Overview

• To provide higher education programs through electronic media, typically the Internet. • To provide access to the part of the population who would not be able to attend a physical campus, for reasons such as distance—in which students live too far from a physical campus to attend regular classes; and the need for flexibility—some students need the flexibility to study at home whenever it is convenient for them to do so. • To provide a number of courses over the Internet through professionally tied combines of universities, institutes or departments across the world • To export domestic university offerings to a largely international market, combining online provision with elements of face-to-face support provided through partnerships with in-country education institutions and companies. • To promote distance-learning programmes through consortium of universities. • To act as a portal to the member universities’ under consortium and offer graduate, certificate and professional programmes. The courses are offered completely online, with the balance using a variety of methods including post, television, radio, teleconferencing, and audio tapes. • To act as a research institute to develop digital content and platforms for its consortium members, education institute and corporates. The venture also aims to have some commercial spin-offs, specifically electronic learning environments and management systems that can be resold to the private sector. • To develop new methods, tools, materials and services for online learning. It will also include various national research projects in online education across a range of disciplines.