The Irish Academy of Public Relations and the Dubai based Orient Planet PR and Marketing Communications will launch the first online PR and Communications Academy in the Middle East.

Orient Planet Academy exclusively provide the Irish Academy’s courses to students in the Middle East, Levant and North Africa regions, under a joint venture agreement signed by Ellen Gunning, the Irish Academy’s director, and Nidal Abou Zaki, Orient Planet’s managing director.

Orient Planet Academy will facilitate internationally recognised certificate courses in public relations, marketing, journalism, event management and English grammar. Offering a wide degree of flexibility to its prospective students, Orient Planet Academy’s courses - all of which have been localised for the Arab World - can be completed in a time span of 10 to 20 weeks. A student is required to finish 10 to 12 modules and pass all requirements before a certificate is awarded.

Comprehensive textbooks of the Irish Academy will also be available at the new academy’s bookstore to help potential learners in their studies. The textbooks are specifically chosen to complement the course syllabus and to serve as additional references for students. Visitors of the Orient Planet Academy website may also browse through videos to watch renowned communications experts in action.

Gunning said: “The Irish Academy has an ever-growing footprint across Europe, the US, Latin America and Africa. Over the years, we have seen the immense potentials of the online education market in the Arab World, and we believe now is the ideal time to establish our presence in the rapidly expanding industry. We entered into a joint venture with Orient Planet to form Orient Planet Academy to mark our expansion in the Middle East and serve a market of more than 314 million people through our comprehensive courses. Orient Planet Academy will be an added value to the growing industry. Initially, the courses will be taught in English with a view of offering them in Arabic in the coming few weeks.”
 
Zaki commented: “Although the Arab region’s PR and communications industry has been continuously growing, we realised that there is no online platform in the region that provides professionals and students alike the chance to further develop their skills in PR, communications, marketing and social media. Orient Planet Academy not only aims to provide flexibility but it also offers employed individuals and young students an opportunity to earn an internationally recognised certificate. We have localised all courses in order to address the cultural requirements of the region.  We will offer a modern educational platform to enhance and inspire a new generation of communications experts capable of meeting the needs of the Arab and global markets.”

The Irish Academy of Public Relations is an international online education provider of courses in communications disciplines, while Orient Planet is one of the Middle East’s most rapidly growing PR marketing and communications consultancies. All five courses of Orient Planet Academy have been designed by the Irish Academy and will be tutored by communications professionals in the Middle East. – TradeArabia News Service