ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Around 3.3 million people in Pakistan have minor or major disabilities; however out of total 188 public private sector Universities in the Country, only 16 of them are providing special facilities to disabled students at higher level of education.
While only two Universities including Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) and Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) Islamabad are providing the facility of electronic courses to handicapped students.
16 Universities, which had the special facilities for handicapped students of higher education include QAU, AIOU, Capital University of Science and Technology (CUST) Islamabad, Government College University Lahore, Greenwich University Karachi, Hajveri University Lahore, University of Engineering & Technology (UET) Lahore, Lahore College for Women University.
Likewise the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Lahore, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto City University Karachi, Agriculture University Faisalabad, Haripur University, Malakand University and Peshawar University also have the special facilities for the handicapped students.
The facilities, which are being provided to the special students by the said Universities include Java, special ramp and lifts in the buildings, part time jobs, special computers in libraries, training to use of computers for blind students, facility of video conference, special wash rooms, facility of pick and drop and financial support.
Other facilities include special software for computers, wheel chairs, concession in age limit, laptops, and printers etc.