AFRICAN COUNCIL FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION (ACDE)
9th Floor Stanbank House Moi Avenue / Mama Ngina Street Junction P.O. Box 8023 – 00100 Nairobi, Kenya Tel.:+254 (0) 20 2218840 Fax: +254 (0) 20 2218850 Cell: +254 -720627353 E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Background information
The African Council for Distance Education (ACDE) is a continental educational organization comprising African universities and other higher education institutions, which are committed to expanding access to quality education and training through Open and Distance Learning (ODL), including e-learning. It is registered under the laws of Kenya as an International educational non profit making organization, and has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.
The idea of its establishment was first mooted at the SCOP-ICDE1 conference on distance education held for the first time on the African continent at the University of South Africa (UNISA) Pretoria, in October 2002; and was underpinned by the desire of African Vice-Chancellors to establish a unifying body that would facilitate and promote the pooling of resources, shaping and influencing continental policies on distance education, and collectively sourcing for and tapping into resources available from the national, regional and the international community for the advancement of education and training through Open and Distance Learning.
ACDE was formally launched in January 2004 at Egerton University, Kenya. During the ACDE launching Conference, attended by Vice-Chancellors and senior distance education practitioners from seven African countries, and presided over by Kenya’s Minister for Education, an Interim Constitution was adopted, interim officials comprising Vice Chancellors elected, and Egerton University selected to host the interim ACDE Secretariat.
In August 2005 the ACDE held its Inaugural Conference and General Assembly at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in Pretoria, attended by 250 delegates from Africa and beyond; including 10 government Ministers of Education from Africa and other high ranking policy makers, academics and ODL practitioners. The Conference was officially opened by the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, while the South African
1 SCOP –ICDE refers to the Standing Committee of Presidents of the International Council for Distance Education
1 general assembly, the ACDE Constitution was adopted, members of the ACDE Executive Board elected, and a resolution passed to establish a permanent ACDE Secretariat in Nairobi, Kenya.
ACDE Secretariat was officially launched in Nairobi on 4th July 2006, presided over by Kenya’s Acting Minister for Education, Honourable Dr. Noah Wekesa, as Guest of Honour. On the same day, the ACDE delegation comprising the Executive Board members including 13 Vice Chancellors and led by Kenya’s Minister of Education accompanied by top Ministry of education officials held a meeting with the President of the Republic of Kenya, His Excellency Honourable Mwai Kibaki. During the meeting, upon ACDE’s request, His Excellency the President offered to donate land for the construction of a permanent ACDE Secretariat in Nairobi, Kenya.
Membership
Membership of ACDE is categorized into Institutional (for institutions of learning providing ODL including e-Learning), Associate (for national of regional Distance Learning Associations and Organizations with interest in ODL including e-Learning) and Individual membership (for educators, researchers, scholars, students or any other person with interest in ODL including e-Learning). Currently there are 53 Institutional members, 6 Associate members and 272 Individual members. The institutional membership is spread across 12 African countries most of which are in Anglophone Africa. Tremendous recruitment efforts are in top gear to increase membership especially from Francophone, Arab and Lusophone African countries.
Recognition by and collaboration with the African Union Commission
ACDE was formally recognized as the lead implementing agency for ODL in Africa during the November 2010 Fourth Conference of Education Ministers in Africa (COMEDAF IV) held in Mombasa and accorded Observer Status at the African Union Commission (AUC). This recognition was followed by signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between ACDE and the AUC in July 2011.
The Third Pan African Conference on Teacher Development (PACTED III) and Fifth Conference of Ministers of Education in Africa (COMEDAF V) Bureau at the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa in July 2013 identified ACDE as the Lead Coordinating Agency for the Continental Teacher Development Roadmap (AU/EDUC/PACTED/RDMAP/2) Objective greater use of distance learning to improve access to teacher training. Furthermore, ACDE was appointed among lead partners to be involved in the attainment of the following goals:
i. Enhancing the use of ODL to increase access to and the quality of teacher training and promote the professional development of teacher ii. Improve performance in Science, Mathematics and Technology to reflect life skills and labour market demands
2 ACDE is a member of the International Task Force on Teachers for EFA (ITF-EFA). Admitted at the 6th ITF-EFA Dialogue Forum held in Kinshasa, DRC; November 26- 29, 2013.
As an important partner to the African Union Commission, ACDE was involved in the activities that led to the establishment of the Pan African Universities and the development of documents that would lead to the establishment of the Pan African E-University.
Governance
ACDE Secretariat is headed by an Executive Director who reports to the Executive Board. The Executive Board consists of twelve members elected from among Vice- Chancellors/Rectors/Presidents of member universities, regional representatives from the African Union’s five geo-political regions and two co-opted members representing the African Union and the Association of African universities. The Executive Board reports to the General Assembly comprising all members of ACDE.
Vision
The vision of ACDE is to be a major player in the promotion of and advocacy for Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in Africa.
Mission
Promote collaboration, research and quality assurance in ODL to increase access to quality education and training in Africa
Programmes
Currently, ACDE is running six programmes, namely: i. ACDE-Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency ii. ACDE-Technical Committee on Collaboration iii. ACDE-Information and Communication Technology iv. ACDE-ODL Database v. ACDE-Scholarship vi. ACDE Journal ( African Journal of Distance Education)
ACDE-QUALITY ASSURANCE AND ACCREDITATION AGENCY (QAAA) Programme Director: Prof. Folorunso Adu
This agency is being hosted by the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in Lagos. Its mandate is promotion of acceptable practices and quality in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in Africa. It has so far accomplished the following: i. Produced ODL Quality Assurance (QA) Toolkit ii. Validated the Toolkit in collaboration with ODL International Reference Group
3 Future Plans
i. Training of reviewers ii. Pilot testing of developed Toolkit iii. Develop capacity for ODL Quality Assurance in African universities and other ODL institutions. iv. Develop online QA resources repository for use by ODL institutions in Africa after adoption by the Association of African Universities and AUC.
ACDE-TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON COLLABORATION (TCC) Programme Director: Dr. Reuben Neville
The ACDE Technical Committee on Collaboration, hosted by the Open University of Tanzania, was established with the purpose of encouraging collaboration and sharing of human and material resources, credit transfer and staff and student exchange among the member institutions. It has so far accomplished the following: i. Policy on collaboration in place. ii. Joint Qualification Framework under implementation; currently focussing on BSc (Agriculture), BSc (Nursing) and BSc (Midwifery). iii. Established working groups for priority collaboration in ODL research among ACDE member institutions. iv. Institutionalized production of bi-annual activity reports v. Provided ODL Database Website (based at UNISA) with data on existing resources of ACDE member universities vi. Identified priority areas for collaboration amongst the active ACDE-TCC member institutions. vii. Identified joint needs for the development of Open Educational Resources (OERs) amongst the active ACDE-TCC member institutions. viii. Jointly with Commonwealth of Learning conducted a capacity building training workshop on ODL Research Methods for ACDE member institutions
Future Plans The future plan is to embark on collaborative activities to accomplish the following: i. Capacity building in Open Educational Resources (OERs) 2Capacity building for staff training focusing on Masters and PhD programmes ii. Capacity building of staff in ODL delivery iii. Content development and sharing of course materials in agreed priority areas such as Food Security, Biodiversity, Mathematics and Science education and Early Childhood Education iv. Actualise implementation of joint ODL research
ACDE-Information and Communication Technology Programme Director: Dr. Sabri Hamza Beldo
4 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) programme is hosted by Open University of Sudan. The programme is aimed at improving bandwidth and connectivity among and within ACDE member institutions by establishing WIDE AREA NETWORK (WAN) and LOCAL AREA NETWORKS (LAN). The objective is to provide African universities and higher education institutions affordable broad band in order to enhance delivery of quality of pedagogy, research and management of ODL. Plans are underway to initiate implementation of activities.
ACDE-ODL DATABASE Programme Director: Prof. Mpine Makoe
The database is hosted at the University of South Africa (UNISA). The database was developed in phases. Phase 1:Establishment of the requirements for the database Phase 2:Technical design and development of the database Phase 3:Collection of data and populating the website accordingly Phase 1 has been completed and website was launched on 29th of august 2012. Phase 2 is 100% complete. The architecture has been designed and developed according to the technical blue print. Data movement processes such as storage, security specifications and backup and recovery procedures have been developed. Phase 3 is still on-going. Up-to-date information is being collected and uploaded on regular basis and checked for security flaws and other issues that may threaten integrity of the database.
ACDE-SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME
The African Council for Distance Education (ACDE) established an ACDE Scholarship Program in 2007 with seed funding from the Ford Foundation. The program is meant to expand opportunities to higher education and training for students from disadvantaged backgrounds who intent to pursue and enhance careers especially in health, science, technology and education through distance and e-learning programs with ACDE member institutions. This program is administered by the ACDE Secretariat, under rules and regulations approved by the ACDE Executive Board that comprises Vice- Chancellors. The ACDE Scholarship is awarded competitively each year, at amounts determined by the award committee. Participation is through nomination by ACDE member institution. In 2007, three (3) scholarships were competitively won and awarded to nominees from Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. In 2008, six scholarships were competitively won and awarded to nominees from Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and Nigeria. This programme has not been active due to lack of committed financial support.
ACDE JOURNAL (African Journal of Distance Education - AJDE)
The African Journal of Distance Education is published by University of South Africa Press and the first issue came out in 2008 and the second in 2009. Since 2010, journal publication has not been regular due to inactivity of the Editorial Board. The Board has
5 been reconstituted and publication of the journal is to resume soon. To clear the backlog of received articles, the journal is to be published on bi-annual basis.
Programmes in the pipeline
There is a project in the pipeline which has been submitted to the African Union Commission. This project has two components:
i. Mass Training to produce Competent Mathematics, Science and Technology Teachers in Africa ii. Capacity Building for Quality Assurance in ODL in Africa
Collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL)
ACDE has a memorandum of understanding with COL. Under the terms of reference of this MoU, a three day Open Distance Learning Research Capacity Workshop was held in Arusha for selected academic staff from ACDE member institutions. ACDE MEMBER INSTITUTIONS
AFRICAN COUNCIL FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION MEMBER INSTITUTIONS AS AT 20TH AUGUST, 2013 Year of first No. NAME OF INSTITUTION registration COUNTRY 1 University of South Africa (UNISA) 2005 South Africa 2 Egerton University 2005 Kenya 3 Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology 2005 Kenya 4 National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) 2005 Nigeria 5 University of Abuja 2005 Nigeria 6 Open University of Tanzania (OUT) 2005 Tanzania 7 National University of Rwanda 2005 Rwanda 8 Moi University 2006 Kenya 9 Maseno University 2006 Kenya 10 Institute Superior Pedagogue (KIE) 2007 Rwanda 11 Open University Milton Keynes UK 2007 United Kingdom 12 University of Pretoria 2007 South Africa 13 University of Nairobi 2007 Kenya 14 Copperbelt University 2007 Zambia 15 Open university of Sudan 2007 Sudan 16 University of Juba 2007 Southern Sudan 17 Eduardo Mondlane University 2007 Mozambique 18 Marien Ngouabi University 2008 Republic of Congo
6 19 Strathmore University 2008 Kenya 20 Zambian Open University 2008 Zambia 21 Kenyatta University 2008 Kenya 22 Masinde Muliro University 2009 Kenya 23 University of Zambia 2009 Zambia 24 North West University 2009 South Africa 25 Zimbabwe Open University 2010 Zimbabwe 26 Mulungushi University 2011 Zambia Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning 27 (BOCODOL) 2011 Botswana 28 El. Neelain University 2011 Sudan 29 University of Ngaoundere 2011 Cameroon 30 Federal University of Technology Minna. 2011 Nigeria 31 University of Maiduguri 2011 Nigeria 32 University of Ibadan 2011 Nigeria 33 Anambra State University 2011 Nigeria 34 University of Lagos 2011 Nigeria 35 University of Lusaka 2012 Zambia 36 University of Swaziland 2012 Swaziland 37 Zambian College of Open Learning (ZAMCOL) 2012 Zambia
38 Open University of Mauritius 2013 Mauritius 39 Plasma university 2013 Somalia St. Mary’s University College of Distance and Open 40 learning 2013 Ethiopia 41 Tumaini University Dar-es-Salaam College 2013 Tanzania 42 Catholic University,Beira 2013 Mozambique Instituto Superior De Cienciase Educacao A 43 Distancia, Beira 2015 Mozambique 44 National Teachers Institute 2007 Nigeria 45 Laweh Open University College Ghana 2016 Ghana
AFRICAN COUNCIL FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION ASSOCIATE MEMBER INSTITUTIONS AS AT 20TH MARCH 2013 Year of first No. NAME OF INSTITUTION registration COUNTRY 1 SA institute of Distance Education 2007 South Africa 2 African Virtual University 2008 Kenya 3 International Education Initiative 2008 United States of America 4 University of Southern Queensland 2009 Southern Queensland 5 Kenya School of Law 2011 Kenya 6 Schulpotals Technology 2011 Nigeria 7 Moddibo Adama University of Technology, Yola 2014 Nigeria 8 African Virtual University 2008 Nairobi 9 Commonwealth of Learning 2014 Canada
7 ACDE EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS CONTACTS AND ADDRESSES
1. Prof. Faisal Abdalla Elhag
President & Vice Chancellor,
Open University of Sudan
P.O. Box 13091 Khartoum, Sudan Obaied Khatim Street Email: [email protected]
2. Prof. Abdallah Uba Adamu
1st Vice President & Vice Chancellor National Open University of Nigeria University Village, Jabi Abuja Fax: +234-1-26671079 Cell:+2348033208384 Email:[email protected]
3. Prof. Paul K. Wainaina 2nd Vice President & Vice Chancellor, Kenyatta University P. O. Box 43844-00100 NAIROBI, Kenya Tel: (+254-20) 871090-19 Fax: (+254-20) 8711575 Cell:0734 766486 Email: [email protected], [email protected]
4. Prof. Rose Mwonya
Secretary General & Vice Chancellor, Egerton University, P.O. Box 536, Egerton, Njoro, KENYA Tel:+254 51 2217810 Mobile:+254722106572 Email: [email protected],[email protected]
8 5. Prof. Mandla Makhanya
Treasurer & Vice Chancellor, University of South Africa, 392, UNISA 0003, SOUTH AFRICA Tel:+27 12 429 2561 Fax:+27 12 429 2565 Email: [email protected]
6. Professor Alfred C. Ncube ACDE Immediate Past President & Acting Vice Chancellor Zimbabwe Open University MP 1119, Mount Pleasant Harare Zimbabwe Tel: +263 4 251723. Fax +263 4250 345 [email protected] or [email protected]
7. Prof. Elifas T. Bisanda Representative East African Region & Vice Chancellor, Open University of Tanzania (OUT) P.O. Box 23409 Dar es Salaam, TANZANIA Tel: 255-22-2668820 fax: 255-22-2668230 Mob: +255784301631 Email: [email protected], Elifas Bisanda [email protected]
8. Prof. Kamal Hashim Representative North African Region & Vice-Chancellor Alneenlain University Gamhuria Street - Khartoum - Sudan P.O. Box 12702 Khartoum Sudan Tel: +249155775060 Mob: +249912309628 v.chancellor@neelain .edu.sd, [email protected]
9. Prof. Mutale Musonda ACDE Representative, Southern Africa & Vice Chancellor, Cavendish University,
9 Zambia +260 211 387 611
10. Prof. Goski Alabi ACDE Representative, West Africa & Vice Chancellor, Laweh Open University, Ghana Tel: +233-246452798/ +233 -244359760 E-mail:[email protected]
11. Prof Doutor Padre Alberto Father Ferriera
Representative from Lusophone Countries & Rector Catholic University Rua Marques de Soveral 960 Oakneuras Uum beira Mozambique [email protected]
1 Prof. Dr. Dibungi T. Kalenda Representative from Francophone Countries Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences P. O. Box 212 University of Kinshasa Kinshasa 11, Democratic Republic of Congo [email protected]
13. Prof. Etienne Ehouan EHILE (Copted)) Secretary General Association of African Universities (AAU) African Universities House Aviation Rd Extension Airport Residential Area ACCRA, Ghana 00233302774495/761588, 00233(0) 509039627 Email: [email protected]
14. Dr. Yohannes Woldetensae
Representataive of Commissioner for Human Resources, Science & Technology African Union Commission Addis Ababa Ethiopia (Co-opted)
15. Jenny Glennie Executive Director South African Institute for Distance Education 12th Foor Noswal HallStiemens Streets, Box 31822 Braamfontein, 2007, Johannesburg ,SOUTH AFRICA [email protected]
16. Professor Hellicy C.Ng'ambi. Vice Chancellor, Mulungushi University, Mulungushi University, Great North Road Kabwe ZAMBIA [email protected], "Hellicy C. Ngambi"
17. Professor Asha Kanwar President Commonwealth of Learning (Co-opted) 1055 West Hastings Street, Suite 1200 Vancouver, BC V6E 2E9 Canada Tel: +1.604.775.8200 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
18. Prof. James McWHA, University of Rwanda UR Head Office, P.O.Box 4285 Kigali, Rwanda Cell Phone: +250788383003 Email:[email protected] or [email protected]
19. Prof. Michael Umale Adikwu Vice Chancellor, University of Abuja PMB 117, Garki Abuja Federal Capital Territory Nigeria E-mail: [email protected]
20. Professor Peter Mbithi University of Nairobi PO Box 30197-00100, Nairobi
11 KENYA
21. Prof. Domingos Chidassicua Director, Instituto Superior De Cienciase Educacao A Distancia Beira, Mozambique Email: [email protected]
22. Prof Dan Kgwadi, Vice Chancellor, North-West University, POTCHEFSTROOM SOUTH AFRICA Email: [email protected]
23. Prof. Rotimi Ogidan Executive Director African Council for Distance Education, P.O. BOX 8023-00100 Nairobi, Kenya Tel: +254 202218840 Cell: +254 720627353 Fax: +254 2218850 Email: [email protected],[email protected]
24. Dr. Reuben Neville Director ACDE Technical Committee on Collaboration Open University of Tanzania P.O. Box 23409, Dar es Salaam TANZANIA E-Mail: [email protected], Neville Reuben
25. Prof. I.F.Adu Director, ACDE Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency National Open University of Nigeria 14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island Lagos E-mail:[email protected]
26. Mr. Sabri Beldo, Director, ACDE –ICT, Open University of Sudan, P.O. Box 13091 Khartoum, Sudan Obaied Khatim Street Email: [email protected]
12 27. Prof. Mpine Makoe Director, ACDE Database University of South Africa (UNISA) 392, Pretoria 0003 SOUTH AFRICA Director, ACDE Database E-mail: [email protected]
28. Professor Kassa Belay Rector Pan African University Department of Human Resources & Science Technology African Union Commission ADDIS ABABA Ethiopia Email: "[email protected]" BelayK@africa- union.org>, ”[email protected]"
29. Dr. Bakary Diallo Rector African Virtual University/Université Virtuelle Africaine Cape Office Park (opp. Yaya Center) Ring Road, Kilimani PO Box 25405 - 00603 Nairobi, Kenya. Email: [email protected], Clara Mutung'u [email protected],
30. Prof. F.A.O Otieno Vice Chancellor Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology P.O Box 190-50100 Kakamega, Kenya Tel: +254 56 30686 Fax: +254 56 31375 Email: [email protected] Website: www.mmust.ac.ke
31. Prof. Silas Lwakabamba Vice Chancellor, University of hi Kibungo (UNIK), Kibungo Campus, PO Box 06, xKibungo, Rwanda Tel:+250(0)788300166 Emails: [email protected] [email protected]
13 Skype: lwakabamba Twitter: @SilasLwakabamba
32. Dr K S Sukon Director-General Open University of Mauritius Réduit MAURITIUS Tel: (230) 403-8200 Fax: (230) 465-9440 Email: [email protected]
33. Prof. Stephen Simukanga University of Zambia Administration Building Great East Road Campus LUSAKA, ZAMBIA [email protected]
PROGRAMME STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS
1. Prof. Manie Spamer, Head of the Unit of Distance education North West University – West Campus P.O. Box x6001, Potchefstroom Email: [email protected] SOUTH AFRICA
2. Ms. Monge Tlaka System Project Manager OER Africa, University of South Africa 392, Pretoria 0003 SOUTH AFRICA E-mail: [email protected]
3. Derrick Mwape Director, Distance Education Cavendish University ZAMBIA Email: [email protected]
4. Dr. Omondi Bowa Lecturer and Chairman Department of Educational Studies School of Continuing and Distance Education University of Nairobi P.O. Box 30197-00100, Nairobi Email: [email protected] KENYA
5. Siyan Peter
14 University of Abuja P M B 117, Garki, ABUJA Federal Capital Territory, NIGERIA E- mail: [email protected]
6. Dr. Deus Ngaruko, Deputy Vice Chancellor Open University of Tanzania, P. O. Box 23409, Dar-es-Salaam TANZANIA. Email: [email protected]
7. Dr. David Nzuki Director Institute of Open and Learning, Kenyatta University, P.O. Box 43844 00 100, Nairobi KENYA E mail: [email protected]
8. Prof. Ezra Maritim Professor and Director College of Open and Distance Learning, Egerton University P.O. Box 536, Njoro KENYA Email: [email protected]
9. Prof. Gabriel Kabanda Pro Vice Chancellor, Zimbabwe Open University Email: [email protected] [email protected]
10. Prof. Richard Siaciwena Director Quality Assurance and Extension Services Zambian Open University P.O. Box 31295, Lusaka ZAMBIA. Email: [email protected] [email protected]
11. Prof. Rose Ruto-Korir Director IODL Moi University P.O. Box 3900 ELDORET-Kenya +254722727779 Alternative email: [email protected]
15 12. Mr. Olufemi Gbenga, Vice Chancellor’s Office National Open University of Nigeria, 14-16, Ahmadu Bello PMB 80067 Victoria Island, Lagos Nigeria [email protected],
13. David Farirai Director: Institutional Advancement Kgorong Building (Office: 2-019) Tel: +27(0)12 441-5684, Fax: +27(0)86 660-1242 Mobile: + 27 (0) 82 4486875 Email: [email protected]
14. Prof. Godwil Mrema, Deputy Provost Academic Affairs, Tumaini University Dar es Salaam College P.O. Box 77588, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Email: [email protected]
16