JEDDAH, 7 March 2004 — The recently opened Arab Open University branch on Madinah Road near the Kubri Murabba has become vitally important for students seeking higher qualification.
The building has a separate entrance and office for women. “We’re already in our second semester with 1,000 students — almost an equal number of boys and girls,” an AOU official said yesterday.
Only 20 percent of the students are new school graduates while the remainder are housewives, employees and businessmen.
Abdul Aziz Al-Mari, a 19 year-old Saudi in the boys’ section, said: “I’m here because I could not go to classes at King Abdul Aziz University (KAAU) because I was busy helping my father in his electronics business.” He feels that the AOU is a boon to students since it offers the opportunity of earning higher academic qualifications through correspondence courses.
Muhammad Ali Al-Rasheed, a Saudi student in his early 20s, said he could not attend class at KAAU due to family business commitments. He expects the AOU courses to help him get the higher degrees that he has so far missed.
The AOU, which offers long distance education programs, is an independent institution of higher education with branches in Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt as well.
The AOU branch in the Kingdom has four regional offices — Riyadh, Jeddah, Ahsa and Hail. The AOU, with Maha Abdullah Orkubi as the first Saudi woman dean at its Jeddah branch, offers correspondence courses in computer science, information technology, English language, business administration and teacher training.
The appointment of the first Saudi woman to the senior academic position was announced by Prince Talal, president of the Arab Gulf Program for the United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND) and chairman of the university’s board of trustees.
Orkubi, who is from Madinah, did postgraduate studies at Ohio University in the US and was an associate professor and head of childhood studies at KAAU.
AOU, which teaches primarily in English, offers bachelor degree courses in IT and computers, business administration and English language and literature to both Saudis and expatriates. Education as a discipline is taught in Arabic. Among its plans are MBA programs and an MS in IT.
The AOU has an agreement with UNESCO to establish a telecommunications learning network and a virtual library for the university. It has signed agreements for cooperation and affiliation with the UK Open University in three major areas — licensing of materials, consultancies, accreditation and validation.
