Wednesday, August 22, 2001

Tunisia Plans a National Online University By DANIEL DEL CASTILLO The Tunisian government has announced plans to establish a national virtual university. It is scheduled to begin operating next year. The institution, to be called the Tunisian Virtual University, is one element of a larger plan to provide life-long learning opportunities for Tunisians while at the same time employing and promoting new technologies in the country's educational sector. Tunisia's president, Ben Ali, announced plans for the university last month. The government has invested heavily in computer training, technology, and online services, making Tunisia one of the most wired countries in North Africa. The country also has one of the highest per-capita Internet-access rates in the Arab world. The Tunisian Virtual University will be an independent degree-granting institution that will operate autonomously as well as in conjunction with Tunisia's seven existing universities. Collaborative arrangements with European and North American universities are being considered. "It's designed to be widely open to partnerships with similar public, private, and foreign universities," said Montacer Ouaili, Tunisia's secretary of state for the minister of higher education. While the university's prime market will be Tunisians, it will be open to other students, including students from other African nations who now regularly enroll in traditional Tunisian universities, Mr. Ouaili said in an e-mail message. Projections call for the virtual university to account for 20 percent of the total number of university students in Tunisia by 2006, Mr. Ouaili said. Officials planning the university have identified three strategies for the virtual institution: To provide supplemental distance-learning courses to complement traditional university curriculums. To offer a full distance-learning curriculum to give wider access to university education, for those who missed out. To provide flexibility in the higher-education system to tailor its needs for vocational and professional training demands. The government is organizing training and workshops for the production of digital teaching materials and is offering incentives to faculty members to develop courses and materials on digital media. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

State court denounces Johns Hopkins-approved study that exposed children to lead dust Anti-sweatshop group criticizes labor practices at N.Y. factory U. of Arizona employees discuss joint union for faculty members, TA's, and staff Religious-freedom center set up to focus on discrimination on campuses Yale U. student goes missing in South Africa Syria legalizes private higher education and may allow U.S. colleges to open branches Updates on billion-dollar campaigns at 12 universities A book on "human-centered computers" foresees productivity gains as machines are improved Tunisia plans a national online university