19 May 2009 a€" A leading arm of the United Nations working to spread the benefits of information technology today announced the launch of the first ever tuition-free online university.As part of this yeara€™s focus on education, the UN Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technology and Development (GAID) presented the newly formed University of the People, a non-profit institution offering higher education to the masses.

a€oeThis year the Global Alliance has focused its attention on education [and] how ICT can advance education goals around the world,a€A Serge Kapto from GAID told a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York.

For hundreds of millions of people around the world higher education is no more than a dream, Shai Reshef, the founder of the University of the People, told reporters. They are constrained by finances, the lack of institutions in their region, or they are not able to leave home to study at a university for personal reasons.

Mr. Reshef said that this University opened the gate to these people to continue their studies from home and at minimal cost by using open-source technology, open course materials, e-learning methods and peer-to-peer teaching.

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