“Building Computer Graphics Education in Developing African Countries” by Asare, Mashwama and Cunningham

Computer graphics is becoming a tool for communication, change, and development throughout the world, and in order for this tool to be effective, there must be an educational base for its use. In southern Africa the development of computer graphics is underway, but is has not made the impact it could have. We believe that one of the main reasons for this is that there has not been as much educational development as is needed in the region. This note will describe some of the challenges that are faced by educational institutions in southern Africa as they try to develop the computer graphics education in the region, and will discuss some of the ways these institutions are working to meet these challenges.

As is the case in any other part of the world, there is a considerable range of educational facilities and opportunities in the region. There are historically strong universities in South Africa, expanding universities in developing countries such as Botswana, Namibia, and Swaziland, and polytechnic institutes throughout the region. While some of the challenges we discuss may apply more to one or to another kind of institution, or even to the special case of an individual institution, they all have an impact at some level.