Al-Quds Open University ( ar, جامعة القدس المفتوحة) is an independent,

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

public university in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. It was created by a decree issued by the

Palestinian Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and ...

(PLO) in 1991. QOU is the first

Open Learning Open learning is an innovative movement in education that emerged in the 1970s and evolved into fields of practice and study. The term refers generally to activities that either enhance learning opportunities within formal education systems or b ...

institute in the Palestinian territories. It has 60,000 students studying in 19 branches and centers distributed all over the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

and the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

Faculties

QOU has a Faculty of Graduate Studies, which leads to the Master's Degree in the following specializations: * Arabic Language & Literature. * Psychological & Educational Guidance. The university has seven faculties leading to a BA Degree in: * Technology and Applied Sciences. * Agriculture. * Social and Family Development. * Administrative and Economic Sciences. * Media. * Arts. * Education. The university has announced plans to create Post Graduate School in the future.

University Centers

The university has six centers located in the Palestinian Territories, as follows: *The Information and Communication Technology Center (ICTC) is responsible for the technical development, computerizing all administrative, academic, financial and productive works of the university. *The Continuing Education Center (CEC) was created to make connections between academic knowledge and practical experience. *Media Production Center (MPC): This center is responsible for producing educational multimedia to support the philosophy of distance education. The center uses audio-video, video editing units, graphics and filming. *Open Learning Center (OLC): OLC is an educational/technical center in Al-Quds Open University, established in 2008. *The Measurement and Evaluation Center conducts training for evaluation and the development of tests and measurement processes. *Future Studies & Opinion Measurement Center.

Achievements

*Al-Quds Educational Channel is the latest educational method of Al Quds Open University in the field of e learning. Al-Quds Educational Channel Frequency (Nile sat 12645/horizontal/coding rate: 6/5) *Century International Golden Quality Era Business Initiative Directions (BID) in 2015, a

vanity award A vanity award is an award in which the recipient purchases the award and/or marketing services to give the false appearance of a legitimate honor. Pitches for '' Who's Who''-type publications (see vanity press), biographies or nominations for awar ...

*Opening Faculty of Graduate Studies 2015/2016. *Opening Faculty of Media, which offers media specialization. *Increasing the number of students to 60,000 which makes it the biggest non-campus university in Palestine. *Opening 19 branches and study centers. *The establishment of the biggest computerized network in Palestine by the ICTC which is an accredited testing center for specialized international certificates. It also has most of its systems and curricula computerized. The network, a partnership with the Palestinian Development Gateway, was funded by the Programme for Assistance to the Palestinian People, part of the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

. For more information about QOU achievements, see

Al-Quds Open University's membership in Arab and international educational unions

Association of Arab Universities The Association of Arab Universities (Arabic: إتحاد الجامعات العربية), also called the ''Union of Arab Universities'' (Arabic: تحاد الجامعات العربية), is an organization working within the framework of the A ...

Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO, formerly ISESCO) is a specialized organization that operates under the aegis of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and is concerned with fields of education ...

* The International Council for Open Distance Education *

Asian Association of Open Universities Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

* Open Digital Space Organization for the Mediterranean The university is twinned with

Goldsmiths A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold. In German, the Goldsmith family name is written Goldschmidt. Goldsmith may also refer to: Places * Goldsmith, Indiana, United States * Goldsmith, New York, United States, a h ...

Student Union in London, UK, after Goldsmiths students passed a motion in support of Palestinians' right to education and began a Twinning Campaign to 'twin' their University with Al-Quds and secure two scholarships for two Al-Quds Open University students onto Goldsmiths courses. In May 2008 the Dean of Student Affairs equivalent of Al-Quds Student President visited Goldsmiths, spending a week with students and staff.

References

External links