International Extension College

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

More commonly referred to as the IEC, the International Extension College is a non-profit organization based in Cambridge in the UK. Its primary aim is to help set up and manage educational initiatives in developing countries. They specialize in the area of open and distance learning which they use to facilitate a range of educational programs.

In the years since its inception, the IEC has helped to set up many organizations, and often works in partnership with a variety of others including NGOs, educational establishments and governments.

1 Current Projects
2 Courses
3 Consultancy
4 External links

[edit] Current Projects

Projects form an integral part of the work of the IEC. Working with NGOs, some current projects include:

The Women in Fishing Industry Project (WIFIP)

This involves working with fishing communities around Lake Victoria in Kenya, using radio education to improve health.

The Building Literacy in Sudan Project (BLSP)

Working with refugees in camps and settlements across Northern Sudan.

The Building Capacity at Kyambogo University Project

Working towards improvements in teacher education in Uganda by providing access to quality teacher training.

In addition, there are many other projects currently in development.

[edit] Courses

The IEC provides a high quality of professional training in all aspects of distance learning including one-day workshops, short courses, an online course in Globalisation, and a Postgraduate Diploma and MA programme in Distance Education (run in conjunction with the University of London's External Programme).

[edit] Consultancy

The IEC regularly subcontracts consultants to overseas projects. Examples include:

Kenya - implementation of the school-based teacher development programme.
Nigeria - advising on education models for nomadic pastoralist and migrant fisher communities.
Vietnam - working on a project with the government to develop in-service teacher training materials.
Uzbekistan - an IEC distance education specialist is assisting the Ministry to develop alternative models for teacher training delivery.
Namibia - worked to assist the University of Namibia to become a dual-mode institution (ie having students on-campus, and students off-campus who are studying at a distance).