JEDDAH, 13 June 2008 — Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is introducing Arabic, Persian and Urdu courses at preparatory, bachelor and master’s levels at its centers in Saudi Arabia, IGNOU’s Pro-Vice Chancellor Basir Ahmad Khan said here on Wednesday night.
“There are many Indian expatriates here and elsewhere in the Middle East, who include professionals, skilled and unskilled workers, and even unemployed. A course in Arabic will help them to communicate with the natives of the region,” Khan said at a reception hosted in his honor by IGNOU Saudi Arabia.
About the Urdu syllabus, he said IGNOU had approached the Maulana Azad National University (MANU), Hyderabad, and experts were working on it. A student getting a degree in Urdu from IGNOU will have his degree certificate signed by vice chancellors of both the universities, he added.
“Based in New Delhi, IGNOU is the only distance learning education institution in the world with over 1.8 million students on its rolls. It offers academic and professional courses and has now acquired the status of Open and Distance Learning (ODL),” Khan said.
Explaining the ODL system, he said that IGNOU offered an in-depth study material through its network, technically known as e-learning method. Through this method, the students are not required to hunt for books and reading material from other sources. IGNOU students, particularly those who are employed, can get the course material on the Net and study the course according to their convenience, he said, adding that age is not a barrier at IGNOU.
“Admissions for any course are open for any student attaining the age of 18 and they need not finish the course within the specified period but take their own time,” he said Khan said a student without the required 12-pass qualification could study the six-month preparatory course to become eligible for admission to a bachelor’s degree course. The university spends over 18 million rupees on stationery on preparing the study material and the students are provided physical, theoretical and practical assistance through the Internet. “The four-word formula — reading, learning, writing and speaking (RLWS) — is one of the guiding factors for every IGNOU student.
“Three gold medals by local students for three consecutive years speak volumes of the sincere efforts put in by Riaz Mulla and his team of IGNOU Saudi Arabia,” said Khan, himself the recipient of two gold and four silver medals for standing first at examinations and for being the best speaker and writer at Aligarh Muslim University during his student life.
Mulla in his welcome address said Khan, who has published three books and many research papers and articles, had taught and guided research in the faculty of Islamic studies and social sciences at Jamia Hamdard University for 16 years and also at Aligarh Muslim University for a few years.
