Papers Presented at the 1st National NADEOSA Conference
Held 11-13 August 1999

Author:
Mrs. J. W. Kamau and Dr. Isaac. S. Lusunzi Centre for Continuing Education, University of Botswana

Title:
Possibilities For Collaboration Among Continuing Education Institutions In Botswana

Abstract:
A number of governmental, non-governmental and tertiary institutions provide continuing education in Botswana. These institutions do not have formal collaboration despite the fact that they, in some cases, provide similar training. This paper investigates possibilities for collaboration, and starts by reviewing the current nature of continuing education in Botswana.

Inservice training is provided by the government. Distance education is still in its infancy. This mode of continuing education provides greater opportunities for institutional collaboration in Botswana.

The role of tertiary institutions, the proposed national distance education college and government, in nurturing distance education in Botswana, is explored. The rationale, nature and opportunities that collaboration may provide; such as the exchange of expertise, knowledge base, to achieve economies of scale, among continuing education institutions are appraised. To analyse effective collaboration, the paper recommends the formation of a parent college or "clearing house" which can provide information on and coordinate distance education programmes in Botswana.

Introduction: The Nature of Continuing Education in Botswana.

Government affiliated institutions are; Botswana Institute of Administration and Commerce (BIAC) the Department of Non-Formal Education (DNFE) and Vocational Training Centres (VTC). The Centre for Inservice and Continuing Education (CICE), Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) and the Department of Adult Education are affiliated to the University of Botswana. There are also private providers of continuing education such as Damelin College and the Botswana Accountancy College which provide short courses and run distance education programmes.

FORMS OF CONTINUING EDUCATION AVAILABLE IN BOTSWANA.

In-service activities through different Government Ministries.

Different ministries engage in different informal and formal in-service activities for staff development. These range from-peer attachments in other departments or institutions, organised workshops and short courses, fellowships and study tours to other institutions in or outside the country to the use of self study training packages geared towards attainment of professional qualifications.

Government is the major provider of continuing Education in Botswana. This is achieved by conducting inservice training in each Ministry. Ministries have specific training programmes for their staff development. To mention a few examples; Department of Teacher Training and Development (DTT&D), is responsible for teacher education; Botswana College of Agriculture and Rural Training Centres conduct short-courses for Agricultural extension officers and the Institute of Health Sciences (IHS) is for staff in the nursing profession.

Botswana National Productivity Centre (BNPC) and the Institute of Development Management (IDM) provide management training for civil servants. Their overall objectives is to enhance performance and productivity, respectively. Sincerely, parastatal organisations such as Botswana Telecommunication Corporation (BTC), Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) and Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) have their own training schemes.

The private sector provides continuing education relevant to the nature of their business. Commercial banks, retail, manufacturing and tourism industries provide on the job training for their employees.

However, as Bennell (1995) observes, these in-service activities particularly in education are, "little more than a patchwork of one-off, un-related workshops for which no formal recognition or credit is given. Bennell recommends the introduction of well defined avenues of progression that allow personnel to study for recognised professional qualifications. This could be in form of attending classes in the evenings as in the case of the Certificate and Diploma in Accounting and Business Studies which are offered by the CCE, of University of Botswana, or during vacation at validated training institutions supported by distance education technologies. To facilitate this approach, courses could be developed on a free-standing modular order so as to ensure flexibility in carrying forward credits earned either after a time lapse or from one institution to another. Planning of such a course requires the offering institutions to work very closely with the ministries which will second learners to the courses on offer.

Continuing education programmes are provided through different modes. Examples of these are short courses, evening classes, attachments to institutions and distance education. Distance Education is a growing component of continuing education in Botswana. It is mainly provided by government training institutions and the University of Botswana.

DISTANCE EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN BOTSWANA

Historical Background.

Historically, Botswana’s involvement in distance education has been at two levels, first as a consumer of distance education programmes (correspondence courses) and as a provider. As a consumer, Batswana have for many years received correspondence courses from private and public correspondence institutions in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Britain.

Between 1960 and 1965, for example, some primary school teachers received training from the Salisbury Correspondence College in modern day Zimbabwe and graduated with an Elementary Teachers’ Certificate, through what is popularly known in Botswana as the Salisbury Experiment. This experiment led to a number of innovations in the training of teachers.

In order to alleviate the problem of untrained teachers; the government launched the Francistown Project between 1968 - 1973. This project involved the upgrading of over 700 untrained teachers through the distance education mode. This project proved that teachers could be upgraded through non-traditional means.

In 1973, the Botswana Extension College (BEC) was established to offer secondary School education to adults who needed to further their qualifications for career advancement. Teaching was conducted through self-instructional materials support by radio and face to face contact. In 1978, the BEC was absorbed in the Department of Non formal Education as the Distance Education Division and has continued to run secondary school courses at both Junior and Senior Secondary levels ever since.

Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning (BOCDOL).

Government policy in Botswana recognises distance education as a system which will avail learning opportunities to a wide range of school leavers and adults (National Commission on Education, 1993). Towards this end; plans are at an advanced stage to establish the Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning (BOCDOL) which will provide educational opportunities at the pre-tertiary level. Courses in Junior Certificate (JC) and General Certificate of Education (GCE) which are offered to school leavers under 21, form the backbone of all BOCDOL programmes. The college will also develop vocational courses for the clientele that requires those courses for the job market. Also, in the plan are possibilities of developing business studies oriented study materials which will enhance post literacy entrepreneurial skills for new literates.

Pertinent needs of distance education institutions to manage collaboration.

The means of communication amongst institutions should be compatible. This includes Word processing facilities. Strategic plans of institutions should be synchronized in order that collaboration benefit all of them. Programmes of common interest should be embarked on first. This will ensure that some institutions do not foster partisan interests. To effect optimal collaboration, a through survey of member institutions’ enthusiasm towards collaboration should be conducted first.

The role of the University of Botswana in Distance Education.

The government has also designated the University of Botswana to provide tertiary level courses through distance mode. The University operates its distance education courses through the Distance Education Unit, Centre for Continuing Education.

The Centre for Continuing Education was established in 1987 as an autonomous unit of the University to provide tertiary level and other continuing education programmes at the University. Since 1991, it has enjoyed a faculty status and from 1993, it has been designated by the Revised National Commission Policy on Education as the "lead agency for the provision of part-time and distance education programmes for adults at the tertiary level in Botswana" (National Commission on Education, 1993).

In pursuant of this policy, the centre’s Distance Education Unit is currently, providing distance education programmes at the Certificate level to Adult and Community Education Extension workers. They mainly work as Literacy Assistants; supervising literacy programmes in the country, Consumer Education Officers, Prisons officers and personnel working with the Brigades. This two year course attracts working adults who cannot be spared from their work to attend a conventional institution. A significant challenge is that many graduates from this course wish to continue to the Diploma in Adult Education course which is currently offered internally only. Time has come for the University of Botswana to explore possibilities of offering the Diploma in Adult Education course through distance Education.

The other priority area is to launch the Diploma in Primary Education course. This course is meant to upgrade academic and professional qualifications of well over 9000 Primary Teacher Certificate holders (PTC’s) to the Diploma Level. Plans are at an advanced stage to launch this course starting with 600 students.

Apart from certificate and diploma courses, the University has the mandate to offer undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Currently, the Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education is planning a Masters course in Administration and Management for School Heads via distance mode. Expertise to run this programme at a distance is provided through the Centre for Continuing Education.

Institute of Health Sciences - Serowe.

The other major provider of distance education programmes is the Institute of Health Science situated at Serowe, Botswana. Between 1963 and 1987 the Institute trained enrolled nurses at the Certificate Level only.

However with effect from 1987 a Post Basic Midwifery course was introduced. In 1994, the enrolled nurse training was phased out and replaced with the enrolled Registered nurse upgrading programme at the Diploma level. The registered nurse upgrading programme is offered to full time students for one year and part time students for two years through distance education. The part time upgrading programme is meant to upgrade serving enrolled nurses from the Certificate to the diploma level. The full-time and in-service students sit the same final year examinations. To qualifying for the course, applicants should have a Certificate in enrolled nursing and five years working experience. This programme is based on a deficit model whereby the difference between entering knowledge and skills of the enrolled nurses and the programme outcomes of the three year full time general nursing programme are considered, (Annual Report 1995/96 academic year).

In general terms, collaboration or co-operation refers to a situation where two or more institutions, departments, agencies or organisations which are separate or autonomous in decision making work together in order to achieve an educational need which is of mutual benefit to them. Adekanmbi, Kamau and Mphinyane (1996) define collaboration as

"simply pooling resources and efforts together through identified strategies to promote efficiency. The major feature of collaboration is therefore sharing in form of a partnership rather than one partner lording it over the other.

WHY COLLABORATE?

In the present world of limited funds, infrastructures, expertise and other requisite resources, collaborating to mount continuing education programmes, in order to share the available resources is the way ahead. In the case of Botswana, collaboration in the provision of continuing education and particularly through the distance mode is inevitable. In his comments on National Institutional Relations and Partnerships in Botswana, Dodds (1996) sees provision of distance education programmes succeeding mainly through collaborative efforts.

The Botswana Distance Education College and the Centre for Continuing Education, for example, need to forge a partnership with the Ministry of Education regarding the use of Education Centres, Junior and Senior Secondary Schools in the provision of student Support Services. Similarly, the BOCDOL and the Distance Education Unit of CCE could collaborate in the Development of Instructional materials by tapping instructional design expertise facilities from each other.

Collaborative effort could also lead to professional staff development. Services to develop Support media in form of radio programmes, audio and video cassette tapes could be obtained from the Educational Broadcasting Unit of the Radio Botswana, the Department of Educational Technology, University of Botswana and from the up coming Broadcasting Media Complex at Mochudi.

GENERAL AREAS OF COLLABORATION.

Dhanarajan and Timmers (1990) identified a number of areas for collaboration which are relevant in continuing education institutions in Botswana. For any collaborative effort to work, the partners to be must have information about what is available and where, when it can be obtained, and at what cost. They must then consider the factors that contribute to either the success or failure of any co-operative arrangements. In this paper we shall consider a few general but key areas.

Staff Training.

It is important for institutions to collaborate in staff training in order to develop the required specialised manpower. In this respect trainers from different institutions can team up to offer their expertise in the training of staff. Through sharing of available resources, different institutions will develop staff capacity, acquire/and provide technical skills, and exchange experiences, (Jenkins, 1990).

In addition certain obstacles must be overcome before collaboration can commence. Collaborators must kill the notion of :the "not developed here" syndrome (Foks, 1990).

Examples of collaborative efforts.

Already, there are collaborative efforts in this region that are a success story. The Distance Education Association of Southern Africa (DEASA) brings together member distance education institutions from Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa and Namibia to deliberate on the practice of distance education. Already, member institutions are benefiting from a one year Certificate and a two-year Post Graduate course in distance education offered through UNISA. In Adult Education, the Botswana Adult Education Association BAEAE, brings together all practitioners to deliberate on the provision and practice of adult education. This Association holds workshops in which papers are presented and discussed in all areas related to adult and continuing education.

At the sub-regional level, there is the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which addresses socio-economic issues and provision of educational programmes. The exchange of academic staff and students rate very high on the (SADC) Agenda.

POSSIBLE AREAS OF COLLABORATION.

The vehicle that drives collaboration is common interest. Therefore, potential areas of collaboration should be identified and mechanisms put in place to effect them. The rationale of this approach is that only relevant experiences can be shared. This is to make for the lack of adequate content training among participants. Therefore, collaboration in subjects they teach is of primary importance. This process facilitates collaborative production of self-instructional and interactive study materials.

Collaborative subject material development: Common academic subjects offered by distance education institutions.

Communication and Study Skills.

At the Centre for Inservice and Continuing Education (CICE), Communication and Study Skills is called Scientific writing while at the Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) and the Botswana Institute of Administration and Commerce (BIAC) it is called Communication skills. The Department of Non-Formal Education (DNFE) and Vocational Training Centres (VTC) do not have this course. This leads to a situation in which their graduates may lack skills necessary for imparting their professional knowledge. This is contrary to the principles of inservice training, and indeed training in general.

Communication and Study Skills should be taught in all institutions. Communication skills could be further tailored to suit a specific profession, for example, scientific writing or communication skills for accountants. However, the bulk of the course is relevant to all academic and professional pursuit. Of immediate importance are skills such as note taking, the preparation of assignments, study techniques etc.

Institutions without communication skills as a subject do not have to start writing a blue print of their own. They may access study guides and manuals produced in other institutions, adopt and

modify them in order to prepare subject content that best suit their profession.

Agriculture.

This is a specialty area of CICE. CCE, DNFE and VTC (Mochudi) teach Agriculture too but at the GCE "O" level. CICE being the inservice arm affiliated with the Botswana College of Agriculture and The Ministry of Agriculture, can access expertise in Agriculture (at "O" levels) and act as a resource for Agricultural Education for other institutes. Equally, it is better placed to moderate in courses offered in other institutions. CICE could also bring expertise on Agricultural extension to this collaborative effort.

Art.

The Centre for Continuing Education plans to introduce art as a distance education subject. Jwaneng VTC has been running this course for some time. CCE could learn how this subject is conducted, particularly the practical aspect, from Vocational Training Centres.

Environmental Sciences.

Environmental Sciences are currently taught at CICE and will, in future, be offered as part of science subjects in the Diploma in Primary Education at CCE. The course at CICE is more community orientated (application) while at the latter institution it is academic. These two institutions can exchange knowledge and basic information, resulting in a more complete joint Environmental Science curriculum.

Mathematics and Applied mathematical Sciences.

Mathematics and Computing Science are subjects which should be universally taught in distance education institutions. They make the learning of other subjects a more organised process. Mathematics is not taught in Vocational Training Centres and Centre for Inservice and Continuing Education as a subject.

Mathematics is essential in improving the aptitude of data analysis and manipulation. Institutions that do not offer mathematics should seek assistance of resources from BIAC and CCE and possibly the DNFE to establish mathematics programmes that are relevant to their profession.

Computing and computer applications are currently taught at BIAC. It is time that other institutions request assistance in using study guides and other self-study materials with the view to teach this subject.

Exchange of course materials.

The biggest difficulty in transferring course materials comes because of the difference between the curricula of the two institutions. This

problem is however not present if one partner designs, develops, produces and examines courses and makes the awards while the other partner designs and implements the student support system. It would be easy for example for the Centre for Continuing Education to set up student support system for students studying for a course offered and examined by UNISA. Thus borrowed materials to be examined on another curriculum must be assessed for adaptation and supplementation and this process takes time. Related to these are issues of readability and usability, social cultural and geographical contents which could hinder learning where course materials are used without adaptation.

Different Institutions have different policies governing how material can be borrowed. These must be studied and understood by programme administrators before material can be adapted.

Transfer, adaptation and joint course development have related costs which need to be thrashed out in the collaboration package.

Assessment and examination.

To design and conduct appropriate assessment and examination procedures the partners administering the course need to know the subject matter and the local context. Already, students from Botswana taking the Certificate in Distance Education have found some assignments difficult to answer because the socio-economic and political context in which the assignments are set differ from what obtains in Botswana.

Sharing facilities in Study centres: An evaluation of student support and Economies of Scale.

The infrastructure necessary to run effective distance education programmes is expensive. However, establishing permanent study centres and installing the requisite equipment is a must. Reading rooms and library facilities are essential student support services and are an important component of study centres. Other services that study centres should provide are course administration, computers, videos and tutors. There is currently a critical shortage of manpower, computers, office space and transportation in the Ministry of Education (1997), which is a parent organisation for most of distance education institutions.

Most institutions do not have permanent study centres. These centres should be established, particularly in the rural areas, where the bulk of the population reside. This is necessary if distance education training programmes are to grow. The establishment of fully equipped regional study centres could be a collaborative effort of distance education institutions. The sighting of these centres should be in regional centres such as Maun, Ghanzi, Francistown, Serowe, Mahalapye, Mochudi, Lobatse, Molepolole, Kanye, Hukuntsi and Goodhope. Senior Secondary Schools and Educational Centres could provide additional student support.

The advantage of sharing student support facilities is the lower operational costs per student. There will be no need to duplicate equipment and personnel, namely; Vehicles, Security guards, tutors, books, computers and administrators. In addition, these facilities can be efficiently used as they will not be allowed to idle.

The collaboration of distance education institutions would make their impact felt if they jointly mounted continuing education institutional campaigns. This would allow them to disseminate information on distance education in general.

Collaboration could make the provision of training at a distance a more efficient business. The marketing of programmes could be jointly done. Better still, there could be a joint "one stop shop" with information on all distance education programmes in Botswana. The proposed Botswana Distance Education College could fulfill such a role (Ministry of Education, 1997).

Sharing printing facilities.

Most distance education institutions do not have in-house printing facilities. Government affiliated institutions; namely, CICE, BIAC, DNFE and VTC have access to the Government Printer. Therefore, CCE should collaborate with the former institutions in study material development and production so that it can have to access materials produced by the Government printer.

STRATEGIES FOR ACHIEVING COLLABORATION.

As indicated by Mphinyane (1994), collaborating institutions should work out mechanisms to facilitate their collaborative efforts. There is the need to establish a clearing house which would assist institutions in continuing education to get information, monitor and evaluate viability of existing programmes and make suggestions. Such an agency would also identify gaps in training, and identify institutions, where staff can be trained individually or in a collaborative manner.

The clearing house could serve the needs of all continuing education institutions in the country. The clearing house could operate from an established institution to start with and thereafter stand alone as an autonomous organisation. In terms of co-ordination, the co-operating partners would take decisions on how this agency would be run.

In this era of high technology, the co-operating institutions could be linked together via the internet in order to network more effectively. Such an agency would start by scouting for available courses/programmes that are relevant to staff in their institutions. It could also determine how such courses can be accessed and the related costs and how they can be administered jointly. Courses would be more learner centered, for example, those related to income generating activities and vocational skills and life skills for the youth.

MANAGING COLLABORATION AMONG CONTINUING EDUCATION PROVIDERS.

Structures that need to be put in place to facilitate collaboration?

In order to collaborate effectively the partners must conduct a needs assessment survey. This survey will reveal:

information required e.g. on existing, planned or potential continuing education programmes and the mode of offer used.

research and evaluation reports,

information on resources available in form of

personnel, courses, technological developments.

The partners should then collate and disseminate this information and work out the next line of action. In terms of course materials, there is need to know what exists, what is in preparation and what is in the planning process. Very often, institutions do not know how to negotiate for course materials. Expertise in this area must be sought and obtained in form of a copyright lawyers or legal advice for example.

For collaboration to work, appropriate management structure should be put in place to ensure that all institutions have equal influence on the activities of the association. An umbrella body or committee may be formed to lobby on behalf of all participating institutions and to manage their collaboration.

Equally, for each institution should have the minimum instruments necessary to exploit the fruits of collaboration. These instruments could be in the form of computers or trained personnel. There should be the means of communication and regular meetings for all institutions. Their strategic plans should be synchronized.

Conclusion.

Collaboration provides opportunities for institutions to share their programmes and expertise with institutions that do not have such courses. This is cost effective to recipient institutions.

Collaboration in subject development is a valuable exercise in that the institution offering assistance gains experience and has an opportunity to have a second look at its materials, while the recipient institution obtains the material which is already in a distance mode. Such joint ventures increase the capacity to teach larger numbers of students. Students enrolled by one institution may receive their study materials from another institution. This may occur when resources are limited in the former institution.

References

Adekanmbi, G. Kamau, J. and Mphinyane, O.P (1998), "Collaboration in Distance Education." Journal of AALAE, Vol. 10., No. 1.

Bennell, P. (1995), A Training Policy for Education Professionals in Botswana: A Report to the Ministry of Education of Botswana. Institute of Development Studies, University of Essex.

Dhanarajan, G. and Timmers, S. (1990), "Transfer and adaptation of Self Instructional Materials: Some issues and considerations". In Technical and Vocational Education and Training by Distance: Report of an International Conference convened by the Commonwealth of Learning. City Polytechnic, Hong Kong: 19 - 23, Nov. 1990.

Dodds, T. (1996), "Implementation Report on the Establishment of a Botswana Distance Education College": Report on a consultancy carried out for the Government of Botswana sponsored by the Commonwealth of Learning, 8 - 19 November. 1996.

Foks, J. (1990), "Sharing Technical and Vocational Distance Education Resources". In Technical and Vocational Education and Training by Distance Education: a report of an International Conference Convened by the Commonwealth of Learning. City Polytechnic, Hong Kong: 19 - 23 Nov. 1990.

Jenkins, J. (1990), ‘"Strategies for Collaborative Staff Training in Distance Education".. As cited in Course 4: The Management and organisation of Distance Education: A reader. International Extension College with University of London Institute of Education.

Institute of Health Sciences (1977), Annual Report, 1995/96 Academic year , Serowe.

Mphinyane, O.P (1994), Report on the Seminar on Distance Education Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania 14 - 17 Nov. 1994.

National Commission on Education (1993), Report of the National Commission on Education. Government Printer. Gaborone, p298.

Ibid. p302

Republic of Botswana - Ministry of Education (1997), Fifth Biennial report, 1994 - 1996. Botswana Government Printer. Gaborone. Botswana. p49.

Ibid. p28.

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