University of South Africa

The African University in service of humanity.

Unisa is the largest open distance learning institution in Africa and the longest standing dedicated distance education university in the world. We enrol nearly one-third of all South African students. Given our rootedness in South Africa and the African continent, Unisa today can truly claim to be the African university in the service of humanity.

Unisa is committed to the open education movement. “OER flourishes on interconnectedness and the creation of knowledge through interaction, with the philosophy that the sharing of knowledge does not lessen any one person, but contributes to the whole community. OER therefore embodies the concept of Ubuntu. This resonates with Unisa’s vision to be the the African university in service of humanity and speaks to our commitment to our social justice mandate. Unisa, as the single and dedicated open and distance learning university in South Africa and one of the mega universities in the world, has indicated its strategic intent to enable the development and use of OER.” (Unisa Institutional statement, Unesco OER conference, Paris 2012)

To give impetus to this commitment Unisa joined the OERu as one of the founding partners.