Port Vila, 28 March 2024
The official opening of the National University of Vanuatu (NUV) E-learning classroom took place last Thursday 28 March 2024 on the main campus.
The event was an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the DIRECCT project - DIgital REsponse Connecting CiTizens, funded by the European Union and managed by l’ Agence française de développement (AFD), as part of their digital response to covid-19 crisis. The project, started in Vanuatu in 2022 and aims to strengthen and develop the digital systems and services of NUV and its partners: the School of Education (SoE), the Vanuatu Institute of Technology (VIT) and the Vanuatu Agriculture College (VAC).
Officials and representatives of Vanuatu Government and the Agence française de développement who attended the event included the Minister of Education and Training, Hon. Anatole Hymak; the French Ambassador to Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, Mr. Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer; and AFD Director for Countries Philippe Orliange who flew from Paris for his first visit in Vanuatu.
The programme for the opening ceremony included a special welcome for the guests, official speeches, and video presentation inside the Louis Mapou auditorium of the national university. The video presentation highlighted the main goals of the project, focusing on increasing capacity and access to digital resources, providing digital spaces for all within the university, ensuring connectivity for everyone, and supporting the digital transition in education.
Jean-Pierre Nirua, Vice Chancellor of NUV, outlined in his introduction the importance of the DIRECCT project to improve digital services and inclusivity within the university, making higher education more accessible to students on four (4) campuses, within Vanuatu and in the Pacific region.
"My wish, in my capacity as Vice Chancellor of NUV, is to see a modern university being developed , a university that looks towards the future by providing our students with reliable access to academic resources, wherever they are. On a larger scale, the development of digital infrastructure is essential to enable our citizens to access opportunities offered by the global digital economy. This project is a symbol of social and academic inclusion".
AFD Director, Philippe Orliange, took the floor to talk about the significance of the project in enhancing educational opportunities and promoting sustainable development in Vanuatu.
"The opening of this eLearning classroom at NUV marks an important milestone in the journey towards academic excellence and the modernization of higher education in Vanuatu. This classroom will become a centre for learning and innovation opened to all students and lecturers at the university, as well as the community as a whole".
The event concluded with the exchange of gifts to AFD delegation and special guests before a visit was organised in the new e-learning classroom to discover the new ICT equipment now available to the NUV students. It is important to note that this class is one of the five classes funded by DIRECCT for the main campus of NUV, its School of Education, the Vanuatu Institute of Technology and the Vanuatu Agriculture College in Santo. It is useful to recall here that similar facilities now exist at the School of Education, VIT and the School of Agriculture in Santo.
The afternoon ended with a traditional Kava ceremony where officials, guests, lecturers, students, and staff gathered to celebrate the project's success!
