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Distance Education Vital in Capacity Building
(AllAfrica.com English Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Harare, Oct 27, 2006 (The Herald/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --THE Distance Education Association of Southern Africa conference held in Harare recently showed the importance of distance learning and regional integration on the continent.
Distance learning -- which is known variously as external studies, correspondence education, independent study, home study and community study, among other descriptions -- has become an important concept in Africa.
Initially, distance education was taken as an educational philosophy in the industrialised world, but now it is seen as an efficacious and cost-effective method of providing education in the developing world, particularly in Africa.
Experts estimate that sub-Saharan Africa alone has more than 140 distance and open learning institutions at tertiary and other levels.
After years of being denied education, particularly tertiary education and relevant research and curricula, Africa has a lot of catching up to do both at individual and social levels.
When smoke from the guns of liberation cleared, Africa suddenly found itself facing the challenge of human resource development.
When countries shook off the yoke of colonialism, there was an unprecedented increase in demand for education at variance with shrinking resources.
Conventional tertiary institutions tried to absorb the growing number of students but failed to cope with the rising demand.
National budgets were strained to breaking point and alternative cost-effective methods had to be found to address the educational needs of all sectors of society.
There was need to convert human resources from liabilities to assets.
Issues of equity, access and quality in education that had been ignored had to be addressed and traditional educational institutions could not cope on their own.
The majority of black people, who had been shut out during the colonial period, wanted to recoup what they had lost in education without necessarily reverting to the classroom.
Distance learning became an effective method of ensuring that demand was balanced with supply.
In Zimbabwe, the highest distance learning tertiary institution, the Zimbabwe Open University, started as the Centre for Distance Education at the University of Zimbabwe in 1993.
In 1996 it became the University College of Distance Education before turning into an independent institution in 1999 to become ZOU.
Of significance is that in the first 18 months its enrolment grew from 12 000 to over 20 000, almost double the enrolment at its parent institution, the UZ.
There were also those who were armed with outdated qualifications and had the desire to upgrade them.
In Zimbabwe, for instance, many teachers from the old school were able to upgrade their qualifications without going back to the old school system where face-to-face tuition is unavoidable.
Distance education is also important particularly for marginalised groups such as women and those who cannot attend full-time tuition, especially people in rural areas where universities are hardly found.
It is vital to mention that the majority of Zimbabweans, who include peasants, professionals, academics, skilled workers and semi skilled workers, are in rural areas.
One only has to think about doctors, nurses, teachers etc.
Apart from reaching a diverse audience, distance learning accommodates various types of students because of the flexibility of its system.
It enables students to learn in their working and learning environment and allows them to choose courses relevant to their professions.
This goes a long way in making education relevant, a war that traditional learning institutions have been battling to overcome.
The methodological approach is also significant, hence Minister of Finance Dr Herbert Murerwa, speaking at the conference, said it "enables the students to learn in their usual environment and workplaces and is, therefore, a pleasant departure from the mindset that learning takes place in a classroom".
Traditional educational institutions have been accused of using standardised curricula that are not relevant to local and regional needs.
Distance education, it has been argued, uses materials that are relevant to local and regional needs.
This is because the tutors prepare the course modules and they do it from the learners' needs perspective.
The recent conference showed the flexibility of the system and its potential to integrate local and regional ideas in tertiary curricula.
The conference also showed that distance learning universities have the potential to research relevant information for national and regional capacity building.
Minister of Science and Technology Development Dr Olivia Muchena said: "It is the role of universities to attend to sustainable capacity building through training, research and development for the national priority programmes."
Distance learning, at individual level, enables self-actualisation as people have the chance to satisfy the quest for knowledge that was suppressed by missed educational opportunities.
This also boosts and improves training for jobs.
Studies have shown that most learners embarking in distance education are mature and self-directed.
They are individuals who are able to evaluate and make well-grounded, fully-considered and sound decisions pertaining to life choices.
One of the biggest challenges facing distance learning in the region is funding.
Experts have, however, noted that by pooling resources together through concepts such as exchange programmes, offering joint courses and research projects, among other approaches, distance learning institutions can overcome most of the financial hurdles.
This, as seen by experts, is also a way of ensuring that the courses offered through distance learning are relevant and, thus, beneficial to respective countries and the region.
Another challenge is that of ensuring quality and credibility.
Mechanisms have to be put in place to ensure that students do not cheat their way through the courses.
For instance, recently, there were reports that some students studying with ZOU were paying some academics to write projects and assignments for them, with some people offering such "services" advertising in the Press.
Such obviously unorthodox and patently criminal means to attain qualifications need to be eradicated so that their peers from traditional colleges do not look down on "distance graduates", not to mention the providers and procurers of such services landing themselves in deep trouble with the law.
The role played by distance education cannot be ignored or underestimated and it is up to the region and individual countries to ensure that standards are maintained, lest educational standards are compromised.
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Copyright 2006 The Herald. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
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