comprises high production value video lectures and interaction over the Internet. The video lectures are recorded in the University's own state-of-the art fully digital studios and undergo post-production, scheduling and broadcast, all under one roof. It is the only university in the country that operates four free-to-air television channels.
Apart from four TV channels, the Virtual University has launched a 24 hour web radio which not only broadcast lectures but also various other interesting and informative programmes. By identifying and utilizing the best Professors and domain experts of the country, the Virtual University develops and delivers meticulously designed courses to students. The same high quality courses are also available to students of all other universities in the country through free to air broadcasts as well as inexpensive DVDs produced in the University's own facility. The lecture videos are also available through VU's own channel on the globally popular YouTube site: https://www.youtube.com/vu. Over 6000 video lectures on YouTube make it one of the largest contributions by any university to the Open Education Resources (OER) movement. The multiple formats allow a high degree of flexibility for students who may view the lectures at a time of their choosing.
Through a comprehensive Internet based Learning Management System (LMS), the University provides student support and student-teacher interaction around the clock. The LMS provides reading material and lecture notes in the form of web-enabled content for all courses. In addition, open and moderated discussion boards are available on the LMS for detailed discussions with tutors. The Virtual University also provides an e-mail facility to each and every student for direct access to teachers and University departments.
The Quality Unmatched VU courses are hand-crafted in painstaking detail by acknowledged experts in the field. The same experts also prepare detailed lecture notes and handouts for their courses and these become an extremely valuable learning resource for students.
Even though the Virtual University is a modern distance learning institution, it operates under a formal semester system with scheduled classes, assignments, quizzes and examinations for all of its courses exactly like other conventional universities. This very potent combination of world-class lectures and a rigorous academic schedule has made the Virtual University synonymous with quality higher education.
The Unique Examination System Using its own designed and developed Examination System, the Virtual University conducts its examinations in a formal proctored environment at designated exam centers throughout the country. The examination system allows all students to create their very own individual date sheets and select cities and centers of their own choice. Lest students assume that this flexibility will lead to any undue advantage, the reality is that each and every question paper is different and this leads to complete transparency and sanctity of the Virtual University's examinations.
The Uniform Educational Opportunity
This combination of technologies and efficient utilisation of national infrastructure allows the Virtual University to offer an identical educational environment to students all over the country including far-flung areas. For the first time, students from small towns and remote areas have access to the same highly qualified professors that were previously accessible to their large city brethren only. Results indicate that talent hidden in these regions is now becoming visible and empowered. This has far reaching positive implications for the socio-economic well being of the country.
Students may study from home or at "virtual campuses" that have been established all over the country. These virtual campuses provide an enabling electronic environment for students to receive lectures and interact with their teachers including television equipped classrooms and Internet connected computer laboratories. A subliminal benefit of these campuses is that they also provide the students with an opportunity to interact with their peers in a conventional environment and form study groups. A very healthy inter-campus competition has already developed in the Virtual University community and this becomes a strong motivating factor for students in their junior years while also providing an opportunity for seniors to become mentors to their junior counterparts.
The Achievements
The Virtual University of Pakistan is one of the youngest universities in the country, the proverbial "baby" of the higher education family. In a very short span of time, it has been able to establish its credentials as an institution providing quality higher education. It has established over 180 "virtual campuses" in more than 100 cities of the country and more are being established on a continuous basis. Enrolment is increasing every semester and the current student strength stands at over 70,000 - more than many much older institutions.
Up till now, A total number of 9055 graduates have been awarded degrees. Many of them have gone on for higher studies in top-tier national and international universities and have made their mark. Several VU graduates are pursuing doctoral studies overseas while others have joined the civil services as well as national and multi-national companies. Many renowned software houses nation-wide and abroad are benefiting from the services of VU graduates.
Virtual University of Pakistan is disseminating international standard quality education to the students residing in remote areas of the country. Provision of uniform education in these areas would generate a greater impact on the economic development.
In recognition of Virtual University's great success within short span of time, the Prime minister of Pakistan has approved in principal to establish VU campuses in every district of Pakistan. This will ultimately lead to the growth of further 144 VU campuses. As a first step, the Prime Minister has already performed ground breaking ceremony of VU campus at JalapurPirwala
These above mentioned further clearly indicate the increasingly important role that the Virtual University of Pakistan is playing towards the vision of an educated, developed and prosperous nation.
The Recognition
As an institution, the quality and services of the Virtual University have been recognised not only nationally but internationally as well.
VU has been selected by the IDRC (a Crown Corporation set-up by the Canadian Parliament) to lead two major research initiatives in distance education in the Asian region. VU is the leader of the "Networking Distance Learning Technology Engines for Research" and "Openness and Quality in Asian Distance Education" projects and the research network established under these projects includes a large number of individuals and institutions from Bhutan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The leadership role in these projects is a matter of great honour and prestige not only for the Virtual University but for Pakistan as well.
VU is also a founder member of the MIT (USA) based LINC consortium which is focused on best practices in modern education, and is also an active member of MIT's BLOSSOMS initiative. The BLOSSOMS initiative is aimed at improving learning and teaching in general science and mathematics at the high school level and the member organisations are from USA, Pakistan, Jordan and Lebanon.
Within Pakistan, students from the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) study over 14 courses directly from the Virtual University as part of their Bio-Informatics program and faculty members and students from many other universities benefit from Virtual University courses.
VU has signed different MOUs with national and international universities for improving the standard of education. MoUs exist with the University of Bradford and University of Huddersfield in the UK, with National University of Science & Technology (NUST), UVAS and Karakoram International University, Gilgit / Baltistan within Pakistan.
VU has recently signed an MOU with Pakistan Telecommunication company limited (PTCL) to provide wireless broadband services on special discounts to its students. This will provide access to 3G wireless broadband technology which will further empower the students in their studies and enhance their capability in communication.
In short the vision of Virtual University of Pakistan is to build an educated and prosperous Pakistan.