JEDDAH, 8 May 2007 — The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is considering a proposal to introduce basic Arabic language courses.
“We are keen to introduce certificate courses in Arabic language in cooperation with local authorities,” professor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, IGNOU vice chancellor and chairman of its distance education council, said on Sunday.
“Once this is done students from expatriate communities other than Indian will also get interested in IGNOU’s distance education programs,” he said at IGNOU’s convocation held at the Jeddah Marriott Hotel.
This was IGNOU’s first graduation ceremony at a location outside India in which 28 successful students, both male and female, received degrees, diplomas and certificates from Indian Consul General Dr. Ausaf Sayeed and his wife Farha Sayeed.
They included two gold medalists — Sabitha Rahim and Alukkal Chacko. Thirty others have graduated from Riyadh. “Our programs in Saudi Arabia are the largest of our overseas operations,” said Pillai.
He said IGNOU had remained in the forefront of open university programs and now they had international presence covering 38 countries.
“Today, 20 percent of higher education is through distance education. Our target is to double it in the coming years with its growing popularity, especially among women and the underprivileged,” Pillai said.
Sayeed, who was the chief guest, said the credit for the popularity of IGNOU in this part of the world went to Dr. Adil Bushnak, chairman of the Bushnak Group, and Riaz Mulla, general manager of ATEICO Communication, which is part of the group and is officially conducting the IGNOU programs.
India’s relations with the Kingdom are strong and the bilateral education ties are also growing, he said. “Education is a continuous process and India has the rich tradition of sharing knowledge with others.”
Mulla said that in a span of three years, IGNOU Saudi Arabia had increased its strength from 63 to 900 students of which 70 percent were girls studying various programs in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
The Delhi-based university offers bachelor’s, masters and professional courses in programs ranging from social science, tourism, education to computer and business management. Bushnak said, “My dream is to see our IGNOU student strength in the Kingdom grows to 10,000.”
Dr. Srikant Mohapatra, registrar of student registration and evaluation at IGNOU and Mohammed Nafay, business development director at ATEICO, also spoke about the growing role of distance education. A.G. Danish conducted the ceremony.
