The institute originally known as "the school of Kaiyuan Mosque", it was founded in 1979. In July 1999, basing on its 21 years experience in teaching , it was renamed  "Kaiyuan institute of Arabic " approved by the local government.

    In 1999,the teaching building and the teachers’flats were extended, the library and the computer rooms were established, the administration and the education system were improved , therefore, the institute was developed day by day, month by month and the number of students willing to come for study from all around the country,
was obviously increased.

    Meeting the development needs of the institute ,with the efforts of all parties, a six-storey teaching complex with a building area of 2000 square meters, was built in 2002,including 8 normal classrooms of  60 square meters each, one multifunctional hall of 120 square meters and 4 units of 60 square meters each for teachers,
also including offices,computer rooms,  library, gym , bathrooms ,etc.

    In  recent years , the institute has employed some high quality teachers graduated  abroad to teach Arabic and Islam, and also employed professionals from national universities as relief  teachers to teach Chinese,English,computer, etc, in order for the students to be able to study Arabic and Islam well ,along with the scientific knowledge quite comprehensively, so that they can catch up with the rapid growth of the present information era .

    The institute offers the following courses:

    Compulsory courses:
    Arabic: Basic Arabic  ( Volumes 1-4 )  compiled by the Arabic department  
            of   Beijing  Foreign Studies University.
            Arabic grammar, rhetoric, translation.
            Practical spoken Arabic.
            Newspaper and magazine reading.
            Business Arabic ,etc.
    Religion: the Holy Koran, the Hadith, the Islamic creed, the Islamic law,
                 the Islamic ethics , etc.
    Chinese: Modern Chinese , literary selections from classical
                 Chinese  literature ,etc.
    History:    Chinese history, Arabic history, Islamic history.
    Social science:  Politics ,common knowledge of law ,etc.

    Elective / Additional courses: English and Computer .

    The institute enrolls students who satisfy the following admission requirements:

    1. secondary school graduates or those with equivalent education level
    2. healthy and well-behaved  
    3. ages are between 18-25
    4. Muslims ( male or female )

    The source of the students is expanding from YunNan province to nearly 20 other provinces around the country.

    The institute commits itself to spread Islam in all kinds of ways :
    The institute managed to run an internet website and a newspaper by making use of the limited resources.The website “Kaiyuan  institute of Arabic” is currently the only campus website among the Islamic schools in China.

    Through the nearly two years development, it became one of the top Chinese Islamic gateway  websites and became a real “family on the web” for Muslims.

    The newspaper “Islamic Garden” has already published 27 issues , and it has been paid close attention to and welcomed by Muslims around the country.

    The aim of the institute is to cultivate talented people , for  the national economic development and the improvement of the quality of  the nations, for adapting to the needs of  reform and opening up and the needs of exploring  the great north
western China, for promoting peace and unity and for building a civilized society ;  by further adapting itself to the needs of social development and insisting on the principle of that the education should serve  the country for its construction and make benefits for  Muslims.

    With the help of Allah , with the generous support of the local Muslims, and with the continuing efforts of the institute, Kaiyuan institute of Arabic has made progress in all respects. Particularly, the system of post responsibility set up between the institute and the Mosque committee, has made things done and responsibilities taken accordingly ,and has got all things running on the right tracks with a favorable circle.

    Since the founding of the institute , nearly 4 years time, the institute has introduced and sent 17 students abroad:3 to Saudi Arabia,1 to Yemen, 5 to Syria, 5 to Pakistan,
2 to Iran and 1 to Thailand.

云南省开远阿拉伯语中等专业学校是一所由开远市清真寺开办的伊斯兰中等文化专业学校。

本校前身为清真寺学校,创建于1979年，在总结吸取二十一年办学经验的基础上，于1999年7月经当地政府同意更名为“开远阿拉伯语中等专业学校”。

1999年扩建了教学大楼、教师楼，创设了图书室、电脑教学室；提高了管理水平，完善了教育体制。从而开远阿专发展日新月异，全国各地欲来求学的穆斯林学子人数显著增多。根据学校发展的需要，在各方的努力下，又在2002建成一座六层教学综合大楼，建筑面积2000平方米，设有八间普通教室，每间六十平方米；一个一百二十平方米的多功厅；四套教师住宅，每套六十平方米；此外还有办公室、电脑室、图书室、健身房、沐浴室等。

开远阿专近年来聘请了从国外学成归来的一些高水平、高素质专业教师担任阿语、伊斯兰学教学工作，并且从国立高校聘请了专业人士担任中文、英文、电脑等的代课老师，使在校的学生能在学好阿语和伊斯兰学知识的同时，获得比较全面的科学知识，更好地与当今高速发展的信息时代接轨。

必修课 (基础课 ):

阿拉伯语类：北京外国语大学阿语系编写的《基础阿拉伯语》一至四册，阿语语法、修辞、翻译教程、实用口语、报刊阅读、商务阿语等；

宗教学科类：古兰、圣训、教义、教律、品德；

汉语类:《现代汉语》、《古代汉语》文选等；

历史类：中国史、阿拉伯史、伊斯兰史；

社会科学类：政治、法律常识等；

附设课：英语、电脑。

学校招收具有高中或同等学历，身体健康、品质良好、年龄在18-25岁之间的穆斯林男女青年，生源也由云南省扩大至全国近二十个省市范围。

本校以宣扬伊斯兰为已任，尝试各种宣教方式，努力利用有限条件创办了互联网站和报纸。网站“开远阿专”目前是中国伊斯兰学校中唯一的校园网站，经过近二年的发展，已经跻身于中国伊斯兰门户网站的前列，成为穆斯林真正的“网上家园”。报纸《伊兰园》已经发行了27期，受到全国各地穆斯林的关注和欢迎。

开远阿语中专的办学宗旨：进一步适应社会发展的需要，本着坚持教育必须为国家建设服务，为全体穆斯林谋福利的原则，为发展民族经济，提高民族素质，适应改革开放及西部大开发的需要，为促进安定团结，建设文明社会，而培养优秀人才。

在安拉的襄助下，在当地穆斯林大力支持下，开远阿语中专经过不懈的努力，使学校各项工作不断进步。尤其学校与寺管会之间落实了岗位责任制，各专其司，各负其责，使一切均步入良性循环的发展轨道。

自建校到现在，不足四年中，已推荐、派出留学生共17人，其中沙特阿拉伯3人，也门1人，叙利亚5人，巴基斯坦5人，伊朗2人，泰国1人。开远阿拉伯语中等专业学校愿为中国穆斯林的民族教育事业担当自己的一份责任，奉献自己的一份赤诚！