Distance education in anglophone Africa : experience with secondary education and teacher training

Abstract

This book consists of papers presented at a seminar for senior policy-makers held in Zimbabwe from May 7-11, 1990. The seminar is concerned mainly with distance education as an alternative to secondary education and current practices in teacher training in Africa. It covers world trends in distance education at the secondary level, current use of and effectiveness of distance education systems in Africa, and alternative options for improving distance education systems. The greatest educational challenge facing African countries today is how to design a system or a learning package that both meets individual country's priorities and also maximizes learning in a cost-effective way using the resources available. A distance education system that combines radio and correspondence techniques could be Africa's salvation. The stark and unfortunate situation in many of our countries is that people across the board regard nonformal avenues of secondary schooling, such as distance education, which provides a second chance to all those who dropped out or were pushed out of school, as a second-rate education. The reality is that distance education can and should be a more efficient and cost-effective method of education. In order for this system to work, distance education in Africa must be closely aligned to governments overall educational policies, and whenever possible integrated with the national system of education.