The launch is part of the activities to implement the multinational project funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) whose aim is to strengthen the AVU and its network of institutions to deliver and manage quality ICT-integrated education and training opportunities.
Speaking on behalf of KU vice chancellor, the deputy vice chancellor (academic), Prof. John Okumu, said KU has had a relationship dating back to 1997 and that the AVU Multinational Project II will further strengthen this relationship and the institution's capacity to offer open, distance, and eLearning programs.
Speaking on behalf of the AVU rector, the manager, AVU academic programs, Dr. Atieno Adala urged African universities to make use of ICT as an integral part of teaching and learning if Africa is to attain millennium development goals and education for all.
The launch at KU followed the successful completion of three major activities: the Policy Harmonisation and Curriculum Conceptualisation Workshop; the Advisory Committee meeting for Teacher Education and Computer Science programmes; and the Computer Science and Teacher Education Curriculum Design Workshop.
During the Policy Harmonisation and Curriculum Conceptualisation Workshop, which was held from 9-12 July 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya, vice chancellors of 26 African universities developed an implementation framework for the Multinational Project II and agreed to work with the AVU to collaboratively implement the project.
The first meeting for the Advisory Committee for the Teacher Education and Computer Science programmes was held on 17-18 May 2013 and it preceded the Teacher Education and Computer Science Curriculum Design Workshop which took place from 20-25 May 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya. The Advisory Committee advises on the implementation of the AVU continent-wide Mathematics and Science Teacher Education and Applied Computer Science.
The project will include technical assistance to countries and universities, enhancing the use of open educational resources, and implementation of programmes such as teacher education, computer science and peace and conflict resolution, as well as capacity enhancement of university academics in developing, managing and implementing their own programme using eLearning programmes. Through the project, the AVU will also work to reduce gender disparity in science disciplines by awarding scholarships to female students.
The launch involved raising awareness on the project's activities and expected outcomes as well as enhancing the use of AVU's open education resources.
Twenty-one African countries are currently benefiting from the project and these include: nine Francophone countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal; three Lusophone countries: Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau and Mozambique; and nine Anglophone countries: Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, and Tanzania.
For more information, contact Godwin Bonge Muhwezi at gro.uva@izewhumg.
