The African Virtual University

A World Bank sponsored Distance Education Project which has been in existence for more than two decades in the USA and some parts of Europe, involving the use of satelite communication and other communication technologies such as Video, Internet, Email protocols to beam lectures either in real time or in recorded form from universities in the USA and Europe to sub-Saharan Africa. The advantages derived from the AVU project is the provision of more cost-effective mass education through the sharing of the highest quality academic faculty, library resources and laboratory experience. In this way the project has the potential to overcome lack of facilities that prevent increased access to higher education for a significant number of students in the sub-region. The University of Ghana is among the eleven countries in sub-Saharan Africa, made of six Anglophone and five Francophone universities that have been selected to take part in AVU starting from December 11, 1997 when the protocol establishment the linkage arrangement was given the nod by the Academic Board.