PARTNERSHIP FACTSHEET    Arab Open University (AOU)

The partner: Demographic statistics indicate that the rate of growth of the Arab population is one of the highest in the world. Young people under the age of 24 will make up more that 55% of the total population and only 50% of high school leavers with appropriate qualifications are able to gain access to a university. A pan-Arab distance teaching institution is seen as the only realistic mechanism for increasing access for this group and for the high numbers of unsatisfied applicants from previous years. Distance education would provide a significantly increased opportunity for women to access higher education particularly in those areas where a strict Islamic code is applied. The Arab Open University was supported financially in its developmental phase by AGFUND (Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organisations).

The project:
This is seen initially as improving the skills of people in the workplace with teachers being identified as one of the
target audiences. The teacher training programme is to be taught in Arabic whilst the other three initial programmes
will be taught in English. Given the poor perception of distance teaching in the Middle East the AOU have
emphasised the need for credibility and the benefit which would follow from Open University Validation Service
accreditation, which was achieved in December 2003.
The headquarters are in Kuwait and the six University branches are in Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan and
Saudi Arabia with 22 Arab countries eventually planned to be involved in the project.
 

The aim:
The AOU is seen as playing a key role in the development of human resources in all fields needed by the job market
as well as allowing the exposure to and use of modern technologies. The AOU teaching training programme is seen
as a mechanism for upgrading the skills of the many thousands of students and teachers in the Arab World.
 

The benefits:
• Quality distance education
• Upgrading of teachers
• Democratisation of education in the Arab World
• Enabling of Arab citizens, irrespective of age, gender, income, geographic location and employment to gain
access to higher education
• Training of students for the workplace
 

Contact:
OUW Partnerships Manager: Jane Gill
www.arabou.org