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MINEDAF
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News & Highlights
On
this page we post news and highlights of general and specific interest to
the MINEDAF programme. Click on the links to know more.
Useful News
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Education in
the News: Updates from different African countries
(Copyright © 2000 AllAfrica Global Media)
Important
Policy Reports and Documents
MINEDAF
Regional Exchange Fellowships - Offers by UNESCO and Government of South
Africa at leading South African institutions of higher learning
Background
At the Seventh Conference of Ministers of
Education of African Member States (MINEDAF VII) in Durban in 1998, a
commitment was made to the establishment of regional centres of
excellence, a data bank on African intellectual capacity, the sharing of
materials and exchange of African expertise, to further regional
collaboration. It was agreed that appropriate steps be taken by the
President and the Bureau of MINEDAF VII as an intergovernmental committee
to ensure: the creation and strengthening of African training
infrastructures; centres for capacity building and human resource
development in Education; the maximum use of existing facilities and
structures in a number of countries on the African continent.
In
this regard, the previous Minister of Education in South Africa and past
President of the Intergovernmental Committee, the Honourable Ambassador
to Germany, Dr. Sibusiso Bengu, offered to make the experience, expertise
and existing infrastructures of South African higher education available
to the rest of Africa. This Short-Term Fellowship Programme to carry out
research at a Higher Education Institution in the Western Cape Province is
a consequence of the South African offer.
Host Institutions
The Institutions are those based in the Western Cape:
Cape Technikon
Peninsula Technikon
University of Cape Town
University of Stellenbosch
University of the Western Cape
These Institutions are linked by the Adamastor
Trust, a foundation formed to promote regional higher education
collaboration, and which will be ultimately responsible for the Scheme.
Fellowships
The Fellowships are aimed at senior African
academics currently working in Africa, who wish to use the facilities
available at the above-mentioned South African Institutions. A total of
30 fellowships will be offered to academics for the purpose of spending 6
months at any of the Western Cape Higher Education Institutions, or
affiliated National Institutions such as the South African Astronomical
Observatory, National Accelerator Centre, the National Botanical
Institute, and Marine and Coastal Management.
The disciplines for
which application may be made are the following:
- natural sciences
- engineering & technological sciences
- mathematical sciences
- human and social sciences
- health sciences
- environmental
sciences
- agriculture & forestry
- commerce
- education
- NB: veterinary science is excluded
Fellowships are for a
maximum period of 6 months and must be commenced between 1 September 2000
and 15 January 2001.
Each Fellowship is worth approximately
$8000. This amount will provide for economy class air travel to and from
South Africa with limited funding for modest accommodation, modest per
diems, research costs and, where necessary for research, local travel
within the Western Cape.
Criteria - The research projects
concerned must require access to laboratory, library and other advanced
resources available in the Western Cape region.
- Each Fellow will be
placed in the appropriate academic department, but will be able to draw on
the resources of the region.
- Fifty percent of the Fellowships are
designated for women.
- The Fellows must have a good working knowledge
of English, and should provide some indication of an acceptable level of
English competence, e.g., a TOEFL score.
Application Procedure
All applications must be in English. Applications should be endorsed
by the Dean of the Faculty and / or Vice Chancellor and thereafter should
also be endorsed by the country's Minister of Education. Following
screening by the local National Commission of UNESCO in the country
concerned, the applications will be forwarded to the UNESCO
Office in Pretoria, South Africa. From there they will be forwarded to the Western
Cape for assessment by the Selection Committee. Each country will be
limited to 3 applications. The Selection Committee reserves the right to
place a Fellow in any of the 5 host Institutions.
The deadline
for applications was 31 July 2000
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