Islamic university to admit women

[bamalli]

Islamic university to admit women


Muhammad Al-'Aqla, President of the Islamic University in Madina, has said that work is going on with relevant authorities to open a "university city" for female students.

Al-'Aqla, whose extension in his post for four years was announced in a royal order Saturday, said that approval for the admittance of women students to the university had been received, and that the university was planning to introduce distance learning courses to increase its student numbers. The university currently has 13,000 students representing 160 different nationalities.

He also said that SR500 million has been allocated for staff residences which are scheduled for completion within two years. Student residences are also planned.

"Study grants for students from across the Islamic World have risen 400 percent," he said. "When works on new faculties are finished the numbers will be even higher."
Al-'Aqla described the university as a "Saudi educational institution with a global message" that is dedicated to "academic research and serving society in Shariah and Arabic sciences and all the sciences, matching global techniques and standards". "It helps in the promotion of the eternal message of Islam from Madina to serve both the local and global society," he said.



Of particularly noteworthy activities conducted by the university, Al-'Aqla cited studies into the "increasing level of violence in young people", its staging of the Second Anti-Terrorism Conference, and studies into "the causes of and solutions to intellectual deviation among young Saudis".