Course Waiver

This question is related to the Campus Section of International Open University

Here are some of the commonly asked questions related to Course Enrollment and Course Drop.
1. What is a course waiver?

Course waivers imply that you have sufficient knowledge in a particular area. Courses can be waived if it has been determined that the course is redundant to your current degree program. You must submit all necessary documentation to prove that you have sufficient knowledge in this area to warrant a waiver. If a course waiver is approved, the number of courses required to complete the degree remain the same. The waiver allows students the option of taking an elective course rather than a required core course.

2. For which courses is a course waiver possible?

Arabic 100
You can simply skip this course as it is a beginner's course. You do not have to take this course if you can read and write Arabic very well.

English 101 and 102:

The requirement for a waiver would be as follows:

Bachelor’s degree, taught in English, with a major in English
Postgraduate degree (masters or doctorate), taught in English, with research conducted/submitted in academic English (thesis or dissertation).

Computers 101:
A waiver for Computers 101 will be given to those applicants who possess qualifications of graduate level and above in computers. Those who possess these or other suitable qualifications may submit the documents related to their study, along with the syllabus for evaluation by our instructor.
Note: If you possess the above qualifications, you can upload the required documents after enrolling into the course. It will take a few days to process your request. TOEF/IELTS/Any other scores alone are not sufficient to apply for a course waiver if you do not meet the above criteria.

3. How should I apply for the course waiver and when?

The course waiver portal is placed in the Academics block of IOU Campus. All applications should be uploaded through the portal here and must not be emailed to the respective teacher or IOU admin. The deadline to submit course waiver request may be checked here.

If the course waiver is approved, the students should air mail the official attested (notarized) documents to the IOU Admissions Office in the Gambia before entering into the final semester of their studies. The documents you send must bear the notary stamps and signatures themselves; they should not be photocopies of attested documents. Please note that sending the official attested documents to the Admission Office is very important, otherwise your graduation will be postponed.

The documents are to be sent to the following address:

Islamic Online University
21 Kanifing Mosque Road,
P.O. Box 2340,
Kanifing South, KMC,
The Gambia.

Contact person: Isatou B Secka (Aisha Secka)
Tel: +2203549911

4. I am a native speaker of Arabic, can I get an exemption from IOU Arabic courses?

All native or near-native speakers of Arabic language who have completed their studies until high school in Arabic medium can apply for the Arabic Exemption Exam to obtain a waiver from IOU Arabic courses and subsequently to select courses from IOU waiver replacement courses instead. Based on the achieved results, s/he may be exempted from all IOU Arabic courses completely or with certain conditions. For further details view the Passing Grade Table. Click on your registered stream below to view the table.

1. BAIS students (possible exemption from 8 Arabic courses)

2. BMAIS students (possible exemption from 3 Arabic courses)

3. BSc. PSY students (possible exemption from 3 Arabic courses)

4. DIBE students (possible exemption from 2 Arabic courses)

5. B.Sc. IBE students (possible exemption from 3 Arabic courses)

6. B.Ed. students (possible exemption from 3 Arabic courses)

7. D.Ed students (possible exemption from 3 Arabic courses)

8. C.Ed students (possible exemption from 2 Arabic courses)

Note that the exam is conducted in two parts:

Written exam to be taken at the IOU approved exam centers and, Online oral exam.

4. Do I need to pay any fees for the Arabic Exemption Exam?

Yes, a flat 20USD non-transferrable and non-refundable fee will be charged for the exam.