ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has been decided that Education from Matric to BA level will be made free for all prisoners with other incentives.
An official of the AIOU on Thursday told the state-run news agency that prospectus and others allied material were being sent to Jail authorities free of cost in a simple way, enabling the prisoners to take admission in the current semester till March 4.
He said the University has prepared a comprehensive plan for facilitating the prisoners under jails’ reforms’ plan, being pursued under the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The plan is aimed at bringing maximum number of prisoners in the educational net, enabling them to become useful citizen of the society after completing their imprisonment, he added.
A transparent and viable procedure has been worked out for the provision of educational facilities to the prisoners.
The proposed plan includes a detailed procedure of tutorial meetings, workshops and examination to be held in jails. It was also decided that each jail will be declared as `Prisoner Study Centre’ he explained.
In order to make the scheme more effective, practical and problem-free, it was also decided that Jail Superintendent will act as Coordinator and he will be paid a reasonable remuneration for this purpose on semester-wise basis.
The teacher to be nominated in jails will act as Assistant to Coordinator and he will also be paid remuneration. He will also perform duty of Centre Superintendent during the Examination, to be conducted within jail’s premises.
The officers concerned will make a stamp bearing the words “Only for Prisoners” and affix that stamp on all those admission Forms which will be issued to Jail authorities for the prisoners.