multinational african virtual university support … · african virtual university support project...

63
AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT FUND Language: English Original: English MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT ONSD EAST, NORTH AND SOUTH REGION November 2004

Upload: donhan

Post on 03-Apr-2018

222 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT FUND Language: English Original: English

MULTINATIONAL

AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT

APPRAISAL REPORT

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT ONSD EAST, NORTH AND SOUTH REGION November 2004

Page 2: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page

PROJECT INFORMATION BRIEF, CURRENCIES AND MEASURES, LIST OF TABLES, LIST OF ANNEXES, LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, PROJECT LOGICAL FRAMEWORK………………………….…………….………………………….i-vii 1. PROJECT ORIGIN AND BACKGROUND ................................................................. 1 2. EDUCATION AND ICT ............................................................................................... 2 2.1 Education Delivery in Africa: A continuing challenge................................................. 2 2.2 ICT and Education: Past Experience and Current Status in Africa................................ 3 2.3 The Global Institutional Framework for ICT in Education............................................ 4 2.4 Policy Issues in ICT and Education ............................................................................... 5 2.5 Key Issues in ICT and Education Financing.................................................................. 5 2.6 Donor Support of ICT-facilitated Education.................................................................. 6 2.7 General Challenges and Constraints in using ICT in Education.................................... 7 3. TERTIARY EDUCATION AND ICT........................................................................... 7 3.1 Tertiary Education.......................................................................................................... 7 3.2 Tertiary Education and Teacher Training ...................................................................... 8 3.3 Tertiary Education and Gender Issues ........................................................................... 9 3.4 Constraints in Tertiary Education .................................................................................. 9 3.5 Institutional analysis of the AVU................................................................................. 11 4. THE PROJECT ............................................................................................................ 15 4.1 Project Concept and Rationale ..................................................................................... 15 4.2 Project target Areas and Beneficiaries ......................................................................... 16 4.3 Project Strategic Context.............................................................................................. 17 4.4 Project Objectives ........................................................................................................ 17 4.5 Project Description and Outcomes............................................................................... 17 4.6 Project Environnemental Impact .................................................................................. 23 4.7 Project Cost……. ......................................................................................................... 24 4.8 Sources of Finance and Schedule of Expenditures ...................................................... 25 5. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................................ 27 5.1 Project Implementation Agency................................................................................... 27 5.2 Institutional Arrangements........................................................................................... 28 5.3 Project Implementation and Supervision Schedule...................................................... 29 5.4 Procurement of Goods and Services ............................................................................ 30 5.5 Disbursements .............................................................................................................. 33 5.6 Project Accounting and Audit ...................................................................................... 34 5.7 Project Monitoring and Evaluation .............................................................................. 34 5.8 Project Implementation Document .............................................................................. 34 5.9 Aid Coordination.......................................................................................................... 35

Page 3: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

6. PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY AND RECURRENT EXPENDITURE .................... 35 6.1 Project Sustainability.................................................................................................... 35 62 Project Recurrent Expenditure ..................................................................................... 36 6.3 Project Risks and Mitigating Measures........................................................................ 37 7. PROJECT BENEFITS ................................................................................................. 38 7.1 Economic and Technological Benefits of Project ........................................................ 38 7.2 Social impact of Project ............................................................................................... 38 7.3 Impact on Regional Integration.................................................................................... 39 7.4 Impact on classroom teaching and learning ................................................................. 39 7.5 Impact on poverty reduction ........................................................................................ 39 8. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMANDATIONS ...................................................... 40 8.1 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 40 8.2 Recommendations and Grant Conditions..................................................................... 40 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This report was prepared by Mr. Boukary Savadogo, Chief Education Specialist, ONSD.1, Mr. Dirk Bronselaer, Senior Architect ONSD.1, following an appraisal mission in September 2004. For further information, please contact the authors or Ms. Alice Hamer, Director ONSD (Ext. 2046) and Mr. A. G. Komenan, Manager, ONSD.1 (Ext. 2150). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Page 4: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK GROUP B.P. 323 – 1002 TUNIS BELVEDERE

TEL.: (216) 71 33 35 11 FAX: (216) 71 35 19 33

PROJECT INFORMATION BRIEF

Date: October 2004

The information hereunder is intended to provide some guidance to prospective suppliers, contractors, consultants and all persons interested in the procurement of goods and services for projects approved by the Board of Directors of the Bank Group. Requests for more detailed information should be addressed to the Executing Agency of the Borrower.

1. COUNTRY AND PROJECT : MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual

University Support Project 2. PROJECT LOCATION : ONSD Countries: Djibouti, Ethiopia,

Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe

3. GRANT RECIPIENT : The African Virtual University 4. IMPLEMENTATION AGENCY : The African Virtual University (AVU) P.O. Box 25405 Nairobi, Kenya Tel. (254) 2 271 2056 Fax (254) 2 271 2071 5. PROJECT DESCRIPTION :

The sector objective of the project is to contribute to increased access to quality education in

selected African countries while fostering regional integration. The project objective is to strengthen the capacity of the African Virtual University (AVU) and a network of institutions coordinated by the AVU to deliver and manage quality ICT assisted education and training opportunities in selected African countries.

The project will be implemented over a period of three years, and has the following components: (i) Establishment of Learning Centres and Connectivity Provision at AVU Partner Institutions; (ii) Teacher Training and Development Program; (iii) Mainstreaming Gender Issues Into AVU Operations; and (iv) Project Management. The project will finance activities under the following four categories of expenditure: A - Goods; C - Services; D - Operating Costs and E - Miscellaneous. 6. PROJECT COST i) Foreign Exchange Cost : UA 3.91 million ii) Local Currency Cost : UA 1.60 million iii) Total Cost : UA 5.51 million 7. BANK GROUP GRANT GRANT : UA 5.00 million

Page 5: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

8. OTHER FUNDING SOURCES AVU : UA 0.51 million 9. DATE OF BANK GROUP GRANT APPROVAL : December 2004 10. PROJECT PLANNED START-UP DATE AND DURATION : January 2005; duration: 3 years 11. PROCUREMENT OF GOODS AND SERVICES:

Goods and services will be procured in accordance with the Bank Group rules of

procedure as follows: Goods (i) Limited International Competition (LIC) for the procurement of equipment for each of the

ten ODeL Centres at the Partner Institution. (ii) NCB in each of the Partner Institution’s countries for the procurement of furniture for the

ODeL Centres and student kits and marketing materials. Service contracts (i) Limited International Competition (LIC) for the procurement of connectivity and

bandwidth elements for the 10 project sites. Consulting Services (i) International Shortlist (SL) for course program development, quality assistance

framework and for the recruitment of consultants. (ii) AVU procedures for procurement of workshop activities, the re-authoring of math &

science courses (ODeL & gender mainstreaming) and the setting up of gender clinics. Miscellaneous

Operating costs consist of shipping costs of ODeL course kits, course leaders’ allowances, AVU-key staff salaries (for project dedicated time) and travel costs and subsistence for AVU staff travelling to ODeL Centres.

AVU procedures will be used for the tuition awards, to a value of UA 140,000 over 2 years, awarded to deserving women students taking AVU computer science courses on the basis of guidelines and criteria.

12. REQUIRED CONSULTANCY SERVICES Consultancy services are required for the recruitment of consultants for course program development, quality assistance framework, workshop activities, the re-authoring of math and science courses (ODeL & gender mainstreaming) and the setting up of gender clinics.

Page 6: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

CURRENCIES AND MEASURES (September 2004)

CURRENCIES

1 UA = KES 117.204 1 UA = USD 1.46073

1 UA = EURO 1.20612

MEASURES

Metric System

FISCAL YEAR

1st January – 31st December

LIST OF TABLES Pages

Table 1. The new school paradigm 4 2. Donor funding breakdown of the AVU for the period 2004 to 2007 7 3. Tertiary enrolment in project target countries 16 4.1 Summary of Project cost by component 24 4.2 Summary of Project cost by category of expenditure 24 4.3 Project cost by source of finance 25 4.4 Source of finance by Component 25 4.5 Source of finance by category of expenditure 26 4.6 Expenditure schedule by component and by category of expenditure 26 4.7 Expenditure schedule by source of finance and by category of expenditure 27 5.1 Provisions for the procurement of goods and services 31 5.2 other modes of procurement 31 6.1 Revenue generation potential of an AVU ODeL Centre 36

LIST OF ANNEXES Number of Pages 1. Map of project Areas 1 2. Organisation chart of the AVU 1 3. Provisional List of project goods and services 1 4. Project Implementation Schedule 1 5. Project processing schedule and activities 1 6. List of selected documents consulted 2 7. List of equipment for each ODeL Centre 1 8. Summary of project costs 2 9. Table of contents of Project Implementation Document 1 10. Glossary of key terms 1

Page 7: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ADF African Development Fund AUCC Association des Universités et Collèges du Canada AusAID Australian Agency for International Development AUF Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie AVU African Virtual University B.Ed Bachelors of Education BoT Board of Trustees CD ROM Compact Disc Rom CIDA Canadian International Development Agency CoL Commonwealth of Learning CPD Continuous Professional Development DfID Department for International Development (UK) DSL Digital Subscriber Line DVD Disc Video Decoder EFA Education for All ENS École Normale Supérieure GDLN Global Development Learning Network ICB International competitive bidding ICT Information and Communication Technology IICBA International Institute for Capacity Building of Addis Ababa IDRC International Development Research Centre IP Internet Protocol IRI Interactive Radio Instruction ISP Internet service provider KPS Kilo Byte per Second LAN Local area network LIC Limited international competition LPU Lead Partner University MDGs Millennium Development Goals MPS Mega Byte per Second NCB National competitive bidding NEPAD New Partnership for African Development ODeL Open Distance and e-Learning OUT Open University of Tanzania PGDE Post Graduate Diploma in Education PI Partner Institutions SACMEQ The Southern African consortium for Monitoring Education and Quality SNA School Net Africa TESO Teacher Education Special Overhaul UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNISA University of South Africa UNESCO United Nations Educational, Educational and Cultural Organization VISAF Virtuel au Service de l’Afrique Francophone VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminal WBI World Bank Institute WorLD World Links for Development, a World Bank project now completed.

Page 8: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. PROJECT BACKGROUND 1.1 The African Virtual University (AVU) is a tertiary education network that uses blended Open Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) programs to facilitate quality tertiary education dissemination through established African Universities to increase access for a wider array of learners, including traditional students, life-long learners and active workers and professionals. It was initially launched in 1997 as a World Bank project and has evolved to become in 2000 an African-led and African-run initiative. AVU was transferred from the World Bank in Washington to Nairobi in Kenya in 2000. To implement its 2003-2007 business plan, AVU has requested the support of the donor community, including the Bank. In response to this request, the Bank conducted a project identification mission in October 2003, followed by a project preparation mission in March 2004 and an appraisal mission in September 2004. 1.2 All three missions and AVU agreed that the proposed project fits within AVU’s strategic plan and is in line with the Bank’s policy of intervention in the education sector. The project will strengthen the capacity of the African Virtual University (AVU) and its partner institutions to deliver and manage quality tertiary education and training opportunities in regional member countries. This in turn will contribute to human resources development and as a result, will increase the continent’s capacity in its poverty alleviation efforts. Through the support to continental networking, the project will foster regional cooperation and integration. All proposed project activities take into account the operations financed by other development partners. 2. PURPOSE OF BANK GROUP GRANT

The UA 5.00 million grant will finance 100% of foreign exchange costs and 90,7 % of total project costs in all categories of expenditure. AVU will finance UA 0.51 million (USD equivalent 0.750 million) in local currency cost, representing 9.3 % of total project costs. AVU’s contribution will finance the Operating Costs of project management. 3. PROJECT OBJECTIVE

The sector objective of the project is to contribute to increased access to quality education in selected African countries while fostering regional integration. The project objective is to strengthen the capacity of the African Virtual University (AVU) and a network of institutions coordinated by the AVU to deliver and manage quality ICT assisted education and training opportunities in selected African countries. 4. PROJECT OUTPUTS

The project will be implemented over a period of three years, and has the following components: (i) Establishment of ODeL Centres and Connectivity Provision at AVU Partner Institutions; (ii) Teacher Training and Development Program; (iii) Mainstreaming Gender Issues Into AVU Operations; and (iv) Project Management. The project will finance activities under the following five categories of expenditure: A - Goods; C - Services; D - Operating Costs and E - Miscellaneous.

Page 9: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

5. PROJECT COST The project total cost, net of taxes and customs duties, amounts to:

Total cost : UA 5.51 million Foreign exchange : UA 3.91 million Local currency : UA 1.60 million

6. SOURCES OF FINANCE

Grant : UA 5.00 million AVU : UA 0.51 million

7. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

The project will be implemented over a three-year period by AVU, with academic start up in January 2005. 8. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 8.1 The project will strengthen the capacity of the African Virtual University (AVU) and its partner institutions to deliver and manage quality ICT assisted education and training opportunities in regional member countries. This in turn will contribute to human resources development and poverty reduction through improved access to post-secondary education. The project will also foster regional cooperation and integration. 8.2 It is therefore recommended that AVU be extended a UA 5.00 million grant to implement the project described in this report.

Page 10: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

MULTINATIONAL: AVU SUPPORT PROJECT LOGICAL FRAMEWORK

HIERARCHY OF OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVELY VERIFIABLE INDICATORS MEANS OF VÉRIFICATION ASSUMPTIONS/RISKS PROJECT SECTOR GOAL To contribute to increased access to quality education in selected African countries while fostering regional integration.

The capacity of the targeted countries to deliver education using ICT is increased as evidenced by the opening of the 10 new AVU ODeL centers

Procurement review, Legal agreements review, Review of record of program facilitators, Site visits

PROJECT OBJECTIVE To strengthen the capacity of the African Virtual University (AVU) and a network of institutions coordinated by the AVU to deliver and manage quality ICT assisted education and training opportunities in selected African countries.

The number of AVU partner Institutions in tertiary education increases from 38 in 2004 to at least 48 in 2008.

The AVU’s Business Plan Procurement review, Legal agreements review, Review of record of program facilitators, Site visits

AVU’s Programs are advertised aggressively and close working relationships are established with university admission bodies to ensure placement

PROJECT OUTPUTS A network of 10 new well equipped OdeL centers in East and Southern Africa is established (in partnership with African partner institutions), including strengthened presence in Francophone & Lusophone countries. A teacher training program is developed; Pre-service and in- service training for teachers training is provided. Increased educational opportunities for traditionally disadvantaged groups, especially women and Gender sensitive Marketing strategy operational zed to reach wider target audience of students & stakeholders

By 2008, 10 new ODeL centres established in the target countries; 10 National teams established; 200 course developers trained; and 52 programme modules developed in 3 languages. By 2008 at least 10 new OdeL centers are offering the teacher training program; cumulative total over 3 years (2005-8) of 16,000 students enrolled in teacher training program in targeted countries and 10000 students enrolled in other countries using the curriculum. The number of females enrolled in AVU programs increases from 27% in 2004 to 50% in 2008. Gender activities are mainstreamed into all AVU operations.

Review of admission, gender, procurement, participating institutions and management record.

Ministries of education under the aegis of NEPAD participate effectively in the teacher training program and Quality Assurance systems and procedures for consolidating activities of ODeL centers & supporting and monitoring students are developed by AVU. A scholarship program is put in place and is renewable yearly based on academic performance.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES Establishment of learning centres and connectivity Implementation of a teacher training program Scholarship for students Project implementation

Contracts are signed with Bank-approved consultants, suppliers and contractors. Delivery and acceptance reports are prepared to the Bank’s and Borrower’s satisfaction. Budgetary Resources (in UA million) CAT. GRANT AVU Total Goods 1.49 0.00 1.49 Services 2.80 0.00 2.80 Operating costs 0.58 0.51 1.09 Miscellaneous 0.14 0.00 0.14 Total 5.00 0.51 5.51

Status of disbursements. Project supervision reports. Project audit reports.

A central procurement strategy and simultaneous shipments for equipment are adopted by AVU, and guidelines are developed on how the ODeL will be set up and work with local consultants to implement the establishment.

Page 11: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

1. PROJECT ORIGIN AND BACKGROUND Introduction 1.1 Education is a pillar of human development and a powerful tool for poverty alleviation. The concept of education is currently in the middle of a paradigm shift. Previously, education was straightforward and easy to define in terms of time, place, inputs and outputs. Teachers in classrooms were teaching programs. More and more, teachers are becoming facilitators and tutors. Classrooms tend to be replaced by generic learning environments - often virtual, often high-tech - and traditional textbooks are being supplemented or replaced by multimedia materials (print, audio, video, TV, Internet, etc.). At the tertiary education level, traditional so-called “brick” universities are competing more and more with “click” universities, i.e., institutions that use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to reach more students more efficiently. 1.2 The combination of Education and ICT bears great promise for African countries. The new technologies can help alleviate to some extent, the limited human capacity and physical infrastructure. Supporting ICT in Education can have a positive impact on access and the quality of education and subsequently on the development of African economies. High-quality education and training materials developed by the best educational institutions could be adapted for use anywhere. The use of the technologies in an educational environment could equip future generations of African students with the skills needed to operate in the global information society. The African Virtual University (AVU) 1.3 Among other tertiary education networks in Africa, the African Virtual University (AVU) stands at the forefront of the efforts to harness the full potential of ICT for education on the continent. As an educational network, the AVU uses ICT to provide through partner universities across the continent, quality education to a wide array of learners, including traditional students, life-long learners and active workers and professionals. It was initially launched in 1997 as a World Bank project and has evolved to become in 2000 an African-led and African-run initiative. It is currently an Intergovernmental Organisation registered in 2002 as a tax-exempt non-profit organisation in Kenya. AVU has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, and has developed a cadre of professional education, technology and finance staff who are skilled in implementing internet-based distance learning courses and satisfying the reporting and control requirements of a range of aid agencies (See Chapter 3 for an institutional analysis of the AVU). 1.4 AVU’s current ‘vision’ projection is for the horizon of 2007, as reflected in its Medium Term Business Plan. It takes into account a number of challenges regarding the delivery of high-quality degree programmes on a large scale to the African continent. The AVU’s Vision and Mission clearly indicate the AVU’s intention to play a leading role in the development, within its Partner Institutions (PIs), of appropriate blended Open Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) programs that adopt constructivist approaches to student-centered learning, are delivered both onsite and online, and which incorporate appropriate instructional technology, design training and professional development for staff in the recipient universities. The AVU is putting in place strategies that will enable African Institutions to develop ODeL courseware for use in the global educational community so that African institutions can also contribute to the global production and distribution of knowledge.

Page 12: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Further, the AVU intends to assist distance education faculty, technical support staff, and administrators in its Partner Institutions to develop ‘high quality, demand driven graduate and undergraduate ODeL programs in disciplines critical to Africa’s social and economic development’. 1.5 According to its Medium Term Business Plan, by 2007, the AVU will have close to 80 centres across Africa. The plans for this period include the following:

• Accredited degree and diploma programs in computer science, computer engineering, business studies, teacher training and health sciences;

• Expanded program of short courses in information technology, management science and other sciences, language learning, journalism;

• Expanded digital library; • An educational portal to serve as outreach to the broad African tertiary education

community; and • Establishment of centres of excellence in Africa.

Project background 1.6 In order to implement its business plan, the AVU has requested the support of the donor community, including the Bank. In April 2003, the Bank attended an AVU fund-raising conference in Marrakech, Morocco. At this meeting, the AVU’s Strategic Medium Term Plan was presented and fruitful discussions were held between the ADF representative and AVU Management. Following the meeting, a formal request for assistance was sent to the Bank in May 2003. In response to this request, the Bank fielded a project identification mission in October 2003. The resulting report recommended a grant of UA 5.00 million, to be matched by AVU contribution. As a result, a project preparation mission in March 2004 and an appraisal mission followed the identification mission in September 2004. 1.7 The three missions conducted by the Bank since the Marrakech Conference have clearly indicated that a support to the AVU, as part of the larger efforts of the donor community, is timely and adds value to the Bank’s operations. The project will strengthen the capacity of the African Virtual University (AVU) and its partner institutions to deliver and manage quality ICT assisted education and training opportunities in regional member countries. This in turn will contribute to human resources development through improved access to post-secondary education. The project will also foster regional cooperation and integration. All proposed project activities take into account the operations financed by other development partners. 2. EDUCATION AND ICT

2.1 Education Delivery in Africa: A continuing challenge

2.1.1 Education is a proven public good. The skilled workforce it produces transforms societies into making significant investments in their own countries. Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa have been unable to adequately meet the challenge of providing education to all primarily because of funding constraints and the traditional approaches to education delivery. The Education for All (EFA) initiative is of great importance to Africa and is one of the key Millennium Development Goals. The MDGs form an ambitious agenda for reducing

Page 13: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

poverty and its causes and manifestations. These goals include halving extreme poverty, hunger, achieving universal primary education and gender equity.

2.1.2 However, sustainable development of quality primary education is dependent on complementary development in the secondary and tertiary education levels. Teachers, researchers, school administrators and technicians are trained at these levels. With economies relying more and more on the generation and application of knowledge, productivity is increasingly dependent on technological innovation and its diffusion. It is now a well-established fact that higher education has become more important to development than ever before, due to the increasing importance of knowledge in development.

2.1.3 While the other tiers (primary and secondary) of education enable an individual to function in society, tertiary education provides a necessary level for pushing the boundaries of knowledge and research for the benefit of society. The development of tertiary education in Africa is taking place within the difficult context of poverty, low productivity, high unemployment, population growth, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and persistent armed conflict. HIV is a major threat to the continent that is reversing years of investment in education and training thereby creating a shortage of skilled labor in the modern sectors of the economy and burdening already overextended health budgets. To emerge as an important partner in the global arena, Africa must face the challenges of globalization, consequent intensification of international competition and the rising prominence of science and technology.

2.2 ICT and Education: Past Experience and Current Status in Africa 2.2.1 Africa has had varied experience in using educational technologies to improve access and quality of education, especially in the area of distance education. Applications have most frequently relied on print materials and radio. The use of television and other ICT has been limited. Some countries have used Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) to improve the quality of education. The available evidence shows that IRI has found long-term success in only two African countries, South Africa and Lesotho. Africa also has considerable experience using distance education to improve access to secondary education. In some instances, this has been achieved through extending existing systems, while at other times, new systems have been developed. Almost all African countries have at least one distance education programme at the tertiary level. Existing programmes use mostly print media, written assignments and some face-to-face tutoring. Most of these programmes are aimed at teachers and school administrators while about 12% of them target university students. In particular, distance education is used in most countries for in-service teacher training. A central body, a university or a ministerial department coordinates a network of colleges or centres spread over the corresponding country in charge of delivering distance courses, local tutoring and face-to-face training. Print training materials are disseminated to local colleges by post. 2.2.2 The experience of introducing computers and Internet connectivity in national systems of secondary education in Africa for the purpose of increasing quality has been limited to pilot programs. Many computer and Internet-based initiatives in teacher development are just beginning and there is little information yet on costs and benefits. At the core of current thrusts to make more intensive use of ICT in education lies the fact that the information age is bringing with it a new context in which schools must function. A new paradigm is evolving as shown in the following table:

Page 14: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Table 1: The new school paradigm

From To A school building A knowledge infrastructure (schools, labs, radio, TV,

Internet, museums, etc) Classrooms Individual learners A teacher (as provider of knowledge) A teacher (as a tutor and facilitator) A set of textbooks and some audiovisual aids Multimedia materials (print, audio, video, digital,…)

Source: W. D. Haddad and A. Draxler. Technologies for Education. Paris: UNESCO and the Academy for Educational Development, 2002 2.2.3 Some African universities are making significant investments in computer technologies to strengthen ongoing functions, to extend their programs to distant centres, and to link with resources and programs offered internationally. The campuses of these universities are networked, generally with a fibre optics local area network. In some cases, this network was designed and their installation funded by external donors. In a large number of cases, there is no real service available on it for teachers, students and university staff, unless access is to the Internet. Office computers are generally obsolete, running an old version of the operating system, which does not allow them to run resource-consuming applications such as multimedia learning applications. 2.2.4 Another major limitation of the use of ICT for education as shown by experience, is the lack of availability of bandwidth and its costs. This issue is of both a technical and a political nature, which requires the cooperation of governments and the private sector. The technical staff in charge of providing support to users is mainly oriented towards campus network operation rather than services and applications. There is a great need to improve their skills, update their knowledge in developing networked applications and services, such as digital libraries, training materials design and development, digitisation of content. Regarding the utilisation of ICT for education, the situation of the universities and other institutions in a sample of ten countries differs significantly from each other, as shown in the Country ICT Profiles (Annex 5.5 of the Project Implementation Document).

2.3 The Global Institutional Framework for ICT in Education 2.3.1 The institutional framework includes actors at national, regional and international levels. At the national level, the key actors are government bodies in charge of ICT, international trade and education as well as teaching and research institutions and the private sector. At the continental and international level, the institutional framework has become increasingly more complex over the last decade. The African Information Society Initiative (AISI), spearheaded by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in 1996, provided a framework for Africa’s digital inclusion. It was followed by the African Development Forum in 1999, the Digital Opportunities Taskforce of the Group of Eight Nations in 2000; the World Economic Forum’s focus on Bridging the Digital Divide, and the United Nations ICT Task Team in 2000. All these institutions and initiatives stress the importance of bridging the educational divide through integration of ICT in education. These processes influenced the formation of SchoolNet Africa (SNA) with an emphasis on collaborative learning and school networking. SNA was launched in 2001 as an independent NGO emerging out of the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) ACACIA Project. It currently works with SchoolNet projects in about 30 countries. The UNECA-driven initiatives led to a strategy to consolidate the AISI framework, which includes the call for an African Learning Network with three components: SchoolNet Africa,

Page 15: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

VarsityNet and Out of School Youth Network. Other key institutional actors at the international level include the World Link for development Program, the DFID Imfundo Project and Schools Online. 2.3.2 More recently, the new Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) has recognized ICT as a key priority in development efforts for the continent. Several comparative advantages from intensive use of ICT are identified and include: support of democratisation and good governance, integration into the information society, provision of training, use in research, enhancement of trade opportunities, support of regional distance learning and health programmes, input to conflict management and the control of pandemic diseases through early warning systems. As new developments arise in the ICT, new institutions are likely to emerge. 2.3.3 The number of key institutional actors and the growing complexity of the institutional framework point to the need for educational organizations that can harness the opportunities provided by existing institutional actors in a most effective way. This is what the AVU attempts to do.

2.4 Policy Issues in ICT and Education 2.4.1 Favourable policies in the government sector that regulate broadcasting are necessary for education practices that use radio and television. ICT-enhanced distance learning initiatives, which use computers and other digital technologies, rely on different government authorities, e.g., those responsible for telephones. A key to Internet access is affordable telephone access. A competitive telecommunication infrastructure is necessary for telephone access. Privatisation of telecommunications in Africa is accelerating, although less than half of the continent’s countries have began to privatise their national telecom infrastructure. Telecommunication policies also affect the shape that distance education or ICT initiative can take, and opportunities will differ by country. 2.4.2 The successful adoption of educational technology requires a political, institutional and policy framework to sustain initiatives. There is a need at the country level, to have a policy that clearly states the purpose of educational application of ICT. Educational principles and issues should form the foundation of policy decisions about what technologies to use for education and how. Also required is the development of national strategies and capacity building for using ICT within the framework of the educational system. Other policy elements include plans to build on best practices and success stories, including support for teacher training, improving quality and increasing access, plans to invest in innovations and reform in education as well as provisions for long-term financing through budget allocations and other resources. Another policy area of great importance is the harmonization of ICT policies and regulatory issues. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is involved in a project for harmonizing ICT policies and regulatory issues to promote the objectives of the common market in ICT as well as regional integration. 2.5 Key Issues in ICT and Education Financing 2.5.1 Although Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa are spending 6.1% of their GDP on education, a significantly higher percentage than what is spent in the developed countries, the tiny size of most African economies means that in real terms, this percentage is really a minute sum that cannot support the cost of expanding access to education at the tertiary level

Page 16: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

to the point where it begins to have a net positive significant impact on the society considering that the few graduates that Africa produces in some fields of expertise typically migrate as soon as possible to the developed economies. 2.5.2 International funding agencies have often intervened in tertiary education in Africa by either expanding the scale of conventional institutions or shouldering the costs of developing innovative distance education programs while the recurrent costs are borne by the benefiting countries. 2.5.3 Many applications and introductions of technology in education are implemented through public-private sector partnerships. This is common in industrialized countries and in Latin America and Asia. These partnerships typically involve a public authority and commercial interests or corporate philanthropy. Although the sources of private sector funding to offset the costs of introducing new technology into education are more limited in Africa than in other parts of the world, public-private partnerships are something that African countries are beginning to explore with varying degrees of success. 2.5.4 Private funding to support new educational initiatives using technology typically supports the costs of launching the initiative - usually providing the hardware only or hardware and limited training - and rarely supports recurrent costs over the long term. Therefore the burden of financing education in Africa still rests on the governments and the good will of the donor community. 2.6 Donor Support to ICT-facilitated Education 2.6.1 International organizations usually support ICT projects in Africa. The AVU is a good example of a project supported by the World Bank and CIDA during its pilot phase. The World Bank and other organizations still support the AVU. The World Link for Development is another example supported by the World Bank. Donors finance many projects at primary, secondary and university levels using ICT. For example, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and other organizations have supported the School net project and Telecenters projects in Uganda and Senegal. 2.6.2 Donor support for ICT facilitated education has become more and more visible, focused and project specific. Projects in Africa have been supported by a variety of organizations, from traditional donors to charitable groups set up to provide recycled computers to those who need them. National school networks have been initiated in over 20 African countries; SchoolNet Africa was launched in November 2001, to provide program support and raise funds for national programs, next to Word Links, the World Bank project for connecting secondary schools in African countries. SNA, as an African initiative, was aiming at attempting to put a regional stamp on the many externally driven ICT programs for schools in Africa. The AVU has also adopted a capacity building arm of NEPAD in the area of teacher training and e-governance. 2.6.3 In addition, a number of donors and universities have a long tradition of working to strengthen the capacity of African universities to absorb and manage ICT in line with the universities’ own objectives and priorities. The African Virtual University stands out as the major tertiary education initiative. Since its conception by development experts in 1997, the AVU has received major support by both the World Bank and CIDA as co-founders of the project. Today, the AVU has extended its portfolio of donors to major partners such as the Australian Government, the European Union, the Moroccan government who financed the cost

Page 17: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

of a fundraising conference and the British Government. Support to the AVU is one of the action items mentioned by the G8 during their last meeting in June 2003 in Evian. As the AVU prepares to deploy its activities, an aggressive but well structured and targeted fundraising plan is defined in order to diversify the range of financial resources. The World Bank and CIDA VISAF grant most of the overhead and operational costs, except for CIDA-Francophone, which is dedicated to the Computer Science Degree Program for African Francophone countries.

Table 2: Donor funding breakdown of the AVU for the period 2004 to 2007 in USD Million SOURCE TOTAL GRANT USE OF FUNDS World Bank PACT 1-3 4.614 Core Program Funding CIDA - General 7.173 Project funding CIDA - Francophone Programs 1.742 Project funding AUSAiD 2.160 Project funding ADF 6.993 Project funding DfiD 1.740 Core Program Funding TOTAL 24.422

2.7 General Challenges and Constraints in Using ICT in Education

2.7.1 Major constraints facing ICT and education in most African countries are related to several factors, including policy constraints, insufficient financial resources, poor infrastructures and weak technical capacities, among other factors. Unfavourable telecommunication policies in some African countries impede ICT-enhanced education programs. 2.7.2 To face these constraints, the AVU has made a deliberate choice to use the Open Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) approach for program development and delivery. This approach makes it possible to have programs that adopt flexible learner-centered approaches, are delivered both onsite and online, design training and professional development for staff in the recipient universities and which incorporate appropriate blends of instructional technology (including traditional/and or conventional technology), depending on the prevailing technological, policy and financial environment in a given country. 3. TERTIARY EDUCATION AND ICT 3.1 Tertiary Education 3.1.1 One of the areas for which the use of ICT bears significant promise is tertiary education. The traditional residential university model currently adopted by most universities in Africa is unable to meet either current or projected demand. Therefore, there is a need to extend access outside the universities’ physical campus by developing high quality Open and Distance Learning capacity within these Institutions, including those that make use of new technologies for e-Learning where appropriate. 3.1.2 The situation in Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly dire. Gross tertiary education enrolment ratios in sub-Saharan Africa range from 2% to 6% with an average of 3.6%, compared with more than 11% for the developing world outside the continent. Given the importance of tertiary education in supporting teacher, primary and secondary education, this situation is a matter for concern. Further, in many countries, even maintaining the enrolment

Page 18: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

ratios within the range of 2% to 6% will be difficult to maintain in the long run. With a predicted increase in demand for tertiary education, as primary and secondary level education improves, current modes of tertiary provision will not be adequate to meet the needs of these countries. The role of distance education in this context becomes increasingly important. The issues of inadequate capacity, dwindling government support, low enrollments in the secondary system and the introduction of school fees have made access to higher education limited and unequal. There is a strong need for a continent-wide intervention in higher education in Africa if the problems of access and inequality are to be resolved.

3.1.3 Opportunities as well as threats are arising out of these new challenges. On the positive side, the role of tertiary education in the construction of knowledge economies and democratic societies is now more influential than ever. Tertiary education is indeed central to the creation of the intellectual capacity on which knowledge production and utilization depend. It also promotes lifelong learning practices necessary to update knowledge and skills. Another favorable development is the emergence of new types of tertiary institutions and new forms of competition, inducing traditional institutions to change their modes of operation and delivery and take advantage of opportunities offered by the new ICT. On the negative side this technological transformation carries the real danger of a growing digital divide among, and within, nations.

3.1.4 The “knowledge revolution” is changing the way people communicate, purchase goods and learn (distance education). Africa risks being left behind as it continues to suffer from an acute dearth of skills in ICT and poor infrastructure. Excluding South Africa, there are only 1.5 million telephone lines in SSA for a population of close to 700 million. The Internet reaches only 0.3 % of the population. Given the high cost involved in developing the necessary infrastructure, and more importantly, the high fees charged for access to knowledge and information databases (including web-based degree programs), it is highly unlikely that individual countries in Africa will be able to bridge the digital divide without joining forces with other countries.

3.2 Tertiary Education and Teacher Training 3.2.1 In sub-Saharan Africa, problems of teacher supply threaten the attainment of Education For All and Millennium Development Goals. There are shortages of teachers due to pressures on educational budgets, which stifle expansion of primary teacher colleges to meet the demands. HIV/AIDS is reducing the life expectancy of teachers and increasing the numerical demands. Morbidity as well as mortality is affecting the teaching service where teachers are too ill to work, their absence worsens teacher shortages. Female teachers are in a minority and progress in getting more teachers in the profession has been slow. In countries where there are enough teachers, many of them are untrained or under trained, and the quality of training is inadequate. Many teachers have little more than secondary education themselves and are unqualified in terms of their own country’s formal standards of teachers’ education. In the context of globalization, the emergence of the knowledge economy and consequent demand for high level skills and knowledge for global competitiveness, more demands are made on education systems and teachers. Good governance, peer review, transparency, democracy and the rule of law are values that nations are increasingly embracing under NEPAD’s initiative. Education systems and teachers are expected to play a major role in transmitting and teaching those values in our societies.

Page 19: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

3.2.2 Traditional models of teacher training and development and modes of delivery through conventional teacher training colleges and universities are no longer sufficient, given the ever-changing conditions of the knowledge-based society. The training of teachers using traditional models and modes of delivery needs to be reviewed and changed to include other more cost effective and sustainable models of Open Distance and e-Learning models of initial training and ongoing professional development. Consequently, building viable and effective teaching cohorts is vital to achieve improved delivery performance among teachers, improved quality of education and the broader social-political objectives. This would mean, inter alia, leveraging the modern ICT in the training of teachers. Without doubt ICT offer the potential to improve access to cost effective, reliable, demand-driven, relevant education and training in all our countries in flexible ways.

3.3 Tertiary Education and Gender Issues 3.3.1 According to UNESCO’s assessment in 2003, most Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries are now doing badly in their efforts to achieve the EFA gender parity goal. Prognosis of whether or not countries will achieve gender parity by 2015 based on Education For All 2000 assessment data indicate that only a few countries in Sub-Saharan Africa will meet this goal. Many universities in Africa have made deliberate efforts to instil a series of equal opportunities and affirmative action programs to increase the enrolment of females within universities. However, the following constraints limit female participants: a gender-imbalance in admissions - fewer girls are admitted overall but fewer in some science-related disciplines; non-existence or very limited affirmative action programs in some universities; still some resistance to allow existing accommodation to be shared equally between men and women; resistance to expand boarding facilities to include women who have specific gender needs (a woman who gets a baby cannot live in the dormitory); inadequate provision of facilities for women’s access to those facilities; and a tendency for more girls failing to register or dropping out due to financial, maternal, marital, or other gender/social issues. 3.3.2 The levels of access at the university level vary from university to university but are, on the whole, lower than expected. Data from ten selected African universities (Kenyatta, Makerere, Abdou Moumouni, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco) show that women’s enrolment in most universities is below half that of men. In such countries as Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland, the enrolment figures seem rather high because of the socio-economic reasons specific to these countries. These countries are also characterized by high enrolment of girls at both primary and secondary levels providing a strong base on which to draw universities entrants.

3.4 Constraints in Tertiary Education 3.4.1 Enrolment ratios in tertiary education in Africa are significantly lower than for the rest of the world. In 22 of the 32 countries in which AVU operates, gross enrolment ratios in tertiary education are below 4%, with female enrolment ratios being even lower, while in only 5 countries does it exceed 6%. Low enrolments in tertiary education are due to several constraints, including insufficient financial resources and poor quality. These problems in turn are compounded by the effects of the brain drain and HIV-AIDS both in worsening skill shortage through mortality and in reducing the effectiveness of the workforce through morbidity. The combination of these problems led the World Bank, in an analysis of the potential of distance learning, to conclude that the situation regarding low enrolments in tertiary education in Africa is such that conventional approaches are no longer sufficient to

Page 20: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

address the problem. Given the scale of the problems confronting tertiary education, there is merit in exploring and developing alternatives to conventional university methods of addressing the issues of access and funding that affect university enrolments. 3.4.2 The challenges facing the teaching profession pose serious constraints on both the quality of teacher education and the quality of education as a whole. With very few exceptions, the curricula in African countries still reflect traditional types of organization and content, often borrowed from the North with little adaptation to make them relevant to local needs or to the life worlds of the trainees. Current pedagogical practices also reflect the same pattern. There is an urgent need for systematic, innovative and sustainable professional development strategies to increase the number of teachers at both primary and secondary levels to attain Africa’s commitment to EFA and the Millennium Development Goals. Curriculum reforms and the introduction of specialized subjects, including the challenges of HIV/AIDS, the provision of Education For All and the achievement of Millennium Development Goals will require training new teachers or providing in-service teachers with new methods and techniques for teaching new skills.

3.4.3 The majority of countries in Sub Saharan Africa are at a great risk of not achieving the EFA gender parity and equality goals due to several reasons, including barriers to girls’ education and inadequacy of policies and or strategies for addressing gender issues in education. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has devastating effect on women: due to both biological and socio-cultural factors, girls and women are more vulnerable to HIV infection than men and boys. In addition, girls are more affected by the pandemic as they have to care for sick people and consequently are absent from school. All these barriers limit female enrolment in higher education. For example, female enrolment in the current AVU degree/diploma programs is 27%. The AVU seeks to increase female enrolment in it programs to 50% and securing funding for female education is a key part of achieving the aforementioned goal. 3.4.4 Given these constraints, one of the possible keys to training large number of Africans who are unable to access conventional education at tertiary level, including teachers and female students, is to invest in distance education. Distance Education offers the benefits of scale and lower costs of delivering higher education to African Governments. For example the Open University of Nigeria enrolled 32000 students in its first admission year, approximately 15% of total admissions in Nigeria per annum. Distance Education can also, albeit in a limited manner, reduce some of the negative impact of the brain drain by making it possible for intellectuals in the African diaspora to participate in teaching programs for learners on the continent. 3.4.5 ICT is both a tool to train teachers and a tool that teachers can use to improve their teaching. Perceived ineffectiveness of traditional programs of teacher development and the relatively high level of public expenditure going into these programs have provided a strong rationale for seeking alternatives that would make more effective use of distance education and ICT as part of teacher development. ICT shows promise for solving some of the ongoing problems plaguing professional development for teachers. It can improve the quality of teacher training and reduce the costs of face-to-face training. It can also be used to reach more teachers on a more ongoing basis. It allows the incorporation of new topics and issues into the training curriculum and encourages more fundamental pedagogical reforms. Some of the opportunities provided by ICT for teacher development include the following: (i) the stimulation of specific skills through micro-teaching and demonstrations of real teachers in real classroom settings; (ii) providing training at a distance to the trainee’s location, thus

Page 21: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

saving time and cost and avoiding disruption of classroom routines; (iii) the possibility for teacher training to take place any time and any place, and on demand; (iv) the break up of professional isolation by allowing educators to communicate and exchange information; and (v) opportunities to familiarize the teacher with technology.

3.5 Institutional analysis of the AVU 3.5.1 Against this background of constraints and challenges and in light of the opportunities provided by the use of ICT in education, the AVU was founded to help solve some of the problems and constraints facing education in Africa, using ICT. The AVU’s goal has been to use ICT in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to provide increased access to quality higher education in areas critical to economic development. AVU will continue and strengthen its action especially focusing on pre and in-service secondary teacher training. The AVU serves as a technical resource and catalyst for ICT investments in African higher education. The AVU will assist partner institutions to gain access to high improvements. The AVU also plans to develop a Web portal to share information and find new distance learning products and to expand the scope and scale of its existing digital library. The AVU seeks to engage African scholars in designing and developing content in computer science, computer engineering and teacher training programs. African scholars will also be involved in the delivery of courses to other parts of the world. 3.5.2 To date, 38 AVU Learning Centers have been established in tertiary institutions in 18 Anglophone, francophone and lusophone countries across Africa. So far, AVU has delivered over 3,000 hours of instructional programs, and registered approximately 24,000 students in semester-long programs. In addition to courses, AVU offers a digital library with full-text journals and a catalogue of subject-related Web links. Since its inception, AVU went through two different phases. Phase one, from 1997-1999, constituted the “proof of concept” stage during which 19 learning centers were established in 15 African countries for distance education. Phase two (1999-2002), constituted a period of expansion as AVU’s learning centers were extended to 34 in 18 countries. At the same time it added more partners and offered training in information technology, journalism, business management, computer science, languages and accounting. The other main outcomes were: (i) the affiliation to a global network of leading universities; (ii) about 3,000 hours of instructional short-courses programmes were delivered by overseas leading universities; (iii) about 23,000 students were enrolled in semester-long courses; (iv) close to 2,500 professionals were enrolled in executive business seminars; (v) close to 45,000 e-mail accounts were created; and (vi) a digital library including about 1,000 journals was established together with a web site with over an average of 1 million hits (number of times accessed) per month. The current and third phase is a period of consolidation and expansion. 3.5.3 During the two first phases, all teaching and learning resources for the project were managed from the AVU Unit of the World Bank in Washington, D.C. The Chief Academic Officer procured, co-ordinated and managed the delivery of courses to AVU institutions in Africa. INTELSAT provided satellite capacity, and AVU management paid instructors who taught and delivered courses via satellite. In most cases, consultants were deployed to develop various AVU products, such as the digital library resources, evaluation strategy and many other services. Textbooks, course notes, and other materials were sent free of charge to AVU learning centres. During this period, the AVU team in Washington together with local staff, including facilitators at the AVU sites in Africa, supervised and evaluated the AVU programmes. However, after the transfer of AVU headquarters to Nairobi in 2002, the management of AVU learning resources is co-ordinated from Nairobi.

Page 22: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Capacities of the AVU 3.5.4 From an institutional standpoint, the capacities of the AVU stem from the existence of a dynamic network of institutions. The AVU operates with a network of 33 Universities in 18 countries. In the East and Southern Region, the AVU is currently operational in 5 East African and 4 Southern African countries. Of these countries, the AVU’s degree programs are offered in 4 of them and its short courses in 8. In each of these countries, the AVU, through its learning centers, has a team comprising of a management team led by a senior academic cum administrator, a technical team led by experienced technology staff and academic staff led by a senior academic. In the institutions where the AVU is operational, there are enough experienced human resources to handle the projects. The main constraint relates to the availability of equipment. 3.5.5 The AVU’s institutional capacity also derives from the quality of its internal organization at its headquarters. An experienced distance education and management team leads the AVU. Its four departments (Academic Programs, Technology, Finance, and Corporate Strategy) are led by experienced staff recruited on an international competitive basis. As a technical institution, it has its own satellite uplink station and dedicated space segment section provided as a turnkey solution for improved Internet access at African institutions on its network. The installed base of computers on the AVU network is in excess of 2000 computers all with access to the AVU learning management platform that has the capability to process 5000 students attending classes simultaneously. Areas of Focus and Training Programs of AVU 3.5 .6 The main areas of focus of the AVU’s interventions are the following: (i) building capacity for e-learning in Africa; (ii) establishing a network of learning centres in African Universities; (iii) building expertise in curriculum design and development for online study; (iv) adaptatation of external degree/diploma programs; (v) mainstreaming gender issues into AVU programs and concomitantly into African universities; and (vi) providing access to digital library resources. 3.5.7 The AVU provides short-term seminars as well as diploma and degree programs. It has developed a technology-based approach to tertiary education, which is designed to expand educational opportunity, using information and communication technologies to overcome some of the constraints on conventional university expansion. The AVU delivers educational programs to multiple locations (sites) in Africa using a creative mix of satellite, Internet, multimedia, print and classroom technologies. 3.5.8 The AVU has completed its pilot phase and is now operational in 34 institutions of higher education in 18 African countries. It offers to students in Africa, through its partner universities a 4-year degree and 2-year diploma in Computer science program offered in English and French, a Business Studies degree/diploma program offered in English as its core programs. 13 African institutions in 11 countries are currently offering the AVU computer science program. In January 2004, approximately 1500 students were enrolled in these programs. Based on the AVU’s business plan, the AVU intends to have 48,477 students enrolled in its degree/diploma programs by 2009. 3.5.9 AVU and its partner institutions are developing a Pan-African in-service and pre-service teacher training program with multiple exit points that will enable a teacher to train

Page 23: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

different levels of students at the secondary school level. The curriculum for the program is designed, developed and delivered through the AVU partner institutions to current teachers who study during the breaks and prospective secondary school teachers who study when the term is on. AVU Intervention Modalities 3.5.10 During the pilot phase the AVU teaching-learning model was comprised of a mixture of videotaped and live lectures delivered by one-way video, 2-way audio digital satellite broadcast, and e-mail interaction between students and instructors. Textbooks, course notes, and support in the classroom by local facilitators supplemented these activities. Independent consultants financed by the World Bank are currently completing a formal evaluation of the AVU. Preliminary findings as well as reports from the pilot phase indicate satisfactory academic results and a low dropout rate of approximately 15%. 3.5.11 At present, AVU delivers its academic programs by contracting high quality academic institutions outside Africa to produce both short courses as well as degree and diploma course content suitable for study by groups using the internet. AVU then invites its African partner institutions (PIs) to participate in these courses by setting up dedicated AVU Learning Centres within their campuses. In the past, the PIs were required to provide virtually all the facilities from their own resources, but this policy has tended to exclude the less wealthy institutions and will be adjusted in future years. PIs are also required to provide trained facilitators to assist in the running of the courses, dedicated technical support to minimise downtime of the equipment and a manager in overall charge of the Learning Centre. Each AVU Learning Centre is an integral part of the host PI (University or College) and is not the property of AVU. There is an agreement between AVU and each of the PIs participating in degree and diploma courses, which sets out the respective obligations of each party. AVU academic and technology staff make regular visits to the Learning Centres to monitor progress and to troubleshoot. 3.5.12 Currently, the AVU courses are delivered in mixed mode to ensure that learner materials are available for the students and facilitators all the time. A typical AVU classroom has about 25-30 students attending a live lecture or video tape lecture broadcasted over the AVU satellite, live lectures are conducted 3 times (start, middle and end) every semester. The course materials (lecture notes, quizzes, homework) are hosted online on the AVU’s learning management platform in South Africa and on a local server at the learning centre in case of connectivity problems. Print copies and student copies of the materials copied on CD-ROMs back up these online learning materials. This ensures that the student has 24-hour access to course materials. Each batch of students is supported by an experienced facilitator at the local learning centre and is in contact with the lecturer delivering the course from outside Africa via email or chat all through the semester. Social and academic interaction amongst all the students taking the courses in different countries, are provided through discussion forums coordinated by the international lecturer and teaching assistants. 3.5.13 For degree and diploma courses, AVU demands a high standard of technical facilities, as well as competent staff to run the Learning Centre. Once accepted as a qualifying Learning Centre for a particular program, AVU provides training for managers, facilitators and technicians prior to commencement of the course. One of the PIs chosen to participate is designated as Lead Partner University (LPU), to take over the provision of course content from the non-African content provider in 3 or 4 years. The contract with the non-African

Page 24: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

content provider details their obligations in terms of capacity building in the designated LPU, as well as a timetable for achievement of this aim. 3.5.14 The AVU technology and pedagogy models are based on the use of a mixed mode delivery systems which includes video-conferencing, use of the Internet, CD-ROM, video and audio cassettes, and printed materials. A typical AVU remote class meeting at a Learning Centre, has 25-30 learners who either view a lecture on a large screen or work online on computers. The learners interact with tutors and other students via e-mail, using Web-CT and through the telephone. Mixed mode for delivering courses and training materials will continue to be used, with a special emphasis on interactivity in the teaching/learning process. Institutional assessment of the AVU 3.5.15 To date, AVU has been evaluated by two independent bodies. The first evaluation was a nine-week strategic review carried out by Accenture, a consulting company in 2001. Accenture was engaged by the AVU Board and the World Bank to evaluate the AVU Business Plan and address 4 specific issues: (i) required capital investments and funding model to ensure sustainability; (ii) proposed products, technical infrastructure required, and implementation schedule for their delivery; (iii) organizational and management structure, as well as location of activities; and (iv) timeline and requirements for full transition from the World Bank. The review determined that the AVU should not aspire to be a university in itself. Rather, the AVU will help expand access by delivering accredited distance learning diploma and degree programs from other institutions and by building the capacity of its partner universities to develop and deliver their own ICT-enhanced distance learning programs. 3.5.16 The second evaluation was carried out in September 2004 by Universalia Management Group, also engaged by the AVU Board and the World Bank. Its focus is long-term sustainability. Three major aspects were covered: (i) the adequacy of the architecture of learning put forward by the AVU; (ii) the degree of realism of projected enrolment figures in relation to long-term sustainability; and (iii) capacity building with Partner Institutions. While the final report is under preparation, preliminary results indicate that the Open Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) model of education delivery adopted by the AVU since 2003, is viable, sustainable, more adapted to the technological environment of African countries. Whereas the former AVU model (100% satellite-based approach) relied mostly on connectivity provisions at partner Universities, the ODeL model allows for combining different types of technologies (including printed materials and rural radio) so as to reach even remote rural areas. The new model is more in tune with the issue of poverty reduction. 3.5.17 The foregoing analysis and the need to find new solutions point to the necessity of reinforcing the capacities of promising organizations like the AVU. The constraints facing ICT and education bear some implications for the AVU. ICT policy constraints in a number of countries, insufficient financial resources, poor infrastructures and weak technical capacities on the continent, among other factors, constitute challenges to be met. The proposed ADF project will help in part to alleviate some of these constraints. The emergence of pan-African initiatives, in particular the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD), and their focus on education as a foundation for development, reinforced the need for an African Virtual University that could offer an internationally accepted curriculum.

Page 25: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

4. THE PROJECT 4.1 Project Concept and Rationale Expanding educational opportunity using ICT 4.1.1 Research and experience have shown that current modes of educational delivery must be supplemented by new and innovative approaches if they are to help African countries reach their educational goals as spelled out in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Education for All (EFA) Initiative. It is imperative to strengthen existing capacities with more efficient and cost effective approaches. The use of ICT to enhance educational access and quality offers a promising vista to tackle the issue. ICT include both computer systems and telecommunications systems. In essence they are electronic technologies for collecting, storing, processing and communicating information. Although the choice of ICT should take into account the “older” technologies such as print, radio and television, research has shown that “leapfrogging” technologies, wherever possible, offer the primary alternative for quicker response to the challenge of education access and quality. The main advantages of using ICT for education, reside in the fact that they allow for considerable savings in physical school infrastructures, furniture and number of teachers per classroom. They also contribute to quality of education in various forms that are described in the relevant sections of this report. 4.1.2 In response to the challenges faced by education on the African continent, the AVU has developed a technology-based approach to tertiary education, which is designed to expand educational opportunity, using information and communication technologies to overcome some of the constraints on conventional education delivery. The AVU’s objective is to deliver high quality educational programs to multiple locations (sites) in Africa using a creative mix of satellite, Internet, multimedia, print and classroom technologies. Lessons drawn from past experience 4.1.3 Over the recent years, the Bank has financed some 24 projects with ICT components in all sectors. A statistical review of the Bank financed projects in the past three to five years shows that there are many more projects with ICT components than at any other period since its establishment. In more than 60% of these projects, however, the ICT component was limited to procurement of IT hardware. The remaining 40% involved certain application components in the areas of education, human resource development and agriculture. 4.1.4 Several lessons can be drawn from the past experience of the Bank and other donors. It has been shown that a perspective on technology that focuses on usefulness rather than on sophisticated technology is more likely to achieve desired objectives. Organizational processes that support deployment of ICT is critical for success. Funding should be sufficient to allow for rollout of services to achieve a minimum critical user mass. A key success factor is a good balance of public and private partnerships. These lessons have been taken into account in designing this project. The project supports the ODeL model, which blends technologies according to their usefulness and adaptation to the local environment. The funding provided by the World Bank and other key donors to AVU is intended for long-term support. AVU has established partnerships with private sector ICT operators. 4.1.5 With the proposed project, the AVU is addressing the following five core problems in education in Africa: (i) access to education; (ii) institutional capacity in ICT-enhanced learning

Page 26: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

and distance education; (ii) poor Internet connection at African educational institutions; (iv) low number of teachers at secondary school level; and (v) gender disparities in education. The proposed project provides support for the use of ICT to improve access to tertiary education and training opportunities for qualified students in Africa, improve access to global learning resources through improved Internet connectivity at African institutions, provide learning opportunities for qualified but economically disadvantaged female students and assist governments to train teachers in and for the secondary school sector. Participatory approach 4.1.6 The project was prepared in a participatory manner involving close consultations with the AVU Management, targeted Partner Institutions and the Governments of host countries. The project preparation mission visited the countries targeted by the project in March 2004. These visits included meetings with officials of the Ministries in charge of education, and the teaching and administrative staff of universities and teacher training institutions. Also consulted were aid donors, civil society organizations and private sector operators in ICT. 4.2 Project Target Areas and Beneficiaries 4.2.1 The project focuses on the East and Southern Africa Region (see Annex 1 for map). The target countries have been selected based on the following criteria: (i) conformity with the AVU’s network expansion and consolidation plan as described in its strategic plan for the 2003-2009 period; (ii) a proven record of openness to ICT and education as evidenced in the country ICT profiles annexed to the Project Implementation Document; (iii) the estimated potential impact of the AVU presence; and (iv) the value added to the Bank’s operations in the selected countries. Based on these criteria, nine countries (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe (see Annex 5.5 of the PID for countries ICT profiles). A 10th and conditional country could be Somalia, depending on peace and security considerations during the lifespan of the project. The table below presents the situation of gross tertiary education enrolment ratio in the target countries.

Table 3. Tertiary enrolment in project target countries Country Tertiary

Enrolments 2000/2001

Tertiary Enrolment Ratios (GER) 2000/2001

Total % female enrolment 2000/2001

Population 18-23 yrs (2010)

Tertiary Enrolment (2019) based on 2001/2001 GER+50%

Kenya 98,607 3 35 4,936,363 147,911 Uganda 71,544 3 34 3,556,166 107,316 Tanzania NA NA NA 5,281,680 NA Ethiopia 101,829 2 26 10,115,195 152,744 Djibouti 728 1 45 NA 1092 Zambia NA NA NA 1,499,776 NA Madagascar 32,593 2 45 2,839,749 48,890 Somalia NA NA NA 1,778,055 NA Zimbabwe 59,582 4 37 1,939,290 89,373 Mozambique NA NA NA 2,9555,664 NA Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics Global Education Digest 2004 NA : Not available 4.2.2 The beneficiaries of the project are: (i) the public sector institutions of tertiary learning where AVU learning centres will be established and Internet connection provided; (ii) the

Page 27: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

primary and secondary schools for which teachers will be trained; (iii) potential trainees, including qualified female students who are unable to pursue higher education because of financial reasons; and (iv) teacher training institutes whose capacities will be reinforced. 4.3 Project Strategic Context 4.3.1 Some of the key elements that shape the strategic context of the proposed project are the United Nations Millennium Declaration of September 2000, the NEPAD Initiative and the Declaration of Principles of the World Summit on the Information Society (Geneva 2003). Low enrolments in tertiary education in Africa, high student vs. teacher ratio, poor quality in secondary education, the inability of African governments to fund higher education the conventional way, the low numbers of women (23% in 1998) in African universities, are also part of the specific context of this project. At the NEPAD Heads of States Implementation Committee meeting held in Abuja in March 2003, two projects, Teacher training for ICT and the e-Government activities related to training and exposing senior civil servants, parliamentarians and ministers to ICT, were among the high priority NEPAD ICT projects approved by the Committee to be implemented by the AVU within its overall program of action. By making it possible for AVU to expand education delivery through ICT, and by supporting teacher training and the reduction of gender disparities in education, the project will make a contribution to the achievement of some of the MDGs, of EFA, and NEPAD. 4.3.2 From a policy standpoint, the Bank’s current education policy paper, while stressing that basic education remains the top priority, advocates a holistic approach, which takes into account the different tiers of educational systems, and promotes the use of advanced technology in education. The policy makes room for selective intervention in tertiary education, especially in cases where such interventions benefit the entire system. While the Bank has yet to approve a formal ICT policy and strategy paper, it has commissioned a study that resulted in a document titled ICT for Development: Policy and Strategy for the African Development Bank, September 2003. This document gives a summary of some of the ICT tools that can be used to address challenges in the education sector as follows: (i) Distance Learning - providing remote access to educational resources; (ii) Educational Networks - connecting schools, universities and research centers to national and international distance education facilities, databases, libraries, research laboratories; and (iii) Vocational and Informal Learning -extending the reach of educational facilities especially to community level. 4.4 Project Objectives The sector objective of the project is to contribute to increased access to quality education in selected African countries while fostering regional integration. The project objective is to strengthen the capacity of the African Virtual University (AVU) and a network of institutions coordinated by the AVU to deliver and manage quality ICT assisted education and training opportunities in selected African countries. 4.5 Project Description and Outcomes 4.5.1 The project will be implemented over a period of three years, and has the following components: (i) Establishment and strengthening of Learning Centres and Connectivity Provision at existing campuses of the AVU Partner Institutions; (ii) Teacher Training and Development Program; (iii) Mainstreaming Gender Issues into AVU’s Operations; and (iv)

Page 28: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Project Management. The project will finance activities under the following four categories of expenditure: A - Goods; C - Services; D - Operating Costs; and E - Miscellaneous. 4.5.2 The major outputs of the project are summarized as follows:

Component 1: Support for the Establishment of Open, Distance Learning Centers and Connectivity Provision at the AVU Partner Institutions

- 10 AVU ODeL Centres equipped, re-equipped or upgraded in existing

campuses of the AVU Partner Institutions in the 10 target countries; - connectivity provision at each AVU Partner Institution with the following

characteristics: VSAT 2-way connectivity; 32 Kbps uplink and 64 Kbps downlink.

Component 2: Teacher Training and Development Program - Management and Working structure established for the development and

operation of the network of AVU partner institutions; - 10 National Teams established, 1 in each AVU ODeL centre; - Technical tasks forces, each of them specialized in specific topics put in place

to provide training and support to all the other actors involved in the network of institutions participating in the AVU project;

- 200 course developers trained, 20 in each country of whom 10 are instructional designers and 10 web designers; the instructional and web designers of their corresponding National Team will train them during workshops, with assistance of overseas trainers. These 200 developers are staff already in place; they will provide assistance and training to course content providers and work in close cooperation with their corresponding AVU Learning Centre.

- Programme developed and composed of 52 modules each of them in three languages: English, French and Portuguese for Pre-service secondary teachers; In-service secondary teachers; and Heads of schools and education institutions.

Component 3: Mainstreaming Gender Issues in AVU’s Operations

- Learning Centres and Facilitators sensitised on gender issues, through a one-week workshop in Nairobi;

- Marketing material on gender issues developed for AVU on print, audio, video and multimedia;

- Materials for videoconference workshops on gender and HIV/AIDS in English and French for students;

- A tuition plan for 2 year for the project duration put in place; - Grant Award for 3 women per core country among the best applicants;

- Development and delivery of bridging programmes for women in mathematics and science.

Component 4: Project Management - Project Coordinating Unit (PCU) for the project implementation and

management set-up at the AVU Headquarters, - Resources provided for part of operating costs.

Page 29: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Component 1: Support for the Establishment of Open, Distance Learning Centers and Connectivity Provision at the AVU Partner Institutions

Establishment of Open, Distance and e-Learning Centres 4.5.3 The activities to be financed by the project under this component are designed to enable institutions to offer training and study programs in the fields covered by the AVU. The AVU network consists of 34 partner universities spread across 18 countries of which 17 sites spread across 9 countries are in East and South Africa. Due to the limited availability of personal computers and Internet connection in Africa, students will need to go to learning centres to study for their degree programs. These learning centres serve as country hubs for the admission, registration, study and examination of the students. Each of these centres also serves as a training centre for university faculty in ICT-enhanced instructional design and delivery. The key activities under this component are the procurement of ICT and learning equipment, establishing connections, ODeL curriculum development and workshops. 4.5.4 The ODeL-centres to be established under this component serve 3 roles in the overall AVU strategic plan, as follows: (i) they represent the entry point of AVU programs into the communities where they are based; (ii) they function as the hub for ODeL-learning and blended learning in their communities; and (iii) they serve as resource centres for students and academia that require access to the internet, blended & e-learning training and computer based examination facilities. 4.5.5 The project will finance the establishment and expansion of 10 ODeL centres in existing campuses of the AVU Partner Institutions in the 10 target countries to consolidate the work of the AVU in the countries where it already has on-going operations and is about to commence operations. Each ODeL centre can support around 2,600 fulltime students in degree/diploma programs over a 3-year period. Based on the program participation profile per ODeL centre, the 10 ODeL centres to be started by the ADB represent an additional 26,304 admission spaces (degree/diploma only) in the region where the project will be implemented. Based on projected revenues and the AVU current experience, each degree granting ODeL centre is operationally sustainable (able to pay operational costs) within a year from start up. Connectivity Provision at AVU Partner Institutions 4.5.6 The AVU currently provides Internet connection to their partner universities. It is envisaged that additional universities will be connected on this network. In order to boost up the Internet speed, the Internet bandwidth has to be increased so that AVU will deliver effective programs. Ten (10) AVU Odel Centers are to be equipped with VSAT equipment to link to the existing network. The VSAT system will operate in asymmetrical mode with a 32 Kbps uplink and 64 Kbps downlink. With 10 additional sites, the bandwidth will increase by 1 Mbps. Therefore the project will provide the necessary resources to increase AVU’s current satellite bandwidth from 2Mbps to 3Mbps. 4.5.7 The major activities to be implemented include: (i) the procurement and installation of VSAT equipment and bandwidth for first phase Partner Institutions (PIs); (ii) increase Satellite bandwidth and installation of VSAT equipment for the additional sites for second phase PIs; and (iii) increase Satellite bandwidth and Installation of VSAT Equipment for additional sites for third phase Partner Institutions.

Page 30: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Component 2: Teacher Training and Development Program 4.5.8 The activities to be financed under this component will enable the targeted countries to acquire the capability to train large numbers of teachers for and within the secondary school system. The teacher training program will provide both pre-service training for students entering the teaching profession for the first time and in-service for teachers that are already part of the teaching service in their respective countries. The activities to be financed under this component will reinforce a Pan-African in-service and pre-service teacher training program that is being developed by NEPAD, the AVU and its partner institutions, with multiple exit points that will enable a teacher to train different levels of students at the secondary school level. 4.5.9 The transferable skills the teacher training program seeks to impart are for teachers to:

• Teach and use ICT applications in a variety of educational contexts; • Understand the nature and role of ICT in the National curriculum; • Develop the ability to plan, teach and evaluate ICT lessons and to assess

pupils’ work; • Appreciate schools’ management and co-ordination of ICT to work

collaboratively with other teachers using ICT to know the range and requirements of ICT courses;

• Manage and organize Information and Communication Technology in schools; • Critically evaluate their own understanding and attitudes in relation to their

own curriculum areas in the context of ICT; • Understand the relationship between the theories of learning and the use of

ICT in education; • Build in students some confidence to experiment with innovative uses of

computers in education; and • Integrating ICT in the teaching of maths and sciences.

4.5.10 The development of a teacher training program that has two dimensions, namely pre-service for students entering the teaching profession for the first time and in-service for teachers that are already part of the teaching service in their respective countries, is designed to increase the number of teachers entering the workforce and upgrade the skills of teachers currently in the workforce. The development of distance training materials will be smoothly transferred from overseas universities to African universities, during the project period. Overseas universities will provide on-site and distance training and assistance to the African universities for the design and development of distance training modules. Four groups of activities will be financed under the component as follows:

ICT activities of the postgraduate diploma in education 4.5.11 This is a stand-alone course that universities will use in their education programs – pre-service and in-service secondary school teachers. ICT activity of the post-graduate diploma in education is a flexible program targeting different groups of teachers. The duration of a post graduate course is one year comprising both pre-service and in-service. This activity is suitable for both pre-service and in-service teachers. The pre-service aspect targets untrained secondary school teachers with degree qualifications in a teaching subject who enrol at universities for a post graduate diploma in education with an ICT core-activity. The course will be provided as a face-to-face program where students will use university computer

Page 31: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

resources and university lecturers to facilitate the ICT component. As a core course, students will be expected to take assessment and examinations as prescribed by university regulations. 4.5.12 The in-service aspect of the post graduate diploma in education targets secondary school teachers (employed in schools) with diploma or degree qualifications in a teaching subject but not pedagogically trained. Teachers will register in regional centers for a post-graduate diploma in education under the supervision of the participating university. The program will be school-based. Teachers will take the course as they continue with their duties in schools. Participating universities will coordinate assessment, evaluation and examinations. Most of the teaching/learning and practicals will take place at the schools or regional centers. The senior teachers (mentors) will assist in facilitating the education activity of the PGDE. Facilitators for ICT will be identified, trained and contracted by the university to assist with practicals. These are experts in ICT within a cluster of schools in the catchment area of students. For some practicals, students will use the nearest available computer resources – secondary schools with computers, School Net Africa schools, resource centers, World Link facilities, and AVU learning center facilities. The AVU in partnership with universities will develop procedures, identify computer resources, mentors, facilitators and modalities for the use of computer resources.

Using ICT across the curriculum for primary school teachers 4.5.13 This activity is a stand-alone course for in-service primary teachers (teachers already teaching in primary schools) and pre-service teachers for primary teacher trainers in teacher colleges. In addition an ICT activity will also be developed for the trainers of primary teachers in primary colleges. It will be a one-year certificate course. Students will attend residential sessions at the primary teacher colleges or regional centers. Practicals in ICT and assessment will take place at the regional centers or satellite centers. Teachers will apply ICT skills and knowledge in teaching (school-based program). Supervision, evaluation and assessment will be structured similar to the in-service for secondary school teachers. For pre-service primary school teachers, which is one year, certificate in using ICT will be offered to initial trainees in primary teacher training colleges. Teaching/learning sessions and practicals will take place at the colleges. The AVU in collaboration with universities will develop policies and procedures governing the implementation of the program at teacher training colleges. The in-service program for primary teacher trainers (colleges) will be one semester certificate course. The program is college-based. Students will learn as they work. AVU in collaboration with partner universities will identify qualified facilitators to train college tutors and students. The activity will have a large aspect of capacity building for college tutors and principals in application of ICT in management. The AVU and partner institutions will design modalities for supervision, assessment and evaluation.

ICT for the B. Ed programs 4.5.14 This activity will target all students (pre-service secondary school teachers) enrolled in degree programs (both Science and liberal Arts students). Modules will be developed to suit different subject areas. It is a pre-service program for all students enrolled in degree programs (both Science and Arts students). Modules will be developed to suit different subject areas. Modalities for administration of this program are similar to the post-graduate diploma in education. Detailed curricula for each of the ICT component will be designed and tailored for each target group. Both AVU and universities will design policies and procedures. Detailed implementation strategies will also be designed.

Page 32: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

ICT for B.Ed Mathematics and Science 4.5.15 This activity will focus on the use of ICT for both in-service and pre-service secondary school teachers will be offered as an ODeL program. Existing B.Ed curricula will be reformulated to suit ODeL methodologies. Institutions that have programs in the distance mode, an element of e-Learning will be added to their programs. Some institutions do not have B.Ed Mathematics and Science (Somalia); the AVU will develop materials and work with faculty members to enhance capacity in ODeL. The activity will be delivered under the ODeL framework. In-service for the secondary school teachers will be school-based and students will learn while they continue with their work. Students will register with partner institutions. The course will have component of residential sessions at partner institutions, in colleges and secondary schools. Mentors - senior teachers in the school - will supervise teacher trainees. Policies and procedures for mentoring will be developed by the AVU. Modalities for assessment of performance will be designed. Practicals for science subjects and ICT activity will be conducted at partner colleges and institutions. During school sessions, teachers will use available computer and Internet resources within the catchment area. Pre-service secondary school teachers will be initial teachers with no teaching qualifications at degree level. The modalities of teaching will be similar to the in-service group, save for school based. The teachers trainees will be organized in clusters. The learning will take place at designated centers either in NEPAD e-schools, School Net or regional centers. An implementation strategy will detail the clusters at each country level in collaboration with partner universities. Component 3: Mainstreaming Gender Issues into AVU’s Operations 4.5.16 The project will finance activities designed to support the AVU in mainstreaming gender equity concerns in its operations at headquarters and at ODeL centres. It will, in particular, seek to close gender gaps in enrolment and graduation figures by (i) encouraging more female students to enrol in all subjects areas offered by AVU, (ii) encouraging more female students to enrol in non-traditional subjects, with a focus on Computer Science and Business Studies, as well as a (iii) bridging programme for female students choosing science and engineering. Secondly, it will seek to raise awareness about gender equality and women’s empowerment including the gender/ HIV/AIDS nexus. 4.5.17 All activities related to gender mainstreaming and awareness raising will be developed by a gender specialist, who will be based at AVU headquarters. Her/his tasks will consist of organising and conducting training sessions, of pro-actively initiating activities that ensure sustained gender mainstreaming and inclusion of gender equity concerns in AVU operations at headquarters and in ODeL centres. The project will also finance the setting-up of one gender clinic in each ODeL centre to outreach all the activities under this component. The gender clinic staff will be trained in a one-week seminar in Nairobi. 4.5.18 The activities with regard to increasing female enrolment and graduation in general and in non-traditional subjects will include the development of gender sensitive marketing materials for AVU which will aim at encouraging women to enrol for tertiary education studies in general and for AVU courses in particular. The bridging courses for female students are intended to encourage women to enrol and to remain in subject courses where they are currently highly under-represented, specifically sciences and business studies. This activity consists of the training of subject teachers to re-author existing course material during a

Page 33: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

workshop at headquarters in Nairobi, and subsequently will involve the re-authoring of all course modules by the trainees. The workshop is expected to include 3 trainers and 10 trainees, one from each ODeL center. 4.5.19 The scholarship programme will target 60 female students who will be enabled to take a 2 year diploma course in Computer Science or Business Studies. The 60 scholarships will be made available directly through the existing AVU scholarship fund, which awards scholarships generally on the basis of merit, gender, and availability, but they will be strictly earmarked for female students taking the specified diploma course. The scholarship fund is administered by AVU in cooperation with its partner institutions and ministries of education to select the recipients. A board that reports to the Board of Trustees of AVU supervises the fund, which, in addition, is audited by an international audit firm. 4.5.20 The training courses in gender analysis for the senior management of the ODeL centres seek to bring decision makers on board with gender mainstreaming activities. The virtual video workshop to be held in Nairobi for students in ODeL centres will try to raise the awareness of male and female students on issues of gender equity and women’s empowerment, and it will address the urgent issue of HIV/AIDS prevention among students, a group that is particularly vulnerable to infection. Component 4: Project Management 4.5.21 Under this component, the project will provide the required resources for project implementation. The funding will include allowances for key staff and operating costs. The annual auditing of the project will be financed by the AVU outside the project scope. The key staff involved in project implementation includes the Project manager (Senior Programme Officer ADB), the Senior Programme Officer Instructional technology and design unit, the Senior Programme Officer ICTs, the Senior Programme Officer Teacher Education and the Senior Programme Officer Procurement. 4.5.22 The AVU will put in place a project Coordination Unit (PCU) and recruit a project Manager (Senior Programme Officer ADB) to operate within the existing AVU organizational structure. It will assign or recruit four staff in charge of the various components to assist the project manager in carrying out the assignment. The project will also receive support from the existing procurement unit within AVU. 4.6 Project Environmental Impact As a category III operation, the project will have minimal impact on the physical environment in the countries where it will be implemented for the following reasons: (i) the AVU does not use hazardous materials in the delivery of higher education; (ii) the AVU has a technology disposal policy for obsolete computer equipment that learning centres wish to dispose of; (iii) the AVU does not use equipment that emits dangerous radiation into the environment; (iv) virtual communication and ODeL reduces the need for infrastructure and thus contributes to a general economy of space; (v) virtual communication and ODeL has no effect on transportation and is therefore environmental friendly (lack of noise and lack of pollution, reduction of accident rate, reduction of traffic jams and associated cost); and (vi) by keeping students in their usual environment it adds value to all these micro environments.

Page 34: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

4.7 Project Cost 4.7.1 The total cost of the project, net of taxes and customs duties, is estimated at UA 5.51 million, of which UA 3.91 million is in foreign exchange and the equivalent of UA 1.60 million is in local currency. For the purpose of costing, all items have been priced in US Dollars (USD) and converted into UA at the exchange rate applicable in the Bank for the month of September 2004. A summary of project cost estimates is given below in Table 4.1 by component and in Table 4.2 by category of expenditure.

Table 4.1: Summary of Project Cost by Component

Table 4.2 Summary of Project Cost by Category of Expenditure

.7.2 The cost estimates are based on data obtained from AVU with base costs updated to arch 2004. Physical contingency for the equipment is set at 10% in view of the fast

4Mevolving ICT equipment market, for all other categories of expenditure the physical contingency is set at 5% of base cost, which is considered realistic since the remaining project categories of goods and services carrying low risk. Price contingencies are estimated at a rate attributable to international inflation of 2.50% per year, which gives an average of 5.08 % for the project due to expenditure being heavily front-loaded and funded totally from hard currency sources. The provisional list of goods and services with cost estimates is shown in

Page 35: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Annex 3. The detailed cost estimates are incorporated in the Project Implementation Document (PID). 4.8 Sources of Finance and Schedule of Expenditures

.8.1 pr ) and the AVU (9.3%) as hown in Tables 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5. The ADF’s contribution, with a grant of UA 5.00 million,

e

urnishing and equipping ten earning Centres in African Partner Institutions; (ii) Preparation, development and delivery

ontribution of UA 0.51 million will finance 32.1 % of the local costs, stimated in aggregate at UA 1.60 million, which represents 29.9 % of the total project costs.

ars. The following tables give summary of the project cost by source of finance, by Source of Finance and by Component,

nance (UA Million)

4 The oject will be financed jointly by the ADF (90.7%swill m et all the foreign exchange costs and 67.9 % of local costs (i.e. UA 1.09 million – or 19.7 % of the total project costs). The ADF’s financing of part of the local cost covers procurement of furniture and marketing materials, the production and shipping cost of students’ course kits, quality assurance, the allowances for the ICT-course-leaders in each ODeL-centre, tuition awards for females students. These costs are envisaged to arise at the level of the ODeL-centres and to be expended in local currency. 4.8.2 The ADF Grant will finance the following activities: (i) FLof Teacher Training Courses at diploma, degree and pst-graduate levels in 3 languages, together with support to the administration of the courses; (iii) Gender empowerment through consultancy, training workshops, HIV/AIDS materials and workshop, production of bridging programmes for women in maths and science to entry level to diploma and degree courses and research into enrolment strategies; and (iv) Technical Assistance to the Project Management Unit. 4.8.3 The AVU’s ceThe AVU’s contribution of UA 0.51 million represents 9.3 % of the total project cost. It will finance the total of the Project Management operating costs. 4.8.4 The project will be financed by ADF and AVU over 3 yeaand by Source of Finance and Category of Expenditure:

Table 4.3: Project cost by Sources of Fi

Table 4.4: Sources of Finance by Component (UA Million)

Page 36: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Table 4.5: Sources of Finance by Category of Expenditure (UA Million)

les:

e

4.8.5 The schedule of expenditure by component and by category of expenditure and by source of financing and by category of expenditure, is summarized in the following tab

Table 4.6: Expenditure Schedule by Component and by Category of Expenditur

(U.A. Million)

Page 37: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Table 4.7: Expenditure Schedule by Source of Finance and by Category of Expenditure (U.A. Million)

5. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 5.1 Project Implementation Agency

.1.1 The AVU will be the Project Implementation Agency. AVU has successful experience in laun icated Project Coordinating Unit (PCU) of five professionals to manage the proposed project. The Project Manager (Senior Programme Officer ADB), whose qualifications and credentials shall be reviewed and approved by ADF, will report directly to the Rector of AVU. The PCU will comprise the Project Manager and three dedicated staff in charge of the various components: the Senior Programme Officer, Instructional Technology & Designer/Trainer and the Senior Programme Officer, ICT will be in charge of implementation of the first component and the Senior Programme Officer, Teacher Education will be responsible for the implementation of the second and third components. The PCU will also make use of the services of AVU’s Senior Programme Officer, Procurement, the fifth PCU member. Providing evidence of the setting up of the PCU as well as of the recruitment of the Project Manager shall be part of the conditions precedent to first disbursement of the grant resources. The AVU will also provide the ADF with a detailed and updated implementation plan for all project activities prior to first disbursement, as well as with annual work plans before the end of the previous calendar year. 5.1.2 As the project implementation agency, AVU will carry out the following tasks: (i) provide overall coordination of project activities; (ii) manage the technical, administrative

ching and managing educational projects, but will assign staff to make up a ded

5

Page 38: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

and financial implementation of project iii) prepare procurement documents for goods and services; (iv) supervise the implementation of the procured services; (v) prepare disbursement requests; (vi) provide, on request, guidance and support to partner institutions participating in project implementation; (vii) manage project finances, project accounting and procurement; (viii) prepare and transmit to the Bank quarterly progress reports according to prescribed format; (ix) insure proper auditing of project accounts and transmit audit reports to the Bank; and (x) evaluate and monitor project outputs. The PCU will prepare overall annual work plans for ADF approval. The Project Manager, assisted by the Accounting Department of AVU, will be responsible for financial control and internal auditing of the project. Training will be given in ADF procedures. AVU will meet the cost of annual external auditing in line with the existing arrangements with donors, including the World Bank. 5.2 Institutional Arrangements

components; (

5.2.1 At the project oversight level, the project will be supervised by the Academic and Technical committee of the AVU Board of Directors (BoD). This committee ensures that the terms, conditions, project objectives and reporting schedules are adhered to. The Rector of the AVU is the interface between this committee and a dedicated project manager that will be recruited by the AVU to coordinate all the project activities at the implementation level. The PCU will be funded by AVU as a contribution to the cost of the project. Providing evidence of the setting up of the PCU shall be part of the conditions precedent to first disbursement of the grant resources. In the overall schema of the teacher-training program of action, the AVU will be working with the e-Africa and education units of NEPAD. The e-Africa unit ensures that the AVU program works in synergy with the other NEPAD projects in ICT while the ducation unit ensures that Ministers of Education provide the needed support for the program

vide the ADF, prior to signing agreement with t activities, with evidence that these Institutions

ave th cess

ewithin their countries. The AVU will propartner institutions for implementing projech e ne ary regulatory approval to receive Internet data over satellite. 5.2.2 Establishment and strengthening of ODeL centres: The AVU will be working with the following institutions under this component: (i) the Host University where the ODeL centre will be established under a duly signed general agreement that outlines expectation; (ii) the Satellite bandwidth providers and Wireless Internet service providers/projects to pilot the use of wireless technology to enable the AVU site share its internet access campus wide at low cost. The establishment of ODeL centres will be managed by the Senior Programme Officer, Instructional technology and design unit of the AVU who will spend 50% of his/her time on this component with the support of the Senior Programme Officer, ICT (25% of time on the project). 5.2.3 Teacher training and development program: The teacher training and gender component will be managed by the Senior Programme Officer, Teacher Education who will be in charge of that component (100% of time on the project). The delivery of this activity requires close coordination with national and pan-African institutions, hence AVU will be working with the AAU (Association of African Universities), Commonwealth of learning (COL), for inputs into the curriculum development, the Ministry of education for adaptation

oand ad ption of the curriculum, the teacher training colleges and African universities for delivery and award of the curriculum, and an international coordinating university for quality control and accreditation.

Page 39: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

5.2.4 The implementation of this activity will involve country hubs or institutions, universities and colleges. These in-country hubs will coordinate all the activities of the program in each of the target countries. Some of the functions of these hubs will include coordinating registration of students, overseeing quality assurance mechanisms, liaising with the AVU headquarters, coordination and distribution of resources, materials and learner support. A strong coordination mechanism between the Ministries of education, country hubs and the AVU will be enhanced. Each of the country hub will comprise regional centers and Satellite centers to enable teachers access training facilities from their location - rural areas.

he activities will be organised and delivered to suit different clientele.

.2.5 Mainstreaming gender in AVU operations:

T 5 The component involves creating a gender sensitive culture at every tier of AVU’s operation. The key institutional arrangement the AVU is making is to have a dedicated consultant with extensive gender experience working with the AVU and its partners in this area.

5.3 Project Implementation and Supervision Schedule The implementation period will be 3 years (36 months), starting in January 2005. The overall implementation schedule is presented in Annex 4. The key implementation targets are summarised as follows: A. Administration ITEM TARGET DATE ACTION BY A.1 Project Appraisal September 2004 ADF A.2 Board Presentation November 2004 ADF

.3 Publication of General Procurement Notice (GPN) January 2005 ADF/AVU AA.4 Grant Signature December 2004 ADF/AVU A.5 Effectiveness December 2004 AVU A.6 Launching Mission January 2005 ADF A.7 Mid-term review August 2006 ADF A.8 Project Completion Report December 2007 ADF A.9 Final Project Evaluation February 2008 ADF B. Implementation of Course Content ITEM TARGET DATE ACTION BY B.1 Preparation of International Documents October 2004 AVU

.2 Invitation to Bidding Tender for Course Content Providers January 2005 AVU/ADF BB.3 Receipt and Evaluation of Bids /Award of Contract March 2005 AVU B.4 Invitation to PIs to participate in program January 2005 AVU B.5 Selection of participating PIs February 2005 AVU B.6 Signature of Agreement with Course Content Provider and LPU March 2005 AVU B.7 Training courses for Learning Centre staff and Tasks Forces

Members April-June 2005 AVU

B.8 Beginning of first semester July 2005 AVU/PIs B.9 Handover of teaching to LPU January 2008 AVU/LPU

C. Implementation of Provision of Technical Equipment

ITEM TARGET DATE ACTION BY C.1. Preparation of International Bidding Documents for October 2004 AVU

Equipment Provision C.2. Invitation to Tender for Equipment Provision January 2005 AVU C.3. Receipt and Evaluation of Bids/Award of Contract March 2005 AVU/ADF C.4. Installation of Equipment for first PIs June 2004 SUPPLIER

Page 40: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

C.5. Extension of Satellite Segment Contract for increased capacity July 2005 SUPPLIER C.6. Installation of Equipment for second phase of PIs December 2005 SUPPLIER C.7. Extension of Satellite Segment Contract for increased capacity January 2006 SUPPLIER

D. Implementation of Gender / HIV Aids Program ITEM TARGET DATE ACTION BY D.1 Selection of Consultant January 2005 AVU D.2 Materials Tenders January 2005 AVU D.3 Materials Delivery March 2005 SUPPLIER D.4 Commence Workshops march 2005 AVU

E. Implementation of Tuition Awards

ITEM TARGET DATE ACTION BY

E.1

ons February 2005 AVU Awards February 2005 AVU

ds February 2005 AVU r next year 2005/6 AVU

.7 t process for following year 2

Schedule

Appointment of Administrator January 2005 AVU E.2 Advertisement of awards availability alongside AVU course

adverts January 2005 AVU

E.3 Review of applicati.4 Offers of places andE

E.5 Payment of Awar.6 Repeat process foE

E Repea 006/7 AVU ADF Supervision ITEM TARGET DATE Review of Proposed Bidding Documents for Course Content 20

Documents for Equipment ary 20up of courses ptembe

w in conjunction with Content Provider,

h 200

w Mission every 6 months Thereafter l Pro March 2008

Procurement of Goods and Services

Januaryu

05 Review of Proposed Bidding Jan 05 Review Mission post-start- Se r 2005 Revie Mission after first semester ( AVU and MarcLPU)

7

RevieFina ject Evaluation Review 5.4

able 5.1 rement of goods c the ADF w ordance with the ’s Goods and Works or, as appropriate, Rules of

ed k S ding Do’s ment of certain iti

5.4.1 Procurement arrangements are summarized

anced by in T . All procu

and ak

quisition of consulting services finrocurement of

ill be in accBan Rules of Procedure for PProc ure for the Use of Consultants, using the relevant Ban tandard Bid cuments. AVU Procurement Policies and Procedures will be applied for the procureactiv es under the project.

Page 41: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Table 5.1: Provisions for the Procurement of Goods and Services (in UA million)

curement will apply for the following items as shown in this

ement (in UA million)

5.4.2 Other methods of protable:

Table 5.2: Other Modes of Procur

.4.3 Contracts for the procurement of equipment for the ODeL Centres at the Partner stitutions valued at a maximum of UA 0.130 million each will be awarded under Limited ternational Competition (LIC) in accordance with Bank Rules for this mode. Ten contracts ill be awarded for the procurement of equipment for the ODeL Centres at the Partner stitutions, and valued in total at UA 1.297 million. LIC is justified as the contract values are

mall and as past experience has shown that targeted invitation to specialist suppliers is more ffecti

5InInwInse ve.

Page 42: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

5.4.4. Contracts for other goods valued between UA 75,000 and UA 5,000 each will be awarded under NCB procedures since the goods are of such value and quantities that their supply could not possibly interest suppliers outside each of the Grantee’s Country and there are sufficiently qualified suppliers and in a number sufficient to ensure competitive bidding. 30 Such contracts will be awarded, for the procurement of furniture, student kits and marketing materials for the ODeL centres and valued in total at UA 0.189 million. 5.4.5. Procurement of bandwidth contract services valued on average at UA 0.014 million per contract and valued in total at UA 0.136 million will be awarded under Limited International Competition (LIC) in accordance with Bank Rules for this mode. Ten contracts will be awarded for the procurement of bandwidth services for the ODeL Centres at the Partner Institutions. LIC is justified, as the contract values are small. 5.4.6. Procurement of consulting services valued at UA 1.740 million in aggregate for course program development, quality assistance framework and technical assistance, will be undertaken in accordance with the Bank's "Rules of Procedure for the Use of Consultants “. The selection of the consultants will be based on technical quality and price consideration. Whenever the amount of a contract is less than UA 350,000, the Borrower may limit the publication of the announcement to national or regional newspapers. However, any eligible consultant, being regional or not, may express his desire to be short-listed.

d for

ops, HIV/AIDS videoconferencing, organization of gender clinics in each ODeL center and services for re-authowith the AVU’s Pr 5.4.8. AVU’s Procurement Policies and Procedures will be used for the following workshops because AVU has identified the resource persons to lead and/or participate in the workshop requiring specific skills in new and appropriated technologies:

- ODeL capacity building workshop for material developers - ODeL capacity building workshop for decision makers - ODeL development program preparation workshop - ICT Bed maths & science course preparation workshop - ICT workshop for re-authoring Bed maths & science course - ODeL Course leaders training workshop - Gender training workshop - Gender bridging in maths & Science workshop

done by the participants in the various course development workshops, putting

5.4.7. Procurement of consulting services valued at UA 0.921 million in aggregate anvalued between UA 0.003 and 0.038 per contract for the procurement of servicesworksh

ring math & science courses will be undertaken in accordance ocurement Policies and Procedures.

5.4.9. AVU’s Procurement Policies and Procedures will be used for the HIV/AIDS videoconferencing, organization of gender clinics, to the value of UA 0.064 million in aggregate, because both activities will be setup within the ODeL centers using staff, equipment and infrastructure already part of the center. 5.4.10. AVU’s Procurement Policies and Procedures will be used for re-authoring math & science courses, to the value of UA 0.136 million in aggregate, because this re-authoring needs to beinto practice the skills acquired during the workshop.

Page 43: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

5.4.11. Operating costs consist of shipping costs of ODeL course kits, course leaders’ allowances, AVU- key staff salaries (for project-dedicated time) and travel costs and subsistence for AVU staff travelling to ODeL Centres. 5.4.12. AVU procedures will be used for the tuition awards, to a value of UA 136,000 over 2 years, for deserving women students taking AVU computer science courses on the basis of guidelines and criteria.

AVU Procedures and Regulations 5.4.13 The AVU procurement Procedures and Regulations have been reviewed and found to be acceptable to the Bank for the use of Bank-financed activities provided that the illegibility of some countries to participate in procurement, is in line with the Bank’s Rules.

Executing Agency 5.4.14. The Project Coordination Unit (PCU) will be responsible for the procurement of goods nd consulting services and training. The resources, capacity, expertise and experience in the a

AVU are adequate to carry out the procurement. General Procurement Notice

5.4.15. The text of a General Procurement Notice (GPN) has been agreed with AVU and it

ill be issued for publication in Development Businessw , upon approval by the Board of Directors of the Grant Proposal.

Review Procedures 5.4.16 ior to for ADF consideration and app val: ( s or Requests for Proposals from C sulta uation of Consultants' Propos , incl acts, if these have been am nded itation documents;(v) Implementation plan; an (vi) A

5.5 Disbursements

Pr publication, the following documents will be submittedro i)Specific Procurement Notices; (ii) Tender Documenton nts;(iii)Tender Evaluation Reports or Reports on Eval

als uding recommendations for Contract Award;(iv) Draft contre from the drafts included in the tender inv

d nnual work plans.

nterpart Account (CA), to receive the VU counterpart funds. Disbursements from ADF will be made into the Special Account

and in accordance with the schedule. ach disbursement request will be accompanied by a justification of payments made in the

5.5.1 AVU will open two foreign exchange bank accounts in a commercial bank judged acceptable by the ADF as follows: the first account, called Special Account (SA), to receive the grant resources and the second account, called CouA

5.5.2 Each year, AVU will prepare a budgeted disbursement schedule based on contracts signed and the amount agreed with ADF as available in the year for scholarships. Disbursements will be made upon request by AVUEprevious quarter from the ADF-funded bank accounts.

Page 44: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

5.6 Project Accounting and Audit

5.6.1 The AVU mainta ins its books of account on Great Plains Dynamics software. Annual tatutory financial accounts are prepared and are audited by an internationally reputable firm

of accoun

r project special ank accounts. For specific projects, donors commission annual audits of the utilisation of

their funding for the project and the AVU staffs prepare reports to enable this special audit to ke place.

at intervals agreed with the ADF and the preparation of detailed spending per activity reports with codes for supporting documentation so that fy the accounting from the source documents. The AVU

nancial software has the capability to generate reports based on the source of funds used for

stants.

5.6.2 In addition, annual budgets and quarterly consolidated financial reports are prepared for submission to the Board of Directors and donors. Quarterly project-specific reports are prepared and submitted to each donor showing the utilisation of funds in theib

ta

5.6.3 The methodology adopted by the AVU for project accounting and audit is based on reporting the project progress vs. agreed goals

independent auditors can verifieach activity. Audit reports will contain a dedicated volume on the ADF grant project accounts. 5.7 Project Monitoring and Evaluation

.7.1 AVU prepares monthly, half-yearly and annual reports on its overall activities. These

ster, a project review mission is carried out by AVU, the ourse content provider and the LPU to assess progress and performance to date. ADF will

ion or in part of it, as it wishes. At the end of the review mission, a report of findings is produced and discussed at a plenary session of the relevant

tent provider and the LPU will produce a report jointly and then a meeting will be convened to

5.8 Project Implementation Document

5are designed to satisfy the information requirements of all donors, to avoid preparing different reports for each donor. The reports contain information on the progress, problems and issues arising from each discrete project, as well as the overall progress of AVU and its plans for the future. 5.7.2 At the end of each semecparticipate in this review miss

parties. 5.7.3 After 3 years, a final project evaluation is carried out, which will assess the overall impact and success of the project, as well as lessons to be learned. The AVU, the con

discuss the report with all relevant parties. In addition to compiling statistics to measure performance, the evaluation team will visit each Learning Centre and interview teaching staff and students in order to form a comprehensive view. ADF will participate in this final evaluation process.

xercises financial control over its transactions by adhering to a Financial loped by a World Bank consultant. In addition

there is a Procurement Policies and Procedures Manual setting out guidelines for procurement as dealt with in Section 5.4 above.

5.8.1 AVU ePolicies and Procedures Manual (FPPM) deve

Page 45: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

5.8.2 The FPPM sets out the financial control procedures for all the different types of transactions. All transactions have to be initially approved by Departmental Heads. The CFO or Finance and Accounts Manager is responsible for checking that proposed expenditures are

ithin the budget approved by the Board of Directors, are in accordance with contracts signed

the Finance and Accounts Manager.

win line with the Procurement Policies and Procedures Manual and have adequate justification for the expenditure. Control is especially strict over travel and accommodation expenditure, which requires the Rector’s approval, whereas most other expenditures are subject to approval by the CFO. All cheques or other bank transactions require two signatures including either the Rector or CFO. Bank reconciliations are prepared monthly by the Accounting Officer and reviewed by

5.8.3 A Project Implementation Document (PID) has been prepared and contains the basic information data sheet, the detailed project cost table, the applicable terms of reference, procedures and guidelines for implementation of the project. The table of content of the PID is attached as Annex 9. 5.9 Aid Coordination

5.9.1 The project was prepared in close coordination with the donor community, including

on and Australian cooperation. The current ivision of responsibilities between AVU’s donors is that the World Bank and CIDA provide

g process, which allows all donors an insight into AVU’s overall performance, as well s progress on the specific projects funded by them. The close coordination between the Bank

rammatic activities related to fundraising, donor portfolio management and donor lations in general. Regarding donor reporting requirements, the office ensures that donor

CURRENT EXPENDITURE

in particular the World Bank, Canadian Cooperatidfunding for overhead costs, in addition to project-specific funding. This arrangement permits other donors, such as AusAID, DfID, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and, potentially, the European Union, to direct their funding towards specific projects. DfID has, chosen to disburse its funds through the World Bank. AVU has designed a harmonised reportinaand the other donors will continue during project implementation. 5.9.2 At the AVU, the Senior Program Officer for Business Development, Corporate Strategy and Donor Funds, who reports to the Chief Finance Officer, is responsible for the coordination of all progrereports are made according to the specifications outlined in the different grants and that reporting is done on a timely and professional fashion. Close liaison is therefore established with the Finance department, who prepares the financial reports, while all materials are made available to the Business Development, Corporate Strategy and Donor Funds unit in order to compile and produce a final complete narrative and financial report. 6. PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY AND RE 6.1 Project Sustainability 6.1.1 Project sustainability forms an inherent component of the design of the AVU project and the different components of the project have a complementary effect on each other. The

evelopment of a teacher-training curriculum is crucial towards capacity building in the target dcountries while the establishment of ODeL centres that are used to conduct programs other

Page 46: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

than the teacher training is necessary for income generation and cross subsidization of the teacher training program recurrent costs. 6.1.2 Since the ODeL centres will be established in existing university campuses, the centres can rely on the existing institutional and managerial environment as well as the physical infrastructure already serviced and maintained by the respective institutes. With regard to ICT equipment, AVU has a policy that centres are responsible for maintaining the equipment. In the AVU ODeL centre financial model the Centers carry the cost of

aintenance and replacement from the revenues they generate. To ensure that the centers are a

emestrial project review missions.

xpenditure

msustain ble the AVU works closely with the institutions where they will be hosted to develop a business plan that forms the basis of all the activities of the centres. Implementation of this business plan is closely monitored by AVU through the monthly, half-yearly and annual reports and through the s 6.2 Project Recurrent E

are delivered to students in e target institution. This is a very important distinction because it means that the fees

that once the initial start up costs are overed, a typical basic (minimum infrastructure) learning centre generates enough money to e sustainable as shown in the following table:

6.2.1 The sustainability of the project is dependent on the ability of the project to cover the operating costs after the exit of the ADF. It is important that the intervention of the ADF in the work of the AVU builds the capacity of the AVU to create and own new academic programs, builds the capacity of selected institutions to re-author their programs for ODeL, creates a network of practice for research and innovation on ODeL and strengthen the role of females in academia. All these have a direct impact on the ability of the AVU and its network of institutions to generate the income vital to its sustainability. The AVU relationship architecture with its partners is designed around the ODeL centres that will be established. The centres are the gateway for the entry of capacity building programs in ODeL into an institution and are also the vehicle through which ODeL programs thgenerated from students enrolled in the programs accrue to the learning centre. Based on AVU projections, the current operational costs especially for program delivery and bandwidth are covered from generated income as demonstrated in the table below that shows the enrolment profile of a new ODeL centre starting out with the basic equipments. 6.2.2 It is at the learning centres that the operational costs with students enrolling for degree programs and teacher training will lie. Based on projected revenues and AVU current experience, each learner center is sustainable within one year from start up. AVU’s analysis and experience with managing learning centres indicate cb

Page 47: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Table 6.1: Revenue generation potential of an AVU Learning Center (in USD’000) Enrolment profile year 1 year 2 year 3 year 4 year 5 Number of Students (per year) degree classes 25 50 100 150 175 diploma classes 25 50 75 100 100 Short courses 45 54 65 78 93 Total Number of Students (per year) 95 154 240 328 368 Revenue profile

Total Revenue '000s sses $15 $30 $60 $90 $105

Diploma classes $15 $30 $45 $60 $60

degree cla Short courses $1 $1 $1 $2 $2 Total Revenue $31 $61 $106 $152 $167 Operating Costs Start up costs $67 $8 $12 $12 $5 Bandwidth $4 $6 $9 $12 $13 Facilitators $12 $12 $15 $21 $24 Management staff $18 $19 $20 $21 $22 Utilities $2 $2 $2 $2 $2 General Administration $8 $8 $9 $10 $11 Marketing $3 $3 $4 $4 $4 Total $114 $59 $71 $82 $81 Operating Results Net Surplus / Deficit ($83) $2 $35 $69 $86 Net Operating Surplus/Deficit ($15) $10 $47 $81 $91 Degree/Diploma students 50 100 175 250 275 6.3 Project Risks and Mitigating Measures The major risks facing the project and their accompanying mitigating measures are summarized in the following table:

Risk Mitigation

Low enrolment by students Advertise programs aggressively and announce scholarship offer to women. Also work closely with university admission bodies to ensure placement

Low participation by teachers in training

Ministries of education under the aegis of NEPAD, effectively participate in the teacher training program and Quality Assurance systems and procedures for consolidating activities of OdeL centers & supporting and monitoring students are developed by AVU.

Establishment of ODeL centres might face significant delays

AVU will adopt a central procurement strategy and simultaneous shipments for equipment, develop a guideline on how the ODeL will be set up and work with local consultants to implement the establishment.

Students on AVU scholarships might not complete their study on time

The scholarship will be structured as a renewable yearly based on academic performance, although ADF disburses 100% of scholarship amount to AVU, AVU will disburse to student annually.

Page 48: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

7. PROJECT BENEFITS 7.1 Economic and Technological Benefits of Project

.1.1 This proje to the comm plemented. The establishment of l s creat si ica pp ni fo

sidents of those communities to a ality e cation. The me ol of VU’s Open Dis odel im ro an ea co ies of

cale in how space and resources are used in tertiary instit It ma es it h ore students with he same resources. s in reducing costs for

ansportation of s ing can be on line or on site.

.1.2 The project has a direct imp ng the dig dietween Africa a d the World andontribution of A the VU’s work in estab ish r t ent in rms of bandwidth accelerates the AVU’s plan to have a Pan-African W N (wide a a

w ost of communication an a o i w rican stitutions and d onomic benefit derived from sc he t c s to reducing

onnectivity costs ternet backbone. Improved connectivity to the Internet at the stitutions that s port will produ e the e ne of re

ollaboration, cre nd access to global knowledg reso s a as n t cas imilar operations

7.2 Social Impact of Project

7 ct delivers economic benefits unities in which it will beim earning centre

ues gnif nt o ortu ties r the

re ccess high q du thod ogy theA tance and e-Learning (ODeL) m p ves d cr tes e noms education utions. kpossible to teac m t It also helptr tudents, since teach 7 act on reduci ital vide within Africa and b n the costs associated with bridging that divide. The c DF to support A l ing a obus space segmte A renetwork) which ill help lower the c

ecd colla w

b rat on beto

een Afin eliver the le n i mec to the Inin the project will up c sam be fits inc asedc ativity a e urce s h bee he e ins .

c ificant and direct social imirstly, it increase n across the East and southern Africa region and elps in reducing education that ar s ul lim s nd income. The impact in terms of graduates that can be trained through the ten new learning

tablished is estimated at 17000 graduates over the next 10 years, based on the to train 1700 students successfully over 10

s. S , Madagascar and Djibouti that are struggling esca

whereas African students can interact with the developed es additional opportunities to

in teachers in Africa, thereby reducing the student to tea , and has a spill over impact on reduc the digital–divi

ased in rural/s 7.2.2 The project will have a po

to tethem incentives to remain in the

ance and counselling w

ver the 3-ye the AVU projects that pproximately 26000 students will be trained as teachers. It is projected that initially 30% of

these will be women. In addition the AVU projects that learning opportunities will be made available to another additional 3000 women taking the short courses in information technology and enrolled in the computer science program. The ADF contribution to the

7.2.1 The proje t delivers a sign pact in the target countries. F s access to higher educatio

singh the inequality in acces i ases a res t of ited paceacentres to be esfact that each learning center has the capacity

ear econd, it enables countries like Somaliayto pe a past filled with civil strife to grow the number of skilled workers in their economy. Thirdly, it creates a forum

orld without leaving their countries. Finally, the project creatWtra cher ratio

ing de between rural and urban communities since most of these institutions are b uburban communities.

sitive impact on gender parity. Project activities aim at acher education by encouraging them to apply and giving expansion of access by women AVU programme. Well qualified and disadvantaged sideration through grant award and tuition support. In applicants will receive specific con

addition, guid ill be provided on social factors that pressure women and number of workshops on gender issues, on gender and ar duration of this project,

refrain them in their development: aHIV/AIDS issues. Oa

Page 49: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

scholarship fund will have a positive impact on female enrolment. The project will help the VU make progress towards achieving 50% female enrolment in its programs. Moreover, the roject nsi l contribute towards creating ore sustainable solutions to gender inequalities in academia.

Ap ’s se tisation and gender mainstreaming activities wilm 7.3 Impact on Regional Integration 7.3.1 The project provides an enhancement of the regional interaction amongst students and participating institutions and countries. Each AVU class is a multinational setting in which students from all over Africa get to interact over chat, email and in discussion forums. The structure of the AVU tutorial and revision sessions enables young Africans to compete

ositively and learn about each other’s country and culture. These shared experiences and

pact on classroom teaching and learning

pexchanges will have a positive impact on regional cooperation and integration. 7.3.2 Of particular relevance for regional integration is the Teacher Training Program which is conducted with NEPAD and will allow student teachers from different countries to share common course offerings. Based on AVU experience with teacher training at some selected sites, it is expected that the in-service training be conducted in close collaboration with the Ministries of education of participating countries in terms of marketing, application, sponsorship, among other activities. This will reinforce regional cooperation in educational matters. 7.4 Im

.4.1 The delivery of a modern technology-assisted teacher training program has a impact

, this is a very ritical component of building an Africa wide community of practice. In fact, the number of

7on classroom teaching and learning. It exposes the teachers to modern teaching and learning techniques and gives them the competency in the use of technology and the Internet to improve the learning experience of their students. It also enables them to create learning environments where the students’ creative direction can be guided in directions that ultimately will benefit their communities. In addition, the structure and design of the AVU teacher training program enables teachers to gain insights and experience in the creation of learning environments where the student is an active learner. 7.4.2 AVU projects that 16000 students will be enrolled in the teacher training program during the duration of the project in the target countries (3000 in the pre-service program and 13000 in the in-service program). An additional 10000 students will be enrolled in the program in other countries during the same period. The project will contribute to the creation of networks amongst students and academics that are involved in the programcteachers that can be trained with the ICT-enhanced facilities is only limited by the ability of host institutions and countries to provide course facilitators (at a much lower cost that conventional teacher trainers) and to absorb the newly trained teachers. 7.5 Impact on poverty reduction

7.5.1 The project responds to the human resources development objectives in poverty reduction strategies. It provides support to education systems and aims at improving the quality of education, which is a key factor in human resource development and poverty alleviation. A large number of primary and secondary teachers lack the necessary pedagogical skills for effective teaching. The project targets both in-service and pre-service teachers to

Page 50: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

improve their ability to teach. Graduates of primary and secondary schools, who cannot afford higher level of education, will benefit from more relevant training programmes, and be, therefore, better prepared for employment or progressing in their current position. 7.5.2 The project will also create learning centres, which are intended to become centres of

s will constitute poles of activities, which are xpected to generate incomes for their own benefit and for the benefit of their hosting

excellence in distance education. These centreeinstitution. They will be the node of a cooperative network providing resources and services to outside partners, in Africa, and outside. The services they will provide and the products they will produce are income generating. 8. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 8.1 Conclusions

n and integration.

The proposed project should strengthen the institutional and operational capacity of the African Virtual University (AVU) and its partner institutions to deliver and manage quality ICT assisted education and training opportunities in regional member countries. This in turn will contribute to human resources development and poverty reduction through improved access to post-secondary education. The project will also foster regional cooperatio 8.2 Recommendations and Grant Conditions 8.2.1 It is therefore recommended that AVU be extended a UA 5.00 million grant (USD equivalent 7.30 million) to implement the project described in this report. The grant shall be subject to the following specific conditions:

A. Conditions Precedent to Entry Into Force of the Grant 8.2.2 Entry into force of the ADF grant protocol of agreement shall be subject to the signature by the Recipient and ADF of the grant protocol. B. Conditions Precedent to First Disbursement: 8.2.3 Apart from entry into force of the ADF grant protocol of agreement, for first disbursement of the grant resources, the Recipient shall: (i) provide the ADF with evidence of the setting up of the PCU (paragraph 5.1.1); (ii) provide the ADF with evidence of the recruitment of the Project Manager whose

qualifications and credentials would have been reviewed and found acceptable by the ragraph 5.1.1); ADF (pa

(iii) rov the ADF with evidence op ide f the opening of two foreign exchange bank

accounts in a commercial bank judged acceptable by the ADF as follows: the first account, called Special Account (SA), to receive the grant resources and the second account, called Counterpart Account (CA), to receive the AVU counterpart funds. Disbursements from ADF will be made into the Special Account (paragraph 5.5.1);

(iv) provide the ADF, a detailed and updated implementation plan for all project

Page 51: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

activities (paragraph 5.1.1);

C. Other Conditions:

The Recipient shall furthermore: (i) provide the ADF each year, before the end of the previous calendar year, with an

annual work plan (paragraph 5.1.1); (ii) provide the ADF, prior to signing agreements with partner institutions for

implementing project activities, with evidence that these Institutions have the over satellite (paragraph 5.2.1). necessary regulatory approval to receive internet data

Page 52: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Annex 1 Page1/1

MAP OF PROJECT AREAS

Page 53: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

x 2Anne Page1/1

AVU ORGANIZATIONAL CHART = PCU members Board of Trustees

Board of Directors

Rector

Senior programme Officer Program Assistant /Monitor & Reporting Executive Assistant to the AVU Boards

Senior Programme Officer Programme OfficerInternal Audit Executive Assistant

Administration Assistant

Manager Manager Manager Chief Finance Officer ODeL Initiative Project Development Partnerships &

& Management Institutional Development

Seni

or P

rogr

amm

e Offi

cer

Instr

uctio

nal T

echn

olog

y &

Des

ign

/ Tra

iner

Seni

or P

rogr

amm

e Offi

cer

Mat

eria

ls D

evel

oper

/ Tr

aine

r

Seni

or P

rogr

amm

e Offi

cer

Dig

ital r

esou

rces

Seni

or P

rogr

amm

e Offi

cer

Rese

arch

Inno

vatio

n Fa

cilit

y

Seni

or P

rogr

amm

e Offi

cer

Teac

her E

duca

tion

Seni

or P

rogr

amm

e Offi

cer

Soci

al S

cien

ces

Seni

or P

rogr

amm

e Offi

cer

Scie

nce &

Tec

hnol

ogy

Seni

or P

rogr

amm

e Offi

cer

Afri

can

Dev

elop

men

t Ban

k (A

DB)

Seni

or P

rogr

amm

e Offi

cer

Insti

tutio

nal P

artn

ersh

ip

Seni

or P

rogr

amm

e Offi

cer

Mar

ketin

g &

Pub

lic R

elat

ions

Seni

or P

rogr

amm

e Offi

cer

ICTs

Seni

or P

rogr

amm

e Offi

cer

BDCS

& D

onor

Fun

ds

Seni

or P

rogr

amm

e Offi

cer

Hum

an R

esou

rces

See O

ffice

rPr

onior

Pro

gram

mcu

rem

ent

Page 54: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Annex 3 Page1/1

PROVISIONAL LIST OF GOODS AND SERVICES (UA MILLION)

Page 55: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Annex 4 Page1/1

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

Page 56: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

ANNEXE 5 Page1/1

PROJECT PROCESSING SCHEDULE AND ACTIVITIES

KEY ACTIVITIES KEY DATES OBSERVATIONS The Bank participates in the AVU’s fund raising meeting in Morocco

May 2003 The AVU’s Medium term Business Plan is presented to aid donors.

AVU’s official request for funding received by the Bank

May 2003 The Bank responds that it will conduct a project identification mission so as to make an informed decision.

Project identification mission October 2003 Mission results incorporated in identification report. Project document reviewed by IWG and IDWG.

Project preparation mission March 2004 An Education Specialist, an Architect and a UNESCO consultancy team prepared the project. The team used a participatory approach and visited the 10 target countries. Mission results were incorporated in preparation report. Project document reviewed by IWG and IDWG

Project appraisal mission

September 2004 An Education Specialist and an Architect appraised the project. Intensive working meetings with AVU and stakeholders allowed the team to streamline the project and to provide the report with sufficient detail.

Submission of Mission Back-to office report and project appraisal report

September 2004

Meeting of Internal Working Group

28 September 2004

IWG comments taken into account to improve project appraisal report.

Meeting of Interdepartmental Working Group

7 October 2004 IDWG comments taken into account to improve project appraisal report.

Meeting of Senior Management Committee

19 October 204 SMC comments taken into account to improve project appraisal report. SMC authorized document to be finalized and sent for translation and distribution.

Page 57: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Annex 6 Page1/2

LIST OF SELECTED DO UMENTS CONSULTED C

Universit03) Aide Memoir.

ecutive summary of the update to the medium term (2003- 2009) Business plan of the

Protocole d’accord entre l’UVA et les institutions participantes. (Nairobi)

- AVU Business Model (Excel sheet) - AVU / University of Dar es Salaam model agree

ddis agreem- AVU/Curtin University of Technology model a Mozambique - Ministério do Ensino Superior, Ciéncia e Tecno

em Moçambique – 2002 -2003. - Mozambique Information and Communication T 002.

adagascar: Université d’Antananarivo – Campus Universit2003.

– International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa. Linking to economic development – June 2003 Vol N° 2.

de l’éducation nationale et de l’en Bureau des 04.

outi – Somalia- UNESCO – PEER - ProReconstruction – Programmes and Activities 20

- UNESCO – PEER – Annual report 2000. UNESCO – PEER Civil Education for Peace Democracy and Development in Somalia – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. 2000.

- La lettre d’information des Nations unies à Djibouti–N°8–Déc. 2003. Somalia - UNESCO EFA assessment of Somalia for 2000 - Economist Intelligence Unit Country report on Somalia of March 2004. Other - The Virtual University. Models and messages. Lessons from Case Studies. Kenyatta

University- African Virtual University". Magdallen Juma, IIEP, UNESCO 2003 - « Nouveau partenariat pour le développement de l’Afrique » (NOPADA) Octobre 2001. - NEPAD – New partnership for Africa’s Development – Main report – Short-term action plan

infrastructure. May 2002.

AVU - Multinational–The Africai

September–11 October 20- Ex

n Virtual y Support project identification mission (28

AVU. - Charter of the AVU - - AVU Business Plan

ment - AVU/University of A Ababa model ent

greement

logia – Indicadores de Ciencia e Technologia

echnolgy Institute–2 M- aire d’Ambohitsaina – Madagascar Novembre

Ethiopia - Ethiopia UNESCO – IICBA

education- Ethiopia- College of Educa

tion Addis Ababa University – Handbook for students 2003– 2004.

Djibouti - Ministère seignement supérieur. DGAC –

statistiques : Annuaire stat- Djib

istique – 2002- 20 Février 2004. gramme for Education for Emergencies and 01.

-

Page 58: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Annexe 6 Page 2/2

NEPAD, NEPAD E-schools initiative, Launched by the NEPAD e-Africa Commission at the

2004.

tance learning: m, costs, and evaluation (Paris: UNESCO).

University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM)

University of Dar es Salaam Prospectus 2003/2004

nual Consultative Workshop on the UDSM Transformation

* Africa Project Development Facility: Donor Supported SME Programmes, 2003

Prospectus 2004 * Convocation newsletter, 2002 Vol. 4, no 1 & 2, 2003 Vol. 5, no 1 & 2

CED Newsletter, Vol. 1, no 2, August 2003

-

* Report of the ad hoc Committee to Streamline the Status of the African Virtual University (2001)

- y, Kenya, UNESCO-IIEP

- CD-ROM version)

urtain University of Technology, Autralia: Business Studies Programme, Brochure

English: Brochure

UNESCO, BREDA : Le Renforcement des Capacités dans les Institutions de formation des

- Africa Summit of the World Economic Forum, Durban, 2003.

- NEPAD, “Programme of action: Distance education and teacher development in Africa”, March

- Perraton, H, Robinson, B, Creed, C. (2001). Teacher education through dis

technology, curriculu - UNESCO, (1998) World Education Report: Teachers and teaching in a changing world, Paris,

UNESCO

- * * UDSM Five-Year Rolling Strategic Plan * Proceeding of the 9th An

Programme

- Open University of Tanzania

*

*

Makerere University (Uganda) * Information and Communication Technology: Policy and Master Plan (2001)

* Report of the Senate ad hoc Committee to review the status of the African Virtual University 2003

Kenyatta University – KU African Virtual Universit

- Ministry of Education, Zambia: Strategic Plan 2003-2007

Royal Melbourne University Autralia : Computer Science Programme ( - C - Georgetown University, USA: Certificate in Business, Communication in -

enseignants en Afrique subsaharienne, Dakar, Sept. 2003

Page 59: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Annexe 7

Page1/1

LIST OF EQUIPMENT FOR EACH ODeL CENTRE

Page 60: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Annex 8 Page1/2

SUMMARY OF PROJECT COST

Page 61: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Annex 8 age 2/2 P

Page 62: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Annex 9 Page1/1

CONTENTS OF THE PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION DOCUMENT

1 THE PROJECT 1.1 Project scope and objectives 1.2 Project outputs 2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 2.1 Project description 2.2 Project cost & financing 2.3 Sources of Financing and Expenditure Schedule 2.4 Detailed project cost 2.5 Provisional List of project goods and services 3 PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 3.1 Executing agency 3.2 Institutional arrangements 3.3 Implementation plan 3.6 General procurement notice 3.7 Review procedures 3.8 Disbursement arrangements 3.4 Procurement arrangements 3.5 AVU Procurement Policies and Procedures 3.9 AVU Financial Policies and Procedures Manual 4 MONITORING AND EVALUATION 4.1 Project reporting 4.1 Financial reporting and auditing 5 ANNEXES 5.1 Map of project areas 5.2 Target Countries Socio-Economic Indicators 5.3 Organisation Chart of the AVU 5.4 Project Implementation Schedule 5.5 Project Countries: ICT Profiles 5.6 List of equipment for each ODeL Centre 5.7 TOR ADB Project Manager 5.8 Summary for the proposed curriculum for a freestanding ICT Certificate for the Post Graduate

Diploma in Education 5.9 Summary for proposed curriculum for an ICT component for the B.Ed (Science) 5.10 Criteria for assessing integration of ICT in existing Education programs at the Partner

Institutions 5.11 Performance indicators in the Teacher Education Program 5.12 Strategic Implementation Plan for the Teacher Education Program in Africa 5.13 Teacher Education Program in Africa - Project Document, August 2004

Page 63: MULTINATIONAL AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT … · AFRICAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY SUPPORT PROJECT APPRAISAL REPORT ... MULTINATIONAL : African Virtual University Support Project

Annex 10

GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMSPage 1/1

Connectivit , telephone ainline and mobile subscribers.

dividuals, households, businesses, countries and geographic nomic levels with regard to both their opportunities to access ICT

aching and learning strategies or education methods that can be tion between educators and learners;

um takes place primarily through use of educational resources,

tutions: institutions, which establish parallel r both distance and contact education.

ning which involves communication of curr between rough the use of computer-based resources such as the

problems arising from gender inequality and rim relations of women and men and how this

sults in differences in power relations, status, privileges and needs.

process of identifying and taking full account of the relationships ee evelopment issue or theme) in all policies, strategies,

rograms, administrative and financial activities.

rmal learning experiences in order to increase

: Technologies, including both computer systems and telecommunications systems for mation.

teaching and learning of a specific program that is being offered by universities on the AVU or

pective of e pathway that

Open school: an educational institution providing courses and programs predominantly through the use of distance education methods. Partner Institution: An institution of tertiary education entering into a formal agreement with the AVU to host an AVU center or participate in AVU’s programs and activities.

y: A measure of per-capita number of Internet hosts, personal computers

m Digital divide: the gap between inareas at different socio-ecoand to their use of the Internet for a wide variety of activities. Distance education: a set of teused to overcome spatial and temporal separacommunication of curriculdrawing on different media as necessary. Dual-mode or mixed-mode education instiadministrative systems to offe e-Learning: a resource-based le iculumarlearners and educators, mostly thInternet. Gender awareness: means the ability to identifydisc ination, and to know the difference in roles andre Gender mainstreaming: a betw n women and men (given a dp Gender training: means providing people with fotheir gender awareness. ICTcollecting, storing, processing and communicating infor Lead Partner University: A university that takes a lead role in coordinating the delivery of

netw k.

learning: a Open system a learning in which a student can access education irresentry qualifications because the system has built-in approaches of assessing thvarious students will pass through, depending on their entry qualifications.