Introduction

In early 1996, the Department of Education, within its directorate of Distance Education, Media and Technological Services, identified the need for a project to investigate norms and standards for distance education. Distance education in South Africa is characterized by rapid expansion, inadequate provision of infrastructure and support for students, and rapidly growing interest from overseas providers of distance education in running their programmes in South Africa[1]. In a climate such as this, the development of standards and policy to build and assure the quality of distance education in South Africa is essential.

 Brief of the project 

The purpose of this project was to compile a set of standards for distance education and to recommend processes to facilitate implementation and continuous enhancement of the standards. The intention is that these standards and recommendations could ultimately become policy of the Ministry of Education. The standards will act as guidelines for distance education providers. Their purpose will be to:

  •       encourage provision of quality distance education to students;

  •       extend educational opportunities to deal effectively with the growing need for education;

  •       eliminate backlogs in education;

  •       ensure users’ rights;

  •       encourage and ensure providers’ rights;

  •       ensure recognition of prior learning and open access;

  •       support outcomes-based approaches to education and training; and

  •       ensure integration of education, training, and development.   

 The research process

In response to the need to develop standards and policy to build and assure the quality of distance education in South Africa, the Directorate of Distance Education, Media and Technological Services consulted key organizations, compiled a draft concept document, and arranged a workshop with a representative group of distance education providers in South Africa on the 8th of July, 1996. The purpose of this initial workshop was to discuss the direction the project ought to take. Several points emerged strongly from the discussions:

  •       norms and standards should be part of a broad quality assurance system for education as a whole

  •       the work done during the project should result in guidelines, principles and criteria, rather than detailed regulation and legislation

  •       recommendations on current legislation such as the Correspondence Colleges Act (1965), which influenced distance education in the past, were required to ensure that such legislation reflected new approaches to distance education.  

It was agreed that the project should produce a document making policy recommendations on distance education to the Department of Education, other Government Departments, and a range of other relevant structures. Three groups were established in order to carry the work of the project forward:

  1.      a research group of seven people, to be responsible for the research and report writing process;

  2.      a planning group of sixteen people, to be responsible for directing and actively commenting on the  research group; and

  3.      a reference group representing all stakeholders, to be responsible for commenting on a draft policy document before it goes public.

At the first meeting of the planning group and research group on the 1st of August, the final brief of the project, as outlined above, was developed. In addition, terms of reference were set for each group and a proposed working process was amended and approved.    

Terms of reference 

The following terms of reference were set up for each of the three groups involved in the research project. 

Research group

The Research group will meet the brief of the project by:

  •       developing a framework for the project;

  •       conducting research and investigating issues relating to norms and standards for distance education;

  •       preparing a full and argued draft document on norms and standards for distance education which makes recommendations to the reference group on policy regarding norms, standards and guidelines for distance education; and

  •       preparing a final document for presentation to the Minister of Education on the basis of comments from the reference group and other relevant parties.   

Planning group

The Planning group will be responsible for:

  •       refining time-frames for the project;

  •       deciding on dates for meetings;

  •       approving a framework for the investigation;

  •       modifying and approving the proposed process;

  •       commenting on parts of the draft document produced by the research group before it goes to the reference group; and

  •       supporting the research group in appropriate ways.  

Reference group

The Reference group:

  •       represents stakeholders; and

  •       comments on the draft document before submission to the Minister of Education.   

Working process 

The following initial working process was agreed upon for the project:

1.   The Directorate of Distance Education, Media, and Technological Services consults key organizations on the need for the project.

2.   The Directorate compiles a draft concept document to provide a basis for discussion.

3.   The Directorate arranges a workshop to elect various groups to carry the project forward.

4.   The Research Group compiles a framework for the project, and begins research.

5.   The Research Group consults student and elicits student contributions and opinions.

6.   The Planning Group meets the Research Group to comment on and review work done, to identify ways in which they can contribute, and to discuss the strategic direction of the project.

7.   The Research Group appoints report writers to prepare the draft discussion document, including the contributions of members of the Planning Group.

8.   The Directorate distributes the draft discussion document widely for comment.  

9.   The Directorate arranges a national workshop/gathering of stakeholders to discuss the draft document.

10.  The report writers compile a final document for submission to the Minister of  Education.    

Further development of the project 

With the terms of reference and a broad working process established, the Research Group met to draw up the framework for the report, to allocate research tasks, and to identify the main report writer. Key research tasks included an investigation of key policy statements and research papers, examination of some of the key events affecting distance education provision in South Africa, and analysis of international approaches to quality assurance in distance education. Research then began, with deadlines being set on the basis of various key consultative processes and Research Group meetings. 

The Research Group held internal meetings to:

  • report on various consultative efforts

  • present background work (reflected in chapters one and two)

  • discuss the framework for Quality Standards (contained in chapter three)

  • develop strategic initiatives (described in chapter four)

  • outline a process for managing the distribution of student questionnaires

  • plan a consultative workshop with the Planning Group.

A second workshop involving the Planning Group was then held on the 11th of

October. Broad approval was gained for work done thus far, and input on the 

developing quality standards framework and proposed strategic initiatives was 

solicited. As part of this, Planning Group members were requested to submit 

initial quality standards to fit into the developing framework. The Group was 

split into five, and people were asked, as a minimum input, to submit proposed 

standards on the topics assigned to their small group. The topics were 

assigned as follows:  

Group

Categories

One

-      General Philosophy

-      Learners

-      Programmes

Two

-      Curriculum/Courses

-      Courseware Development

Three

-      Student Support

-      Student Assessment

Four

-      Management and Administration

-      Human Resource Strategy

Five

-      Quality Assurance

-      Marketing

-      Collaboration Between Organizations

 

Consultative processes

Consultation regarding SAQA and the NQF

Two members of the Research group consulted Meg Pahad - a member of the Ministerial Working Group on the Development of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) - in August to discuss how the Quality Standards Project should relate to the development work on the NQF. This was followed up by a meeting in November with Sam Isaacs -  chairperson of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) Board - and a formal submission from the Research Group to the SAQA Board. The recommendations in the chapter on Strategic Directions have relied extensively on these very valuable discussions. 

Consultation regarding legislation processes and the Correspondence Colleges Act

In August, two members of the Research Group met members of the legal department (Dr. Madiba and Dr. Lane) to discuss legislation processes and the Correspondence College Act (Act 59 of 1965), mutual interests, and possible cooperation between different projects. Dr. Lane was also invited to address the Planning Group during the second Planning Group workshop, and a follow-up meeting was held with her to discuss emerging proposals being generated by the Research Group. The section of chapter one dealing with legislation and the proposals on legislation reflect some of the discussion that took place at these meeting.    

In addition, two members of the Research Group met members of the Correspondence College Council in November, and explained the thinking that had begun to emerge regarding the possibility of legislation for all private colleges, rather than merely for private distance education colleges.  

Consultation of students

On the 10th of September, two members of the Research Group met five representatives of student organizations to introduce the project to them and to invite their comment on and participation in the process. A Student Satisfaction Questionnaire had been drafted, and was presented to the students for amendment and approval. They were happy to assist with the distribution of the Questionnaire, feeling that it was important to provide students in distance education with the opportunity to voice their opinions about the quality of their educational experience. 

On the basis of this, five hundred questionnaires were circulated to tertiary students in Gauteng as well as in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal, the Taung area (NorthWest Province/Northern Cape), and Mpumalanga.  Of these, 139 questionnaires were returned, 17 enrolled in degree courses and the rest by students involved in professional development courses related to teaching.  A researcher was appointed to process the questionnaires and write a report on the trends emerging.  Her report is in Appendix C.     

Conclusion 

The final report was compiled on the basis of these various consultative processes and the research conducted by the Research Group. The final meeting of the Research Group was held on 21 November. Final deadlines for submission of material to the report writer and for the submission of comments on aspects of the report were then set. The main report writer undertook to complete this draft discussion document by the end of  December 1996, so that it could be printed and distributed for comment between  January and March 1997. On the basis of responses received to this draft discussion document, an amended research document will be presented to the Minister of Education in April 1997.

 Footnotes 

[1] Appendix B contains more detailed factual information on current provision of distance education in South Africa, as a supplement to the main report.