Mauritius and Mauritian students have been ?mistaken through limitation? in the choice of virtual universities (also called ?open? or ?of the air? universities) for getting degrees through distance education. We have established strong links (albeit excellent ones) with UNISA of South-Africa, with IGNOU of India and with some Australian institutions, because of the obvious closeness of South-Africa, Australia and India, both geographically and otherwise.

In doing so, we have failed to recognise one of the fundamental strengths of the Internet and of all things virtual, namely that there are no boundaries, physical distances are of no importance! My e-mail to my son Konrad who lives 100 metres away and to my friend Kamal who is 10,000 km away in Wakefield, UK, takes the same time and are both equally painless to send or receive! Such is the universal and global nature of the electronic tool.

<B>Explore the net and register! </B>

I am taking the risk to invite young people and older ones as well (didn?t you notice that virtual universities have absolutely no age requirement or limit?) to explore the net and visit the sites of some of the 100 or so virtual universities listed by UNESCO on its web-site www.unesco.org/iiep/virtualuniversity. All you need to start a degree course by e-learning is a computer with net access and to make time available in you life! I would recommend looking into the possibilities offered by, amongst others: Arab Open University at www.arabou.org ; California virtual Campus at www.cvc.edu/ ;Campus Numerique Francophone de Dakar at www.refer.sn/rubrique54.html ; e-Berkeley at eberkeley.berkeley.edu/ ; Virtual University for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises at www.vusme.org ; Hong Kong Cyber U at www.hkcyberu.com ; Punjab Technical Universtiy Online Virtual Campus at www.ptuonline.com ; Liverpool University KIT Campus at www.kitcampus.com (no they do not offer courses in football!); Swedish Net University Agency at www.myndigheten.netuniversity.se . And of course visit the sites of UNISA (the University of South Africa), IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University), the UK Open University and Edith Cowan University of Australia.

Before registering for a course or a degree, please verify two things with regards to accreditation and recognition: that the degree is fully recognised in the country of origin, those degrees from that country are (by protocol, by tradition or through approval by our local equivalence council) recognised in Mauritius.

Since being involved with Dr. Michael Young for the setting up of the world?s first open university (The Open University, operating from Milton Keynes, in UK) and collaborating in the setting up of the local counterpart (the MCA) I have maintained my faith in the value of distance institutions for their flexibility and accessibility.

<B>Advantages of virtual universities</B>

These are, among others:Low-cost, cheaper than traditional campus/face-to-face institutions;

One can register at any age and, within limits, take one?s own time to complete the course;Home studies are slotted into any spare time, including deep into the night, hence less disruptive to employment, to family-life or to daily routines;

Enables those, for example house-wives or night security guards, who otherwise would never have gone to university, to do so;

Any one, from any where in the world, can join any virtual university! (within some constraints such as languages of operation and qualifications at entry)

<B>Limitations of virtual studies</B>

These are obvious: science, engineering, medicine and other practical subjects are out. On-line students miss out on some of the most important aspects of campus life, which are interactions with peers, extra-mural activities and tutorials. Several virtual universities now link with local facilities to provide for some face-to face tutorials for students, for example at DCDM and MALEM. Another good example is that of ACU (Australian Catholic University), which complemented the course for Mauritian professionals reading for their Masters in Educational leadership by twice yearly tutorials/lectures conducted by staff of the University who travelled to Mauritius for that purpose.

A lot of discussion is now going into the pedagogy employed by virtual universities, as well as the quality of the material offered to students. These vary a lot, from excellent (A+) to ill-adapted and hastily prepared notes. A reality of this world is that (and quite a few people may not like my statement!), they copy each other enormously, in particular the new universities copy the Open University of UK, whose learning material is simply outstanding. Would some monitoring and evaluation by our local Tertiary Education Commission be feasible to guide eventual students?

In the meantime one could ask where is the 2005 project to transform the MCA into our third university, a virtual university, at the service of Mauritius, the region and, why not, the world?

<B>Dr. Michael ATCHIA

[email protected]</B>