Pakistan's "First Digital University"

Ordinarily I'd feel good about this but in view of the Axact scandal I remain at least a little skeptical.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1341018/online-education-pact-inked-pakistans-first-digital-university/

 

Information Technology University (ITU) is a state-of-the-art institution in Pakistan and should not be referred with Axact under any circumstances. Secondly, i would like to bring to your good information that Pakistani Higher Education Institutions have improved to a significant extent over the past two decades and the credit for that goes to the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan who has put forward stringent quality standards. I have never studied in any Pakistani institution but have worked towards their betterment in many aspects over the last 10 years. I feel proud to say that our rankings have gone up and our research impact has been appreciated across many continents.

Now comes the point of Axact. I do agree with your doubts that Axact flourished in Pakistan. But the important thing here is to note that Axact flourished through its fake operations in just one Plaza in Karachi (i.e. our largest industrial city). It has nothing to do with our Higher Education Institutions. The only thing is that Pakistan's name got badly reflected, and Axact somehow managed to remain off the radars in Pakistan.

And lastly, i am not affiliated to ITU and neither with any other Pakistani Higher Education Institution at this stage (by the way, do have a look at our Virtual University website - Virtual University of Pakistan). The only thing is that we should appreciate the good things happening there too and @Kizmet ... thank you for feeling good about it.

I am a strong supporter of degreeinfo.com and i have obtained two DL Degrees after being a member of this forum and working towards a third. I don't post regularly here, since i was blocked in my initial days by one of the moderators here who was scanning my all posts before they were being posted online. So, please do criticize at your best level but appreciate the good things too (this last comment is especially related to our prestigious member's comments on the other post, i.e. DL PhD's in India. DL in India has nothing to do with DL in Pakistan. And if UGC, India has blocked DL PhD's at this stage temporarily or permanently, there is a reason behind it which no one of you would understand while sitting thousand of miles away and never been a part of their system. Let's appreciate them too that they are still supporting DL Programs at Bachelor's and Master's Level).

 

Ooo, a little cranky this morning. . .I like it. Hopefully you understand tha all newbies get their posts scanned.

 

@Kizmet and @SteveFoerster - the intention of my response to Kizmet's post is not to disrespect any member of this community. If i have unintentionally hurt someone's feelings, i am extremely sorry for that. I respect you both especially as you both have been very helpful to this community and your opinions on various Posts (over the years) have also helped me to refine my DL Experiences.

And i never said that it is unfair for the foreigners to offer an opinion on the DL situations in economically developing countries. You all have the right to do so. I just said that while we offer our opinions, we also need to take into account the prevailing situations (i.e. both economical and political) in those countries. Perhaps, i should have put it more Diplomatically in the first instance too. It's sometimes just like, that we stand outside the window of an unknown house and try to comment on things in the interior of the house without actually experiencing it in the first place.

About DL in India ... there are numerous reasons for that and i would also not comment on those reasons since i am not a direct part of their system (even though i have remained part of the Higher Education Policy Formulation across Asia on various foras for over 10 years now). But as everyone here being an 'internationally-minded observer' comments the way they want to (and again, they have all the right to do so), so i do remain firm on my point of view that DL in India has nothing to do with DL in Pakistan and now this opinion comes with a first-hand experience.

To sum up, we are here to learn from one another and to guide others when they are in need of an advice. Isn't so? This is exactly what this Forum has offered me and i want it to be offered to everyone. So, my humble request again is that we should also appreciate the good DL practices happening in developing countries, and i know that some of the members of this Forum do appreciate a lot. In fact, i am grateful to Kizmet for the link shared in this thread (i.e. about ITU and edX).

Last but not the least, i again beg an apology for offending anyone and especially you both.

 

I'm not sure why you've brought the UGC and/or India into this conversation but since you have, I'll offer my opinion (again). My guess is that the have put a hold on DL PhDs in India because of a current lack of uniformity in the standards for awarding these degrees. Once that has occurred I believe they will put them all back in place. I believe it's a quality control measure. Perhaps heavy-handed but perhaps that's necessary in a country where universities routinely disregard directives. Whatever.

As for ITU, it has the look of a very nice school. Even though it's only five years old it seems a very positive addition to the country's higher ed system. I hope that it continues in good form. However, I know that the ultimate controllers of this school are the same people who dropped all charges against the leaders of the Axact degree mill system. Despite mountains of evidence they just let them go. And what happened next? Axact just restarted the degree mills (if they ever really stopped). Clearly the government of Pakistan, as a interconnected whole is somehow responsible. And so my point is that this is the same government that controls ITU. Now does that mean there is anything wrong with ITU? No, it doesn't But I get to ask the question. I get to raise the issue. And I won't apologize for that, even if it hurts your feelings. But before you take it all too personally, please go over to the Politics forum where you will see that I spend a certain amount of time pointing fingers at my own government.

 

@Kizmet ... first of all, it didn't hurted me and i am not taking it personal too. I love positive criticism.

I bought India and UGC in my initial response to your good self's post because i saw that the thread on 'DL PhD's in India (under General Distance Learning Discussions)' highlighted some posts by our respected members of this Forum who were relating 'DL in India' with 'DL in Pakistan'. I respect their opinion too. So, i just took an opportunity of summing up all in one place. Apologies.

I also do appreciate your understanding of the Indian Higher Education System, and on the same time, you have a very good knowledge of the Pakistani Political System (i.e. i can see from where you pointed out, 'same government that controls ITU'). You are absolutely right. However, all of the Pakistani Higher Educational Institutions ultimately fall under the same Government (at least as per the Constitution). However, this Sector has become quite semi-autonomous over the past two decades and has progressed really very well and got appreciated a lot too.

So, we just need to keep away the menace caused by Axact Scandal from our Higher Education Sector.

 

We will all be happy if ITU succeeds.