RECTAS Short Courses

RECTAS (Regional Centre for Training in Aerospace Surveys)

RECTAS was officially opened on 21st October 1972. The Centre is bilingual, with English and French as official
languages. The Institution was established under the auspices of the UN Economic Commission for Africa to
conduct training and research in an African environment in the field of Aerospace Surveys and Geo-informatics.
RECTAS is a joint Institution of African Countries; the participating countries at the moment are eight (8): Benin,
Burkina, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria (host country) and Senegal.
The following is a summary of the currently available education and training programmes at the institution.


(A) INTERNATIONAL MSC IN GEOINFORMATICS

RECTAS Ile-Ife, Nigeria and ITC Enschede, The Netherlands


It is an established fact that all sectors of human development can benefit from the applications of advanced
Geoinformation technology (GIT) in the production, management, dissemination and use of geospatial data and
resources. The major problem is the difficulty (both financial and otherwise) in accessing qualitative and relevant
knowledge in this field to booster effective inventory and decision making for sustainable development in Africa.
An effective strategy to combat this deficiency has been put in place by RECTAS, in collaboration with a world
renowned institution - The International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), The
Netherlands - to provide African professionals with up to date quality Geoinformatics education at convenient
location and at a reasonable cost through post graduate (PGD and MSc) level courses.

The program commences on 1st September every year and consists of 23 modules of three weeks per module with a
total duration of 18 months. The implementation is in four phases as indicated in the following table with the first
phase designed such that course participants attend the first 10 modules in RECTAS and the remaining at ITC. In
subsequent phases, more modules will then be added to the RECTAS component until 2010 when the entire
programme will be run at RECTAS. All the courses taken at RECTAS are the same in content and quality with those
taken at ITC.


Phase Period RECTAS Modules ITC Modules
One 2004 -2006 1-10 (7.5 Months) 11 – 23 (10.5 Months)
Two 2007- 2008 1 – 13 (10.5 Months) 14 – 23 (7.5 Months)
Three 2009 – 2010 1 – 11 including thesis defence (15 months) 12 – 15 (3 Months)
Four 2010 Onward Whole program runs at RECTAS (18 months) Quality control & staff exchange.

(B) DIPLOMA PROGRAMMES IN GEOINFORMATION
PRODUCTION AND
MANAGEMENT
The Centre runs three diploma level programmes in
Geoinformation Production and Management,
namely:
1) Post Graduate Diploma (GPM3),
12 months duration, starting 1st
September every year
2) Technologist Diploma (GPM4), 18 months duration starting 1st March of every odd number year
3) Technician Diploma (GPM5), 18 months duration starting 1st March of every odd number year.
The three diploma programmes are bilingual with English stream and French stream. For each programme, Course
participants can specialize in any of the following three options: (i) Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, (ii) GIS
and (iii) Cartography. The programmes are designed in modules each of 3 weeks duration, which gives opportunity
for career officers to join selected modules of interest as short courses.
The three diploma programmes support both residential and non-residential participants. The Residential program is
for participants who are on full scholarships or are able to pay the full residential course fees as indicated in the
following table. Residential participants enjoy such facilities as free accommodation, monthly stipend, book
allowance, free health care and other benefits. The non-residential course participants will pay only tuition fee and
are therefore not entitled to Centre’s accommodation and other afore-mentioned benefits.
Programme Course Fee Residential* Course Fee Non-Residential*
GPM3 $3075.00 $800.00
GPM4 $4650.00 $1150.00
GPM5 $4650.00 $1150.00

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
ITC/RECTAS M.Sc: At least first degree (B. Sc) with
Second Class Lower in relevant disciplines. Proficiency in
English is mandatory. Application closes 1st May.
PGD/GPM3: First degree (B. Sc) or equivalent
qualification in relevant field. Application closes 1st May
GPM4: GCE A/L with 2 credits in cognate subjects
including mathematics OR Upper Credit Technician or
National Diploma in geo-related disciplines with at least 2
years of post qualification experience. Application closes 1st November of even number years.
GPM5: GCE O/L or its equivalent with at least a pass in English language and credits in 4 other subjects which
must include Mathematics, Physics, Additional (Further) Mathematics, Chemistry, Geography, Biology,
Agricultural Science, Technical Drawing or Economics. Application closes 1st November of even number years.
Application Forms: Forms can be downloaded from the RECTAS website www.rectas.org, to be completed and
returned to the Secretary, Admissions Committee in hard copies.

(C) RECTAS – OAU MASTERS PROGRAMMES IN REMOTE SENSING AND GIS
RECTAS in collaboration with the Department of Geography, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) offers two
Masters programmes in Remote Sensing and GIS, namely
- Master of Science (MSc), duration of minimum of 2 semesters and maximum of 4 semesters
- Master of Remote Sensing and GIS, duration of minimum of 2 semesters and maximum of 3 semesters.
Eligibility
The course is opened to Graduates of disciplines in Social Sciences, Sciences, Technology and others who may
require expertise in Remote Sensing and GIS, with at least a first degree with Second Class Division.
Course Fees
The tuition fees is 70,000 Naira per session (subject to change without notice)

(D) SHORT COURSES
In addition to the following scheduled short courses, the Centre can organise customised short-term courses on
demand which can be run either in RECTAS or in the client’s premises.
 

 

 

 

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