Transforming Open and Distance Learning in Pakistan : Post Covid 19 Analysis of Students’ Perspectives at Allama Iqbal Open University

The study had the objectives to compare gender and Locality wise perception of the students regarding new initiatives of student support services in O pen and d istance l earning (ODL) at Allama Iqbal Open University ( after COVID 19 Scenario . The study’s purpose was to find the perceptions of the students about services for them regarding admissions, mailing, tutorials, library, web services etc. and examinations. The population and sample included 1555 (266 male and 1289 of two strata as ( 33% with 518 (88 male and 430 female) stud ents were selected respectively that were enrolled in Bachelor of Education (B.Ed. 1.5 Years) during semester Spring 2023. The questionnaire was used as research tool. The software, Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was applied to analyze the collected data. F requency distribution and t test for respondents ’ data were found by SPSS software. It was found that services related to the examinations d epart ment we re required to be improved . It was concluded that there was no significant difference among the students regarding admissions, mailing, tutorials, examinations, library, web services and call centre. However, rural and urban students perceived that the se rvices regarding examination differently. It was recommended that improved and effective use of ICT is imperative to further strengthen the student support services by strengthening LMS Portal existing already for ODL for submission of assignments and evaluation as formative as well as summative too For future direction it was suggested that same kind of study may be conducted in each province of Pakistan.