At this online university, Arab students, refugees can now pursue Arabic language degrees

Record ID: 1569947

  • Title: At this online university, Arab students, refugees can now pursue Arabic language degrees
  • Date: 3rd September 2020
  • Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (AUGUST 29, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROJECT MANAGER OF NEW ARABIC PROGRAMME AT UNIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLE, MOHAMMED RIZKALLAH, READING BOOK AT HOME (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROJECT MANAGER AT "ARABIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLE", MOHAMMED RIZKALLAH, SAYING: "We saw the circumstance that have taken place in the Arab region over the last ten years, and we found out that there are many refugees who do not have the chance to join universities because of their conditions, or where they live, or their economic conditions. So we wanted to offer them opportunities. Most of the countries they seek refuge in require you to learn a foreign language, or at least English, and given that they missed out on many educational opportunities because of their conditions, they only speak Arabic. We felt that it was our duty to offer an Arabic programme similar to the one we offered in English. We started developing it three years ago, we looked at the English programme and we re-designed it in Arabic to fit our context that Arab students can understand."
  • Embargoed: 17th September 2020 10:19
  • Keywords: Arab stuents Arabs Education Middle East Refugees University of the People
  • Location: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK / CAIRO, EGYPT / ALEPPO, SYRIA / ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • City: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK / CAIRO, EGYPT / ALEPPO, SYRIA / ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Education,Egypt,Middle East,Society/Social Issues
  • Reuters ID: LVA007CU4VJH1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: To achieve his dream of pursuing a degree in business administration, Ibrahim Nakhleh faced one large obstacle - the English language.
    But the 36 year-old Palestinian man, who is a factory employee in the West Bank city of Ramallah, recently found a different path to achieve his goal.
    He recently joined a newly-established Arabic language programme at the University of the People, an online and tuition-free university based in California.
    The programme caters to the needs of thousands of Arab students who wish to advance their education while overcoming the language barrier.
    The University of the People offers four-year bachelor degrees entirely taught online with the help of volunteer academics and retired university staff.
    For students like Nakhleh, limited educational opportunities after graduation and financial constraints are major barriers to access post-graduate degrees.
    Project manager of the new Arabic programme, Cairo-based Mohammed Rizkallah, said there is a growing demand for degrees offered in Arabic, especially among the refugee community.
    There are more than 6,500 Arab students from Syria, Yemen, Palestinian territories, Egypt, and others enrolled in the university.
    So far, nearly 4,000 students have applied to join the new programme offered in Arabic which is scheduled to start this month, administrators say.
    Unrest across the Arab region in the last ten years has severely impacted educational institutions and destroyed infrastructure, affecting thousands of Arab students, especially refugees.
    (Production: Saed Howari, Sayed Sheasha, Suheir Sheikh, Mai Shams El-Din)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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