Executive Summary

 Distance education in South Africa: policy and practice 

The brief of the Research Group requested to prepare this Discussion Document was to compile a set of standards for distance education and to recommend processes to facilitate implementation and continuous enhancement of the standards. In setting out to complete this task, the Group felt that the most appropriate first step would be to conduct some research into key policy statements and research papers and some of the key events affecting distance education provision in South Africa. The results of this research are contained in chapter one and appendix B. 

A number of policy documents have emphasized the efficacy of distance education in the provision of learning opportunities for all. This started with A Policy Framework for Education and Training, which emanated from the Education Department of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1995, was reinforced by the White Paper on Education and Training of March 1995, and confirmed by the report of an international commission entitled Open Learning and Distance Education in South Africa. Other key policy documents, such as the report of an investigation by a Ministerial Committee into technology-enhanced learning and the report of the National Commission on Higher Education (and the ensuing Green Paper), reinforce the importance of distance education methods in solving South Africa’s educational problems.   

Despite this, however, most recent research work done into distance education in South Africa indicates quite clearly that the quality of distance education practices in South Africa leaves much to be desired. The general assessment made by the international commission on concluding its work is, for example, unambiguous:

Taken as a whole, distance education’s contribution to the priorities for education and training in the Policy Framework is variously marginal, inefficient and, in respect of the values sought for democratic South Africa, dysfunctional.[1]

This general conclusion was also supported by more recent research into the quality of teacher education offered at a distance in South Africa, while the Green Paper on Higher Education has also reflected such concerns: ‘there are serious concerns about the efficacy, appropriateness and effectiveness of current distance education provision’[2]. Nevertheless, there are several positive developments which might form the basis for improving the quality of distance education in South Africa. These include the following:

•       the establishment of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and the National Qualifications Framework (NQF)

•       the proposed establishment of a Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC)

•       the development of a Human Resources Development Strategy and proposed establishment of a National HRD Council

•       the development of new legislation, and revision of existing legislation, to create an environment conducive to meeting the policy objectives set out in the White Paper on Education and Training

•       the development of new curriculum at national and provincial levels which will focus on lifelong learning

•       the formation of a National Association of Distance Education Organizations of South Africa (NADEOSA). 

Clearly, there is both significant policy commitment to the use of distance education methods in solving many of the country’s education problems and an urgent need to improve the quality of that provision.   

 International perspectives on quality assurance 

In compiling a set of standards for distance education and recommending processes to facilitate implementation and continuous enhancement of the standards, it is necessary not only to examine current policy and practice in South Africa, but also to analyse experience from around the world in both the provision of distance education and methods for assuring its quality. The results of this analysis are contained in chapter two. 

An examination of distance education provision around the world revealed the following trends:

1.   There is a range of institutions and technologies used to deliver education at a distance.

2.   Distance education methods are used across all sectors of education and training - in general (school) education, further education and training, adult basic education and training, and higher education and training.

3.   Distance education is delivered by state and state-aided bodies and by private, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.

4.   Some countries have a long history of distance education provision, while in others it is a relatively recent development.

5.   Contemporary trends in education, particularly the massification of higher education, are creating pressures for increased educational provision through distance methods.

6.   Distance education is increasingly being seen as vital to the transformation of education, rather than as a second-best mode of delivery.   

As far as methods of assuring the quality of distance education are concerned, it is notable that there has been a distinct development worldwide from external control to internal quality assurance. This evolutionary process has included many approaches to quality assurance, including the following:

•       Reliance on the law of the market;

•       The establishment of associations and codes of ethics;

•       Offering of accreditation by accrediting bodies;

•       The development and implementation of legislation;

•       The development of quality standards and Implementation of total quality management;

•       The use of quality assessment and quality audit; and

•       The development of internal quality assurance strategies.

Emerging from this research and in-depth examination of three approaches to quality assurance are various lessons for South Africa. They are as follows:

•       Some minimum legislation and codes of ethics are important, but are not sufficient guarantors of quality.

•       Guidelines/standards should be developed through a consultative process, so that they are both understood and accepted as valid by the people who will use them.

•       Standards for education should not (as legislation tends to do) merely prescribe a minimum, but give scope for continuous improvement.

•       Standards need to encourage a process of self-evaluation.

•       Standards should exemplify good practice, rather than laying down too many detailed rules.

•       Education is changing very rapidly, and any standards that are developed need to be continually reviewed. 

•       The contextual nature of education needs to be understood - external constraints and enabling forces need to be taken into consideration.

•       In the development of standards for education, it is useful to refer to international standards such as ISO9000 because they have a salutary emphasis on results - customer satisfaction, staff satisfaction, and business results.

•       To ensure maximum effectiveness, standards need to be supported by developmental activities focusing on the people and institutions that will use them.

•       To ensure maximum effectiveness, standards need to be embedded in a national quality assurance system. 

 A quality standards framework for South Africa distance 

 education provision 

The research outlined above provides a basis for developing a quality standards framework for South African distance education provision. In developing such a framework, it was first necessary to develop a clearer understanding of differences between distance and conventional education, as well as their similarities. 

Initially, the brief of this research process was to develop ‘Norms and Standards for Distance Education’. In various discussions with stakeholders, however, some unease with the notion of providing ‘norms’ was expressed. It was felt that ‘norms’ tend to be interpreted in a narrow way and had authoritarian overtones of top-down management approaches. The general feeling was that this could stifle quality practice in the interests of regulating against very poor practice. It was decided that, because the primary goal is to build and assure quality, rather than simply to describe was is expected or regarded as normal, the development of a framework of quality standards would be a more useful exercise. 

The quality standards have been written as descriptive not as regulatory. They focus on providing specific guidance for good practice, and not on outlining a set of minimum requirements. This approach has been taken because distance education methods are increasingly being employed in a multitude of educational contexts in South Africa, where the needs and requirements are often very different. It soon becomes clear that, in such an environment, attempting to set universally applicable measurements for these quality standards is a futile exercise. Consequently, the approach has been to develop guidance for good practice and not a set of minimum requirements. The standards are contained in chapter three of this report.   

 Implementing the quality standards: possible strategic directions 

Clearly, the existence of a distance education quality standards framework in a vacuum is unlikely to make any contribution to improving the quality of provision using distance education methods. Consequently, in chapter four, we build on that work by suggesting various processes which, if initiated within the framework of the quality standards outlined in the previous chapter, we believe will facilitate the growth of quality distance education provision in South Africa. They are summarized below.   

 External bodies focusing on assuring quality 

•       There is, in current descriptions of SAQA structures, no use for the distance education quality standards framework in the work of NSBs or SGBs - and any effort to establish separate standards-generating structures for ‘distance education’ should not be supported.

•       The quality standards for distance education should be used by all ETQAs (and bodies to which they delegate functions) as a framework for assessing the quality of education and training making use of distance education methods.

•       In employing the framework, ETQAs should focus on developmental, ‘quality-building’ functions rather than using the quality standards as a set of punitive measures or as a gate-keeping mechanism.

•       Quality standards for distance education should ultimately be integrated into a broader framework covering the entire continuum of methods of educational provision - and this should allow users (whether from ETQAs or institutions) to construct their own quality standards frameworks based on the specific methods of provision being used by the educational provider or programme concerned.

•       An agency should be appointed by SAQA to run professional development programmes for ETQAs to build their capacity to use the distance education quality standards framework effectively in their work.

•       The various bodies proposed in the Department of Labour’s HRD Strategy should be familiarized with the distance education quality standards framework, both to support their general work and to strengthen their relationships with various SAQA bodies, particularly the ETQAs.

•       The quality standards for distance education should be used by the HEQC (and bodies to which it delegates functions) as a framework for assessing the quality of education and training making use of distance education methods.

Legislative considerations 

•       The amendment of the Correspondence Colleges Act to be brought in line with South Africa’s new constitution should continue as a matter of priority.

•       In the longer term, the Correspondence Colleges Act should be replaced with an Act governing all private colleges and other private institutions operating in South Africa and not covered by existing legislation. The National Task Team on Further Education should be tasked with developing more detailed recommendations on the nature of the new legislation.

•       A review of existing legislation and scanning of planned legislation should be undertaken to ensure that there is legal uniformity in terms of distance education provision and in terms of the treatment of private and public providers of education and training.

•       As part of the investigation into funding formulae proposed by the NCHE report, the possibility of using the distance education quality standards framework as a tool to differentiate between correspondence and ‘true’ distance education for funding purposes should be investigated.

 Other departmental processes 

The work of this project and that of the Technology-Enhanced Learning Investigatio

should be regarded as complementary. Specifically:

•       the possibilities of using the decision-making framework and the distance education quality standards framework together in planning and evaluating courses and programmes which make use of distance education methods should be examined

•       integration of the distance education quality standards framework into the initiatives proposed by the Technology-Enhanced Learning Investigation should take place wherever feasible and appropriate.

Learning charters should be developed in an effort to protect the rights of students

enrolled in educational programmes offered at a distance. Specifically:

•       the national learning charter to be drawn up in 1997 should make specific reference to the rights and needs of such students

•       distance education institutions should develop learning charters in conjunction with their student bodies.

      In both cases, the distance education quality standards framework should be used as as basis when such charters are developed.   

 Internal quality assurance processes 

•       All educational planners and decision-makers should actively encourage the ongoing development of internal processes to build and assure the quality of education and training at all levels of the system.

•       Internal quality assurance processes implemented by institutions using distance education methods should be based on the guidelines provided in the distance education quality standards framework.

 Footnotes

[1] SAIDE, 1995, Open Learning and Distance Education in South Africa: Report of an International Commission, January - April 1994, MacMillan, Johannesburg, p. xxii.

[2] Ministry of Education, 1996, Green Paper on Higher Education Transformation, located at http://www.polity.org.za/govdocs/green_papers/hegreenp.html.