New IT structures in three major universities in West Africa
Classroom with Internet access renovated and equipped by the PADTICE project, University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin© UNESCO
Three major universities in the West African region, namely Benin, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire have received new IT infrastructures and computing platforms, as part of an ambitious project entitled PADTICE. This project is implemented through a partnership between UNESCO and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).
The inauguration ceremony for the official handover of the new IT structures will take place from 27-29 April 2015. Working in collaboration with the governments of the three countries and key partners, three ceremonies will take place as follows:
- Côte d’Ivoire on 27 April 2015 at the Houphouet Boigny University in Abidjan, *
- Benin on 28 April 2015 at the Abomey University in Cotonou
- Burkina Faso on 29 April 2015 at the Ouagadougou University.
The events will be under the patronage of the Director-General of UNESCO and the President of the UEMOA Commission and will be chaired by the Ministers of Higher Education of the respective countries. UNESCO will be represented by Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta, the Director of UNESCO Regional Office in Dakar and the President of the UEMOA Commission by Mr Seydou SISSOUMA, the Commissioner of Department of Human Development.
“We are delighted to contribute to the strengthening of the IT infrastructure through new hardware and platforms now available to teachers, students and the administration of these three major universities,” says the Director of UNESCO’s Regional Office in Dakar. “I’m sure this will not only improve the services of the universities but also play an important role in the regional integration in the UEMOA member states,” she adds.
Supporting university reforms
The PADTICE project (Projet d’Appui au Développement par les Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication pour le renforcement de la qualité de l’Enseignement Supérieur) aims to support higher education institutions of the eight UEMOA member states in their efforts to implement the reform at the Bachelor, Master and Doctorate levels by improving the use of Information Technology and Communication.
The project includes the provision of computer platforms for the strengthening of academic governance, pedagogy and the management and sharing of data and knowledge between universities in the eight countries concerned.
It is structured around three main components:
- Setting up physical and virtual ICT infrastructure
- Ensuring the acquisition of equipment and hardware
- Building capacities in the areas of ICT, university teaching, accreditation and quality assurance and research.
A broad partnership
Launched in 2011, the PADTICE project of 5.8 billion CFA is financed by UEMOA and coordinated by the Regional Office of UNESCO in Dakar. The implementation of the project is supervised by a steering committee composed of representatives of UEMOA, UNESCO and the concerned universities.
The project is implemented in eight UEMOA countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. Focus is on the eight main universities:
- Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin;
- Université de Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso;
- Université Félix Houphouët Boigny, Côte d’Ivoire;
- Université Amilcar Cabral, Guinée-Bissau;
- Université de Bamako, Mali (recently divided into four universities)
- Université Abdou Moumouni, Niger
- Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (UCAD), Sénégal
- Université de Lomé, Togo.
It is planned that launching ceremonies will take place in the remaining 5 universities later this year.
* The inauguration in Côte d’Ivoire was finally postponed until June 2015.
<- Back to: Dynamic Content Single View