American students sign up for AIOU courses

Varsity looking to offer courses in African countries, including post-graduate programmes

ISLAMABAD: As part of its expansion overseas, the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has registered around 30 students from the USA.

The New York natives will be studying ‘Daras-e-Nazami’, a four-year degree programme, the university said in a statement released on Sunday.

The varsity said that its Islamic studies programme has been gaining traction in the USA and other countries, especially those in the Middle East and Turkey.



Apart from offering graduate programmes, AIOU is also considering introducing some post-graduate programmes for overseas Pakistanis in the near future as per directives of AIOU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Shahid Siddiqui.

The university has recently introduced a one and a half year Bachelors in Education programme for overseas Pakistanis. Moreover, the educational plan for overseas students has also been upgraded and now includes a provision for providing study material online apart from arranging examinations for these students. According to Dr Zahid Majeed from the Directorate of Overseas Education Programmes, there are around 350 overseas students currently registered with the varsity. These students are living in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and America.

Some Pakistanis in Spain, Italy, Sri Lanka, Finland and Iran have also expressed their interest in enrolling in the varsity’s distance-learning programmes.



Admission deadline

Those students aspiring to take admission in the autumn 2017 semester, the varsity has stated that the last date for admission is September 5. They can apply for admission on the varsity’s website where prospectus and admission forms are available.

Pakistanis stationed abroad can submit their admissions forms along with the prescribed fee in foreign currency within the stipulated date.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2017.