ECDVU MARKS 16 YEARS SERVING THE CITIZENS OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

ECDVU Students

The Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) – led by Alan Pence, a UNESCO Chair for Early Childhood Education, Care and Development, and a professor and former director with our School of Child and Youth Care—educates students from across sub-Saharan Africa and has done for 16 years. Today, the virtual university partners with the Faculty of Education at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, and is in the fifth year of delivering a popular year-long diploma program.

Externally evaluated by the World Bank, auditors noted the school’s success in achieving high completion rates. Year one – 90%, year two – 96%, year three – 100%. “These high completion rates are outstanding for a virtual education program in any world region. Further, graduates stated they would recommend the program because it helped them achieve a higher professional status and serve their countries better.

“I think ECDVU is the best thing to have happened to early childhood development in Africa,” said Uche Ezirim, a graduate from Nigeria.

An open access book about the ECDVU experience is now available, featuring two guest chapters by ECDVU graduates Clarence Mwinuka and Fortidas Bakuze on the development of the Tanzanian Early Childhood Development Network. Also Foster Kholowa and Francis Chalamanda focus on education and training development over time in Malawi. For more info, go to www.ecdvu.org.