Project for virtual university launched

The Ministry for Higher Education and Research and the African Development Bank have launched a joint infrastructural development project for Senegal’s Digital University, or UVS, with funding of FCFA3.6 billion (US$6.8 million) over three years.

The project, the result of a partnership signed in March, will establish the UVS headquarters at the Cité du Savoir de Diamniadio in the Dakar region, five open digital spaces near the capital Dakar, Saint-Louis, Thiès, Kaolack and Ziguinchor, and will develop units for education and teacher training, reported Le Soleil of Dakar.

The African Development Bank, or AfDB, is contributing FCFA2.8 billion of the funding, and the government FCFA800 million, reported Le Soleil.

Robert Eguida of the AfDB told the launch meeting that the project was a specific response to the question of young people and employment, and that more than 6,000 students could be enrolled each year when the UVS was fully operating, reported Le Soleil.

Aichitou Niang Wane, the project’s coordinator at the ministry, said the longer term aim was to construct an open digital space in each department in the country.

Ibrahima Guèye, the ministry’s secretary general, said the UVS was a realistic alternative for coping with overcrowding in traditional public universities.

Estimates of student numbers during 2012-22 indicated a very high rate of growth that had little chance of being catered for under the building programmes for new public higher education institutions, he said.

* This article is drawn from local media. University World News cannot vouch for the accuracy of the original reports.