A new organisation has been created to promote distance education in the Caribbean. The Caribbean Association for Distance and Open Learning (CARADOL) held its first meeting at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica in March 2004.

CARADOL is receiving financial and organisational support from the UWI-UNESCO Caribbean Universities Project for Integrated Distance Education, a project aimed at improving access to universities in the Caribbean through information and communication technologies (ICT). The new organisation is focused on developing a learning society in the Caribbean through equity and access to education. www.cupide.org.jm

The Commonwealth Secretariat has assigned the University of Ghana, Legon, to run a distance education programme for Ghana, Sierra Leone and Gambia under its two-year Diploma in Youth Programme. The first two classes of almost 70 students graduated in 2004.

Introduced in 1971 by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Diploma in Youth Programme provides training for youth workers in Commonwealth African countries. It became a distance programme in 1998.

The Doordarshan Direct-To-Home (DTH) television service has been launched in India, extending the national education broadcasting service's reach to all regions of the country. Previously, the Doordarshan was unable to reach ten percent of India.

While there are other DTH satellite television services in the country, the Doordarshan DTH service does not have a monthly subscription. Users pay only for a set-top box and a dish antenna.

Microsoft Corp. and UNESCO recently announced a co-operation agreement that will increase access to ICTs and ICT skills training in underserved communities. Under the alliance, UNESCO and Microsoft will collaborate on programmes that focus on the specific needs of developing countries. The goal: to remove barriers to digital inclusion and enable people around the world to realise the full potential of technology.

Some of the projects resulting from this alliance include:

• Syllabus for integrating ICT curriculum into teaching: With assistance from Microsoft, UNESCO will create resource materials to encourage the use of ICTs in classrooms.
• UNESCO Knowledge Communities: Using the Microsoft Solutions Sharing Network platform, UNESCO will develop online communities that allow international and national experts and agencies to exchange content and share tools, best practices and information.
• Teacher support and knowledge sharing: The partners will explore how Microsoft's Innovative Teacher's programme and its online community can further UNESCO's aims.
• ICT access and skills training for teachers and students: UNESCO and Microsoft will explore opportunities to collaborate under Microsoft's Partners in Learning initiative.
• Youth technology and learning centres in the North African Arab states: The partners are establishing a technology centre that will provide North African youth with improved access to ICT and ICT skills development.
• Computer refurbishment: The two organisations will collaborate to help developing countries increase access to cost-effective computer technology by finding ways to refurbish computers.
• Local language development: UNESCO will provide consultation to Microsoft and support the company's efforts with local governments to prioritise and expand the number of languages served by its Local Language Program.

PARTICIPANTS AT THE FIRST MEETING OF SACTED IN COLOMBO, NOVEMBER 2004

One of the main ways COL facilitates linkages and networking among organisations is by supporting the creation of regional consortia in a specific area, such as the South Asian Consortium for Teacher Education and Development (SACTED), which was launched in Colombo on 3 November 2004.

The first meeting of the SACTED was attended by 22 participants from Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, who determined that SACTED will be a consortium of institutions involved in teacher training and teacher development including training/development of all personnel in the education system and teacher educators.

The following institutions volunteered to be the nodal institution in each of the five countries:

• Bangladesh Open University - Bangladesh
• National Council for Teacher Education - India
• Centre for Open Learning, Maldives College of Higher Education, Ministry of Education - Maldives
• Allama Iqbal Open University - Pakistan
• The Open University of Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka

SACTED will be based at one of these five institutions for rotating two-year terms, starting with India's National Council for Teacher Education. An Action Plan for 2005-2006 will be finalised at the first meeting of the Advisory Committee scheduled for January 2005.

The Government of Nigeria has created a National Open and Distance Education Committee to encourage the use of education to uplift the quality of life of its citizens. The committee is headed by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Talba and also includes representatives from government, educational organisations, teachers groups, ODL providers and technology providers.

The committee is focused on four initiatives:

• Drawing up a code of practice for overseas and local providers of ODL
• Determining the benchmarks for quality assurance and its applications
• Developing guidelines to check the proliferation of ODL certificates
• Proposing strategies to strengthen collaboration and partnerships that offer support for ODL in Nigeria

The Master of Arts in Teacher Education (MATE) programme provided by the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) is now being offered to other countries in Asia and Africa for the professional development of teacher educators. This is the first offshore programme that OUSL has offered in its 25-year existence.

COL facilitated the internationalisation of the MATE programme at the request of the Office of the President of Sri Lanka in early 2003. Under COL's leadership, the curriculum was restructured and the course was designed to incorporate scenario-based learning. Professor Som Naidu of the University of Melbourne worked with design experts in OUSL's Faculty of Education to develop six study guides, which are the core learning components for the six modules of the MATE.

Sir John Daniel, President and CEO of COL, launched the MATE-International course in Colombo on 3 November 2004. The session was chaired by Professor Uma Coomaraswamy, Vice-Chancellor, OUSL. COL Board member, Ms. Tara de Mel, Education Secretary, Government of Sri Lanka, was the guest of honour. Enrolment for the pilot run of the course began in January 2005.

Singapore's Minister for Education, The Honourable Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, has announced that the country will have an open university offering degrees in its own name in 2006.

"The open university will provide greater opportunities for working adults who are keen to acquire new skills and knowledge, as well as attain higher educational qualifications," he said. In a statement issued in January 2005, Minister Shanmugaratnam also told Singaporeans that the Government will be providing more local university placements for them and would be encouraging reputable private universities to provide a wider choice of university education beyond the state-funded sector. www.moe.gov.sg

Anna University in the city of Chennai (formerly Madras), India is offering an opportunity for an attachment for someone who could work with the university in its planning and development in the fields of computer-aided design/manufacturing and in environmental science. This is not a paid position, but the university can offer accommodation at their International Guest House at nominal charges. Please contact the Vice Chancellor's office directly to learn more.
vc@annauniv.edu
www.annauniv.edu