DISTANCE EDUCATION AN EMPOWERING DISCIPLINE OR JUST A PASSING RAGE: A CASE OF ODL INSTITUTIONS IN ZIMBABWE

DISTANCE EDUCATION AN EMPOWERING DISCIPLINE OR JUST A PASSING RAGE: A CASE OF ODL INSTITUTIONS IN ZIMBABWE

THOMAS M. KAPUTA

JUDITH TAFANGOMBE

This study is on graduates’ perceived feelings on how Distance Education (DE) offering institutions in Zimbabwe have empowered them. We asked the question: Is DE an empowering discipline or a passing rage which is being used by most institutions as a raison d’être. The development of Open and
Distance Learning (ODL) institutions in the world has largely been done by conventional Universities. Distance educators agree that distance education includes both distance learning and teaching. With the advent of changes in
industry’s demand for more qualified personnel that may need to be trained
whilst on the job, conventional universities and colleges have failed to cope.
The economies of scale of this approach saw many people getting
qualifications whilst they were on the job. Governments who are the
recipients of most of the graduates get concerned when most of their people
are not educated. This has resulted in the development of the single and dual
mode institutions of distance education to a large extent with the latter
preceding. In this study which was carried out in the beginning of 2013. A
qualitative research paradigm was used focusing on the graduates of DE from
both conventional and ODL institutions. This was a phenomenological design
because it dwelt on a careful description and analysis of the participants’ life
world and the meaning extracted thereof. Participants who included
graduates, employers and lecturers were conveniently selected from the
different institutions in Zimbabwe. The sample consisted of ten graduates
from eight institutions. We used an on line open ended interview schedule,
personal accounts and document analysis to collect data. This provided us
with an opportunity to look at different worldviews of the empowerment
phenomenon. The findings show mixed reactions from graduates on their
empowerment status. Fierce competition is rife between institutions raising
ethical, business and quality issues. We recommend that policy be put in
place to fine tune this DE to empower all graduates regardless of their
institution

Greener Journal of Educational Research

2014