A two- day international moot on “Distance Education and E-Learning” commenced here at Faisal Masjid Campus of the International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) where more than 50 foreign and national scholars will present 120 papers on the topic.
On the first day, scholars discussed various topics such as educating women through distance learning, perception of university students using social media, assessment of distance education for sustainability, and techniques and resources of online teaching.
The conference is organized by the Directorate of Distance Education of the university in which experts and researchers of Malaysia, UK, USA, Germany, Belgium, Philippine, Trinidad and Tobago and national scholars of a large number hailing from Pakistani universities would participate to share experiences on the topic.
“We would have to improve our literacy rate, while access to education in the country must be easy” said Rector IIUI, Dr. Masoom Yasinzai in his address to the inaugural ceremony of the conference. He added that it was unfortunate that out of 56 million Pakistani youth only 8 percent had access to universities. He opined that education sector should produce a valuable human resource who could contribute in the uplift of the society. Dr. Masoom furthered that IIUI was running its distance learning programs in its academies for decades 
and now a specific directorate was established to meet the requirements of time. He hoped that the conference will be a source of broadening exposure of students as they would interact with top class officials who can be mentors for them.
President IIUI, Dr. Ahmed Yousif Al-Dariweesh said in his speech that IIUI is an educational institution which is a hub of learning for the youth all Muslim countries. He added that youth must be nurtured as per prevailing requirements and advancements and this moot is one of the efforts in this regard. He said IIUI timely focused on vital mode of education and its distance education system will be a source of access to higher education across
the country.
“Main objective of the conference is to find solutions to the prevailing problems in the distance education, while it will also help in setting new roadmap for achieving the goal of quality education” said Dr. Nabi Bux Jummani, Dean Faculty of social Sciences in his welcome address.
Earlier, Dr. Samina Malik , Director, female campus also spoke on the occasion and said that conference will help in sharing experiences and learning from renowned scholars. Inaugural ceremony was also joined by the Vice President, Higher Studies and Research, IIUI Dr. Muhammad Munir. Conference will conclude today ( on Tuesday).