ISPU:Project Overview

Background

Instituto Superior Politécnico e Universitário (ISPU), http://www.ispu.ac.mz, is a private higher education Institute which came into being through the approval of the Mozambican Council of Cabinet Ministers in 1995 Decreto n 44/95, of 13th of September 1995, and is the property of the group IPS - Instituto Politécnico Superior Limitada ( IPS LDA) which was formed on 1 September 1994, and was published in the Republic of Mozambique’s governmental Bulletin number 31- III Series, 0f July 1996 The first course in ISPU opened its doors in the 1996/1997 academic year. The principal areas are Business and Managerial sciences, Social sciences, Technology based sciences. At the present moment ISPU has expanded its courses to include, Secondary school education, various professional courses, preparatory year course for students intending to study in ISPU´s various degrees programs, Degree programs (Bachelors, Licentiate) and postgraduate degree programs. In Maputo ISPU has diversified its actvities by creating CEPPA – Centro de Estudos de Pós-graduação e Pesquisa Aplicada. This is a centre that handles all postgraduate programs that ISPU offers and all the research activities that are carried out within the Institution. Along side CEPPA is CAPJ (Centro de Assistência e Práticas Jurídicas). This offers legal services to the community and help civil organizations on legal issues. In universal terms ISPU has its courses in (Maputo, Quelimane, CEPPA, IMEP, Curso Propedêutico, Pemba e CAPJ) now with over 2800 students, 250 lecturers, about 120 workers, distributed in different regions. In the 1998/99 academic year ISPU divided its courses to be administered under two academic regimens that is Escola Superior de Ciências Jurídicas e Sociais – ESCJS (Law and Social Sciences School) Escola Superior de Gestão e Tecnólogia – ESGT (Technology and Management School).All the programs in ISPU have a polytechnic character and students after the sixth semester graduate as bachelors and the seventh and eighth semester constitute the Licentiate level where the students are involved in seminars, attachments and dissertations. ISPU is also associated with Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias – ULHT (Portugal) this gives students to have equivalent qualifications within the Portuguese educational system. ISPU Quelimane extension opened its doors in 1998. The Extension is situated in Quelimane the capital of the Northern Province Zambezia. The different range of services offered in ISPU as a whole varies significantly considering the location of the institution. There is a strong digital divide between the capital Maputo and Quelimane. The ICT infrastructures are very much limited and in some cases not developed at all, it is in the light of this project to collaborate with other project partners in the First Mile First Inch project within the Southern African region to bring innovative solutions in order to uplift the lives of individuals in member countries.

Besides the teaching function of the University and being an active participant in the fight against poverty, it is absolutely necessary to expose the students to the fundamentals and the practical use of modern Information and Communication Technology, especially when we take into account the importance that these technologies have today for the dissemination of information and as a means of communication of the population in this vast country and between ISPU’s campuses.   The project seeks to contribute to the secondary school educational sector touching areas such as science and mathematics education including HIV and sex education. Gender is also of primary concern since uplifting the girl child will have a significant impact on development globally. Using the full capacities of Information and communication Technology will open up borders and break through the isolation for students, staff, and the people from Zambezia Province of Mozambique to the world community.