Alert: Misuse of UNESCO Name by Bogus Institutions

Click here to read the full alert from UNESCO.

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of requests from individuals, recognition bodies and accrediting agencies concerning dubious providers of higher education that use UNESCO’s name or logo to give the impression that they are recognized providers of higher education.

UNESCO is an intergovernmental body. It does not have the mandate to accredit nor to recognise higher education institutions, programmes, diplomas or accrediting agencies.

Any provider of higher education or accrediting agency which claims or gives the impression of being accredited and/or recognised by UNESCO should be looked upon with caution. Such institutions or accrediting agencies may use different fraudulent modes.

Alert: Misuse of UNESCO Name by Bogus Institutions

Click here to read the full alert from UNESCO.

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of requests from individuals, recognition bodies and accrediting agencies concerning dubious providers of higher education that use UNESCO’s name or logo to give the impression that they are recognized providers of higher education.

UNESCO is an intergovernmental body. It does not have the mandate to accredit nor to recognise higher education institutions, programmes, diplomas or accrediting agencies.

Any provider of higher education or accrediting agency which claims or gives the impression of being accredited and/or recognised by UNESCO should be looked upon with caution. Such institutions or accrediting agencies may use different fraudulent modes.

UNESCO Project Mapping Archaeology in Kazakhstan

An archaeological expedition from The Institute of Archaeology of Kazakh Ministry of Education and Science is continuing its research at the necropolis located at Berel in the eastern part of Kazakhstan. A part of the work involves a UNESCO project which is studying the burial mounds in association with the scientists of Belgium's Ghent University. That subproject is mapping the site with the help of modern technologies of satellite space communications.

In another part of the research, in collaboration with the team from the Central Asian French Archaeological Mission, the body of a Saka prince was discovered buried with 13 horses. . In this princely kourgan at the site, the sacrificed horses were fitted with false wooden horns fixed to their foreheads imitating those of ibex.

UNESCO Project Mapping Archaeology in Kazakhstan

An archaeological expedition from The Institute of Archaeology of Kazakh Ministry of Education and Science is continuing its research at the necropolis located at Berel in the eastern part of Kazakhstan. A part of the work involves a UNESCO project which is studying the burial mounds in association with the scientists of Belgium's Ghent University. That subproject is mapping the site with the help of modern technologies of satellite space communications.

In another part of the research, in collaboration with the team from the Central Asian French Archaeological Mission, the body of a Saka prince was discovered buried with 13 horses. . In this princely kourgan at the site, the sacrificed horses were fitted with false wooden horns fixed to their foreheads imitating those of ibex.

Some UNESCO Higher Education Initiatives

The UNESCO Higher Education Open and Distance Learning Knowledge Base

The Open and Distance Learning (ODL) Knowledge Base project was set up to support decision makers and practitioners with ready access to information and tools that will assist them in more effective policy planning, development and management of ODL in higher education programmes. It provides Web-based knowledge base regional resources for:

* Africa
* Asia and the Pacific and
* CIS/Baltic countries.

It also provides an Inter-Regional Decision Support Tool to assist decision makers to make first-level assessments about the viability and quality of distance education programs. The International Internet Forum on the Higher Education Open and Distance Learning Knowledge Base (HEODLKB) Project is also linked to this website.

Mega Universities

A dozen or so Mega Universities (each of which has an enrolment in excess of 100,000 learners per year) utilize a combination of media to accommodate learners. U.S. Mega Universities include:

* City College of San Francisco
* University of Maryland University College and
* University of Phoenix

This UNESCO website provides links to Mega Universities in developing nations, including:

* Allama Iqbal Open University (Pakistan)
* Bangladesh Open University
* China Central Radio & TV University
* Indira Gandhi National Open University (India)
* Indonesian Open Learning University
* Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México
* Payame Noor University (Iran)
* Korea National Open University
* Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (Thailand)
* University of South Africa
* Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
* Shanghai TV University

The site also provides a link to the World Summit of Mega Universities held 23-25 September 2005.

Some UNESCO Higher Education Initiatives

The UNESCO Higher Education Open and Distance Learning Knowledge Base

The Open and Distance Learning (ODL) Knowledge Base project was set up to support decision makers and practitioners with ready access to information and tools that will assist them in more effective policy planning, development and management of ODL in higher education programmes. It provides Web-based knowledge base regional resources for:

* Africa
* Asia and the Pacific and
* CIS/Baltic countries.

It also provides an Inter-Regional Decision Support Tool to assist decision makers to make first-level assessments about the viability and quality of distance education programs. The International Internet Forum on the Higher Education Open and Distance Learning Knowledge Base (HEODLKB) Project is also linked to this website.

Mega Universities

A dozen or so Mega Universities (each of which has an enrolment in excess of 100,000 learners per year) utilize a combination of media to accommodate learners. U.S. Mega Universities include:

* City College of San Francisco
* University of Maryland University College and
* University of Phoenix

This UNESCO website provides links to Mega Universities in developing nations, including:

* Allama Iqbal Open University (Pakistan)
* Bangladesh Open University
* China Central Radio & TV University
* Indira Gandhi National Open University (India)
* Indonesian Open Learning University
* Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México
* Payame Noor University (Iran)
* Korea National Open University
* Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (Thailand)
* University of South Africa
* Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
* Shanghai TV University

The site also provides a link to the World Summit of Mega Universities held 23-25 September 2005.

Reforms at UNESCO

According to Wikipedia:

The organization's reforms included the following measures: the number of divisions in UNESCO was cut in half, allowing a corresponding halving of the number of Directors -- from 200 to under 100, out of a total staff of approximately 2,000 worldwide. At the same time, the number of field units was cut from a high of 79 in 1999 to 52 today. Parallel management structures, including 35 Cabinet-level special advisor positions, were abolished. 209 negotiated staff departures and buy-outs took place from 1999–2003, causing the inherited $10 million staff cost deficit to disappear. The staff pyramid, which was the most top-heavy in the UN system, was cut back as the number of high-level posts was halved and the “inflation” of posts was reversed through the down-grading many positions. Open competitive recruitment, results-based appraisal of staff, training of all managers and field rotation were instituted, as well as SISTER and SAP systems for transparency in results-based programming and budgeting. In addition, the Internal Oversight Service (IOS) was established in 2001 to improve organizational performance by including the lessons learned from program evaluations into the overall reform process.

Go to Director General Koïchiro Matsuura's 2005 discussion of the reform and restructuring efforts.