MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Downer
I am pleased to announce Australia will provide $6 million over three years
for the African Virtual University initiative.
An exciting opportunity now exists for Australian universities and other
tertiary institutions to bid for the activity, after a scoping mission to Kenya,
Zimbabwe and Tanzania was undertaken last month to gain a greater understanding
of partner university conditions and to develop the design.
Australia will fund Australian education specialists to develop appropriate
education content for delivery through the African Virtual University as part of
the Virtual Colombo Plan.
Launched in August 2001 in partnership with the World Bank, the Virtual
Colombo Plan aims at combating global poverty by creating opportunities to
improve education and access to knowledge across the developing world. It
provides a platform for Australia's world-class education providers to share
their knowledge and skills using information and communication technologies.
Focussing on the provision of Australian courses for the African Virtual
University network, the initiative should improve African students' access to
university education. It will deliver distance learning based diploma and degree
courses to qualified African students and facilitate increased access for
students to quality higher education. It will also strengthen the capacity of
African universities to design, develop and deliver courses through distance
learning.
The African Virtual University was founded to help address the critical need
for increased access to quality post-secondary education in sub-Saharan Africa.
The University will access courses internationally through the development of an
Information and Communications Network.
Australia's focus will be on the provision of courses for modular studies in
undergraduate business studies and postgraduate instructional design. The
University will also provide a distance education portal and a digital library.
Sixty-two Virtual Colombo Plan scholarships will also be awarded under the
project. Recipients will produce course materials that enable them to design,
develop, implement and evaluate undergraduate courses and transfer principles of
sound instructional design and the use of information and communication
technologies to other academic staff.
Media contacts:
Nicole Guihot (Ministerial) 02 6277 7500 / 0407 710
374
Fionna Douglas (AusAID) 02 6206 4960 / 0412 804 489