Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has decided to open around 3,000 study centres throughout the country as part of rural internet school education programme.

AIOU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Nazir Ahmed Sangi said this on Friday while talking to Dawn. He said initially, a model study center at Umarkot campus, some 400 kilometers away from Hyderabad had been started.

He said model study centre would help combat illiteracy, poverty, unemployment and backwardness in the region. He said university would soon start PhD programme in the field of computer sciences. He said it had been decided to interconnect rural and urban centers through video conferencing to ensure equal facilities for rural students.