Unisa online - Unisa hosts the 2010 Standing Conference of Presidents

Unisa welcoming the world's influential leaders

Unisa hosted the International Council for Open and Distance Education’s (ICDE) 2010 Standing Conference of Presidents (SCOP) and the ICDE Policy Forum this week on the Muckleneuk campus. The annual ICDE SCOP meeting offers Rectors, Presidents, Vice-Chancellors and Chief Executive Officers of open and distance learning universities an opportunity to meet with peers from around the world.

The Policy Forum, which was held on Monday 13 September 2010, was officially opened by Unisa’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Barney Pityana, and facilitated by Dr Nicholas Allen. While looking at policy issues, the delegates focused on two themes: (1) Policies that most hinder the growth and development of ODL as one of the solutions to the impending global education crisis; and (2) Strategies that ICDE and member institutions could deploy over the coming years to overcome these policy barriers to the use of ODL as one of the solutions to the global education crisis.

The theme of this year’s conference, held on 14 and 15 September 2010, was “Bridging the development gap”.  The conference focused on development, the social responsibility of higher education institutions to developing countries and the issue of capacity sharing. The keynote address was delivered by Dr Ibrahim  Assane Mayaki, CEO: NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency.

During the closing ceremony, the ICDE Executive thanked Unisa, and particularly Prof Narend Baijnath and the Department of Corporate Communication and Marketing, for hosting such a successful conference.

Click here to read Prof Pityana’s official opening address and click here for the conference website. The website contains photographs and video clips of some of the conference proceedings, as well as more information on the conference and speakers.