Exam Centers
A Message to All Our IOU Exam Centers and Proctors.
The International Open University exam centers and proctors play an integral role in fulfilling our mission of making high quality authentic Islamic and Islamized knowledge readily accessible to the world through the medium of the Internet et. As offline institutions, exam centers add the additional dimension of reliability and credibility to our graduate and undergraduate certification. For the administrative and examination purposes, the exam centers verify and confirm that those taking the IOU exams are in fact those who enrolled in the courses.
From the beginning of the term, students should work to identify a location/organization that would be suitable for examinations if there is no exam center in their proximity. There can be and are more than one exam center in a city or country. Centers should be reputable institutions, preferably schools, universities, colleges, etc. Valid photo ID must be presented to the authorities of the center. For further details, see the procedures below.
– IOU Exam center officer
Exam Center Requirments
Take exams online anywhere from the world
- All semester final exams are administered, online, at the International Open University (IOU) designated centers across the globe.
- Do note that for revised streams, the midterm exams will also be conducted at the IOU approved exam centers in addition to all streams’ finals exams being conducted in the exam centers.
- IOU will appoint centers in a city even if there is only one student.
- Students will be required to pay applicable fees to the center. This will vary from country to country and may also be free in some cases. IOU receives no portion of any fees charged.
- The setting up of exam centers requires support and effort from the students who can identify and approach appropriate institutions to request that it act as an exam center.
An IOU exam center may be established in a school, university, college, community center, or professional institution. Additionally, a masjid with appropriate facilities or the office of a reputable business may also serve as a suitable location.
IOU Exam centers provide the following
- A reliable proctor with working knowledge of the internet. He/she must be present in the room and monitor the student throughout the entire exam time (75 minutes maximum). He/she should ensure that students do not cheat using either hard copies or soft copies via their own laptop or through email, etc. The proctor should ensure that the student does not open any tabs other than the one he/she uses for the exam. These conditions are in place in order to maintain the validity of the exams.
- A PC for each student. This is preferable, but not absolutely necessary. Students may use their own laptops if needed.
- Reliable high speed internet access. In situations where students find a suitable exam center, but it is not equipped with internet access, students may opt to use their own 3G connections if possible.
Prior to granting students access to the exam, the proctor is required to:
- Check photo IDs of the students
- Enter the password (provided by IOU) so that the student can take the exam
Approved Exam Centers
Note : The names and details of the centers are accessible to registered students only.
Total Centers : 2385
Proctor Information
All final exams must be completed under proctored conditions at IOU approved exam centers to ensure academic integrity.
What does a proctor do?
Proctors are individuals who agree to supervise and ensure the integrity of IOU online exams.
Proctors have the responsibility of ensuring integrity during online testing situations. This is a great responsibility and ensures IOU’s academic integrity. All final exams must be done at IOU approved exam centers, require a proctor and NO exceptions will be made for any student.
The Exam
The exam can only be completed under proctored conditions. The proctor must be present for the entire duration of the online exams. Any exams accessed outside the presence of a proctor, will be considered to be invalid. All proctors are given information on our policies, procedures and instructions for administering online exams.
Who can be a proctor?
A Muslim –
- Imaam
- Employee of the IOU approved exam center
- Known and trustworthy member of the IOU approved exam center
- Professional academic or guidance counselor
- School teacher
- College instructor
- School superintendent, principal or vice principal
- School or public librarian
- Education professional
- Professional Counselor
- Human Resource Manager
Policies and Procedures
- Proctors must be present during the entire duration of all online exams.
- Proctors must verify the identity of the student with a photo ID before they begin the exam.
- Proctors must verify that the student is on the list (of students registered at their center) sent by IOU
- The student must remain under the supervision of the proctor for the entire duration of the exam. If the student is uncomfortable with the proctoring situation (e.g. the setting is one-on-one with the proctor), a parent, friend, or chaperon may be present, along with the proctor, so long as the student does not interact with that person at all during the exam. Talking to ANYONE once the exam is opened is considered cheating and is grounds for receiving a failing grade for the course.
- The exam must not be accessed until the student is ready to take it, and the exam should never be accessed except when they are taking it.
- Students cannot take the exam with books, notes, or reference aids, nor are any other windows allowed to be opened, (NOTE: Dictionaries are not allowed – hard copy and digital) Students cannot take notes on the exam or have any part of it to study after taking it. The student or the proctor cannot duplicate the exam in any way. The proctor must ensure that students do not access any materials either from hard copies or soft copy via their own laptop or through email, etc.
If you are interested in volunteering as a proctor for the IOU exams please contact our exam centers manager at – centers@iou.edu.gm
Centers and Community Service
As part of the IOU degree program’s graduation requirements, students are required to engage in voluntary community service to help the Muslim community in their area. These services may be imparted at a local Masjid, Muslim school, Muslim organization, institute, or charitable trust. The aim of IOU is not only to acquire beneficial knowledge but also to put this knowledge to effective action. The mandatory community service requirement gives students an opportunity to analyze society critically, lea and reflect through meaningful tasks, and apply the knowledge acquired in IOU classrooms in a way that benefits the Ummah. This requirement is in line with our motto ‘Changing the Nation through Education.’ To simplify the community service hours requirement for students, IOU encourages them to contribute services in their own capacity to registered IOU exam centers in their area. This proves beneficial all round — to the centers, students and the university as they collaborate as a team working towards the betterment of the Ummah. Besides fulfilling the requirement of community service hours, a higher goal is achieved – earning rewards from Allah. Students can participate in various activities at the center or introduce their own ideas and initiatives to bring positive changes, such as:
- Conducting Qur’an recitation classes for adults or children.
- Launching Tajweed/Arabic classes from scratch.
- Starting a class or conducting workshops based on the knowledge gained at IOU.
- Organizing a ‘Help the Needy’ campaign and donating essential items to the needy.
- Raising funds for the Islamic center/schools if needed by organizing fairs.
- Participating as volunteers in events/functions at the center.
- Cleaning mosques/schools/business offices /libraries.
The community service option at IOU exam centers is voluntary. Students may fulfill the community service requirements based on their own preference.
Q & A
We would like to join the IOU as an exam center
Please mail centers@iou.edu.gm. with a brief description of your institution and links to? your website ( if any ) or facebook etc.
Who and what is a proctor?
A proctor is a person who invigilates students during the exams and is appointed by the exam center itself.
Does the IOU send the passwords to the center/proctors and if so when?
Yes, the IOU sends the instructions and password download link to all the exam centers and proctors in the week before the commencement of the final exams.
Are we allowed to share the password with students during exams?
Centers are strictly prohibited from sharing the passwords with students before,during or after the exams, and students are prohibited to request centers to reveal the passwords to them at any time.
We might not be available during a particular semester, what to do?
Please inform the centers manager centers@iou.edu.gm as soon as possible about your status of availability and your center will be deactivated for the semester and we will re enable your status when you become available again.
Will IOU accept us to act as a center even if we can only accommodate 1 student?
Yes
Important Links
IOU Exam Center Requirements (Terms & Conditions)
Please click here to download a document outlining the Terms & Conditions for being an IOU exam center.
Please take a moment to go through and understand this important document. This is essential because it will help ensure an equal standard of execution and operation for all IOU exam centers worldwide.
Do also share it with all relevant staff, administrators or volunteers from your center.
Promotional Da’wah Pack
If you are interested to further help IOU in our mission to spread Islamic knowledge, then here’s a link where you can download our Promotional Da’wah Pack:
You may distribute these by whatever means are possible at your end. If its possible for you to undertake printing and distribution that is best of course. But other means like sending to your mailing list, or posting on Facebook, etc are equally welcome.
Whichever way you can help, you will be contributing to the greater mission of da’wah, in which we pray we will all be rewarded for in this life and the next, Insha Allaah.