Case Study

Guyana

 University of Guyana  - Institute of Distance and Continuing Education

Prepared by: Lynette Anderson; Fitzroy Marcus; Elaine Thomas

Brief description of the programme

The Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (idce) began in 1976 as the Extramural Department of the University of Guyana’s Faculty of Education. Its objective was to take quality education to adults throughout the 10 regions of Guyana. By 1982, the department had increased the scope and reach of its activities so significantly that it was reconstituted as the Institute of Adult and Continuing Education and assigned a status equivalent to that of a faculty. The newly formed institute was mandated to use distance education modalities to extend its reach to remote and deep riverine areas in order to make educational opportunities accessible to the thousands of Guyanese resident in those areas, who previously were denied such opportunities because of the dual constraints of distance and population spread.

In 1992, the institute launched a pre-university distance education programme aimed at increasing the number of learners qualified to enter the university. A concomitant thrust was the consolidation of idce’s efforts at raising public awareness about distance education, assisting decision makers to see distance education as a viable option for making education accessible to learners in remote areas, and developing a pool of resource persons. The outcomes include a student body of 1,029 learners drawn from the 10 regions of Guyana, various forms of participation by the institute in the development of all other distance education programmes that have been introduced by other agencies, and idce’s representation on the National Committee for Distance Education. Out of the institution’s involvement in distance education has developed not only a commitment by its administration to making distance education an integral part of its activities, but also a commitment by the administration of the University of Guyana to employing dual mode strategies to offer university level programmes to learners who cannot attend classes at its Turkeyen Campus. A corollary has been the current nomenclature of the institute. The renamed institute has the responsibility of facilitating the introduction of the university’s distance education activities.

Problems encountered

Planning and managing distance education

•       A participatory approach is one of the characteristics of planning and managing distance education at idce. This is evident in the strategies employed in conducting needs analyses and in designing, developing, and implementing the programme.

•       Another characteristic is flexibility, since support provision is influenced by the human and physical resources available in the student’s region. This support operates on the principle of ‘equality of concern’ rather than ‘equality of provision’.

Implementing quality assurance

•         idce’s distance education programme represents a shift from conventional practice to new approaches to learning. The institute therefore views the implementation of quality assurance strategies as essential since a natural resistance to change must be met with the assurance that standards will be maintained if not surpassed. The challenge lies in ensuring that all involved in the provision of distance education, including academic and non-academic staff, recognise this fact and be sufficiently motivated to strive for excellence at all times.

Using and integrating media in distance education

•       The institute’s integration of media in the course package is based on the principle that in distance education there is a need to serve various learning styles, to help to reinforce learning, to motivate learners, and to minimise their feelings of isolation.

•       Print is the basic medium of instruction. Teleconferencing and audio cassettes are meant to provide valuable support. Despite generous assistance from The Commonwealth of Learning during the period 1992 to 1996, problems were encountered. They included:

                           - a poor or non-existent communication infrastructure, including an unreliable electricity supply in remote areas;

               - a lack of telephone links; and

         - a shortage of resource persons adequately trained to prepare and produce the audio material.

Instructional design and production for distance education

•            When distance education institutions attempt to produce materials without providing adequate finances, difficulties must arise. In the absence of a central budget for materials production, remuneration for course-writing teams, tutor–markers, and other support staff has been inadequate. Furthermore, an inadequate desktop publishing system has added to the challenges.
  

Learner support systems

•       The distance education programme the institute offers is learner-centred. All its components, whether print-based, classroom-based, or audio-based, are oriented toward the provision of learner support. The challenge lies in the management of the programme. Strategies to meet Guyana’s unique geographical, cultural, economic, and educational situation must be developed and implemented.

•            Support staff accustomed to the conventional system must be trained and retrained for their task of ensuring that students receive the necessary support. This is essential if learners are to complete their courses successfully.

The most important issue: Supporting learners in remote areas

Supporting learners in the remote areas of Guyana presents a significant challenge to idce’s distance education system. Overseeing the tutorial system and generally providing learner support services are activities dependent on the deployment of competent and highly motivated staff, as well as a good communication infrastructure. Learners are scattered over vast forested areas, some accessible only by aircraft, where few qualified tutors may reside. Sharing of expertise is difficult even in cases in which only a few miles may have to be covered. An underdeveloped communications infrastructure restricts the use of telephones or teleconferencing. Some access to radio links exists but that, however, does not guarantee quality interaction.

The limited finances available to the university contribute to inadequate funding. Some of the energy of staff is devoted to seeking funds from various local and international sources. The presence of the distance education system is largely due to the range of support (advisory and training) extended by the Tommonwealth of Learning. The Organisation of American States (oas) has also contributed directly to the costs of managing our remote support activities.

Despite the constraints, a mobile team is used to provide tutorial support for learners, matching to some extent the pattern of air services provided to these communities. Most flights to remote areas must originate in the capital, making it difficult for staff from our interior locations to service neighbouring locations. Staff based in the coastal areas, however, can and do make direct flights in, at intervals, to give support to students at specific locations. It is also possible to include competent staff from interior locations to be part of the mobile team providing learner support in areas outside their own locations.

Lessons learned

The provision of learning materials and visits by mobile teams to interior areas needs to be further supported by mentoring, which will prove beneficial in enhancing the learner’s ability to study through distance strategies. A further benefit inheres in the fact that interaction between learners and a mentor who understands the environs and cultural practices is highly motivating.

There is also a need to sensitise planners, policy makers, and regional officials as a first step to introducing courses in remote areas. This method has resulted in a collaborative approach to the identification of needs and resource persons.