e-Taalim

e-Taalim was invited by the Tunisian Association for scientific research assistance over the net Atars’ net to participate in a seminar organized by the association and the International Centre for Science and High Technology of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (ICS-UNID). The seminar entitled: “E-learning on high technology and science for Developing Countries Strategy and synergies” was held on 23 November 2009 in Hammamet – Tunisia.

Mr. Nadhir DOUMA, Founder and CEO of e-Taalim presented a study about the Uses of ICTs and Media for lifelong learning in Africa and the Arab states; Situation & Perspectives. The study was divided into the following main sections: ICTs & Internet, Higher education, Educational institutions networks, Professional development, Initiatives and Perspectives. The key figures include the percentage of Internet users in Africa & the Arab countries which is no more than 1% according to the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) – UNESCO, the Network Readiness Index (NRI) rankings which put Tunisia as African leader for the second consecutive year according to the World Economic Forum (38th). Other African countries were ranked as follows: Mauritius (51th), South Africa (52th), Egypt (76th), Morocco (86th) and Algeria (109th). Concerning the Arab countries, the United Arab Emirates is the leader (27th), Qatar (29th), Bahrain (37th), KSA (40th), Jordan (44th) and Oman (50th). The study also indicated that Arabic content on the Internet is only 1% at the end of 2008 according to the World Economic Forum.

Concerning Higher education and in Africa, the number of Virtual Universities is three: 1 in Tunisia, 1 in Senegal and the third is the African Virtual University (AVU) which is an Inter-Governmental Organization headquartered in Kenya with members including Senegal, Mauritania, Mali and Cote d’Ivoire. The AVU was initially launched in Washington in 1997 as a World Bank project. In the Arab World, there are six Virtual Universities: 1 in Syria, 1 in Tunisia, 2 in Egypt, 1 in Jordan and the Arab Open University (AOU). The AOU was founded in 2002 in Kuwait, Jordan, and Lebanon. One year later it opened in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and soon in Oman. The situation is to be improved as if we compare it to the United States of America for instance; the number of online Universities and colleges is around 200.

For more information about the results of the study, please contact e-Taalim at:
info@e-taalim.com