VICE-CHANCELLOR REPRESENTS KENYA AT DETA 2025 CONFERENCE IN MAURITIUS

Réduit, Mauritius – July 2025: The Vice-Chancellor of the Open University of Kenya (OUK), Prof. Elijah Omwenga, represented Kenya at the 2025 Distance Education and Teachers’ Training in Africa (DETA) Conference held at the Mauritius Institute of Education. He was accompanied by Prof. Christopher Chepken, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Planning and Infrastructure.

Established in 2000, DETA is a biennial Conference aimed at advancing the frontiers of distance education and teacher training across the African continent. The 2025 edition was co-hosted by the University of Pretoria, Saide and the Mauritius Institute of Education.

Prof. Omwenga delivered a keynote presentation titled “From Concept to Reality: Building Kenya’s First Fully Virtual Public University,” in which he shared the inspiring journey, challenges and achievements in establishing the Open University of Kenya.

Additionally, Prof. Omwenga chaired a high-level panel discussion on “Education for Empowering the Global South: Technologies and Pedagogies for Distance Teacher Education.” The panel featured distinguished experts including Dr. Brinda Oogarah-Pratap (Mauritius Institute of Education), Prof. Geesje van den Berg (University of South Africa), Dr. Logan Govender (University of Johannesburg) and Prof. Laban Ayiro (Daystar University, Kenya).

Key takeaways from the Conference included the critical need for continuous digital literacy training for both educators and learners, the urgency of rethinking assessment and examination models in light of emerging technologies, especially Artificial Intelligence and the importance of building a robust community of advocates to champion Open, Distance, and E-Learning (ODEL) across the continent.