The African Council for Distance Education (ACDE), at its sixth General Assembly Meeting, elected Professor Goski Alabi as President of the Council, a body aimed at promoting Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in Africa.

The meeting, which was conducted virtually on April 19, 2021, drew policymakers, chancellors and vice-chancellors of open universities in Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Sudan.

Goski Alabi is an academic, author and entrepreneur and was the founding Dean of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Professional Studies, Accra.

She is the Consulting President of Laweh Open University, the first accredited Open University College in Ghana, established in 2014.

Professor Alabi expressed gratitude to members of the ACDE for elevating her to that position of honour and assured them of her commitment to delivering on her mandate to promote ODL and E-learning in Africa.

“I look forward to working with the Council to play our key role in strengthening ODL in Africa and beyond,” she said.

She pledged to work with the Executive Board in steering the activities of the ACDE to carry out programmes to promote the ODL in Africa.

She promised to facilitate the work of the Steering Committee inaugurated by her predecessor to review the ACDE’s 2016/2020 Strategic Plan and come up with a robust strategic plan for the next five years.

Prof Alabi said she would support the Committee in revising and drawing the five-year plan to guide the effective implementation of programmes and activities.

The ACDE is a continental educational organisation comprising African universities and other higher institutions of learning, which are committed to expanding access to quality education and training through Open and Distance Learning.

It is a unifying body of distance education providers and practitioners in Africa and was formally launched in January 2004 at Egerton University, Kenya.

It seeks to promote flexible and continuing education and e-learning in Africa as well as enhance research and training.

The body also strives to contribute to the development of policies essential for the advancement of ODL; foster continental and global collaboration and provide a forum where individuals, organisations and governments can deliberate on policy matters pertaining to ODL.

It further promotes the development of appropriate methods and technologies in education and training relevant to open and distance learning as well as provide a forum for interaction, sharing and dissemination of ideas.