The provision of higher education in Pakistan faces familiar challenges of access and equity. This was true in 2000 and is still true in 2012. Only about seven per cent of the college-age population is actually enrolled in tertiary education. Institutions are full to capacity and there is an acute shortage of qualified faculty in existing institutes and universities, making the setting up of additional new institutions an uphill task. In addition, universities are concentrated mostly in the larger cities and the cost of education is, in general, very high. The reduction in funding for the public sector universities in recent years has resulted in higher tuition fees, further exacerbating the equitable access issue.

The Virtual University of Pakistan (VUP) was established by the government in 2002 to address the capacity and access issues by using technology to deliver high-quality education at affordable rates throughout the country. To understand the evolution of VUP towards open educational resources, it is necessary to comprehend the design decisions taken and the strategy adopted towards achieving the objectives laid down for VUP.

Keywords

barriers · enablers · OER · Pakistan · satellite broadcast · virtual university