Developing NADEOSA's Draft Code of Ethics

A decision to develop a NADEOSA code of ethics was taken at the business meeting preceding the NADEOSA Council meeting on 23 March, 1998. Leanne Williamson sketches the background and reports on further developments.

Transpiring from discussions at the business meeting, was a sense that, for a number of reasons, it will be very valuable for NADEOSA to develop its own Code of Ethics. Firstly, a NADEOSA Code of Ethics will be a stated set of standards to which the organisation aspires. Also, NADEOSA's adopting such a code will entail that institutions who use the privilege of advertising themselves as members of NADEOSA will be expected to adhere to certain ethical standards. Furthermore, membership of the organisation will become more meaningful in that members take pride in being part of NADEOSA, as the association expects its members to adhere to certain standards and there is the possibility of exclusion should an institution be considered as unscrupulous.

An ad hoc committee, comprising of myself, Tessa Welch and Tony Lelliot, was elected to research the matter and compose a draft. The committee examined a number of Codes of Ethics, and then drew up a draft copy based on the ADEC document, which was considered to be the closest to the needs of NADEOSA.

This draft was circulated to members of the NADEOSA Executive as well as to those persons who have indicated at the council meeting that they are interested in making a contribution. The draft document has stimulated some lively debate and has been modified several times as a result. It will be presented at Council in August for final comment before being formalised.

What is envisaged is a simple and brief set of general principles of conduct which those who want to belong to NADEOSA sign as a commitment to upholding these principles. Therefore adherence to the code becomes a condition of membership and NADEOSA has the right exclude any organization who is unable or not prepared to keep to these standards.

It is important to state here that the committee does not propose that NADEOSA becomes an ombudsman to detailed and draconian codes regulating distance education. The principles are few, reasonable, general and easily maintained by any self respecting organization and merely affect membership of the organisation.

The committee considers that NADEOSA's main aim is to have an organization through which members can share, learn, have a more powerful voice to articulate concerns, and influence the positive growth of distance education in South Africa. SAQA and the ETQAs affecting distance education will take care of standards.

Should any member like to add his/her comments or suggestions to influence the drafting and adoption of this code, please feel free to contact any person on the Code of Ethics Committee:

Leanne Williamson (Chairperson)
Access College
tel: (0331) 94 6089
fax: (0331) 42 7419

Tony Lelliott
Wits Department of Education
tel: (011) 716 5793
fax: (011) 403 2814

Tessa Welch
SAIDE
tel: (011) 403 2813
fax: (011) 403 2814

NADEOSA Submission on the FET Green Paper

by Rahmat Omar

NADEOSA's response to the FET Green Paper was submitted to the Department of Education on 29 May, 1998. Individual institutions /organisations affiliated to NADEOSA, including Technikon SA, Technisa, SAIDE and some of the private colleges, indicated that they would also make their own submissions on the Green Paper.

NADEOSA's major recommendations are summarised below:

• Lifelong learning is a central principle in the new framework and should be supported. Strategies and mechanisms for operationalising this principle should be specified. The proposed Transformation Steering Committee and task teams should all undertake their tasks within the perspective of open learning and flexible delivery, in particular the implications of such approaches for delivery strategies, industrial relations and resources planning and management.
• Partnerships can be promoted or hampered by institutional or organisational arrangements. For example the introduction of flexible/open learning approaches will have important implications for organisational level (timetabling, scheduling of assessment, combinations of on and off the job learning) as well as industrial relations (e.g. demands on staff will change in terms of working hours, demarcation of jobs, teaching on sites other than the institutions' own campuses, etc).
• NADEOSA welcomes the importance accorded in the Green Paper to issues of quality and the recognition of different levels of responsibility. In particular, NADEOSA supports the proposal for a national quality assurance body for Further Education and Training and for limiting its role to programmes below and within FET, i.e. NQF levels 1 to 4. The location of a FETQA, its relationship to the NBFET, Department of Education, Department of Labour, SAQA structures, the HEQC and other relevant bodies should be looked at more carefully.
• The importance of support agencies as a mechanism for improving quality was emphasised in the NADEOSA submission. These are not mentioned in the Green Paper, but were put forward in the National Commission on Further Education (NCFE) report. Support agencies could contribute to promotion of good practice in a range of areas, such as courseware development, staff support and development, use of technology, strategic planning and budgeting.
• While the Green Paper recognises the importance of institutional and staff development, the major emphasis appears to be on financial training. Institutional and staff development should go beyond this and focus on the range of educational, managerial and administrative skills/capacity needs.
• The difficulties arising out of concurrent powers between national and provincial levels of government should be pointed out - for example for distance education providers who have played and continue to play a national role. The same difficulties are experienced by private providers, including independent examining bodies, who operate nationally. Similar issues have been addressed in the higher education policy and some of the measures proposed at higher education level, such as the appointment of a registrar- could be introduced at further education level. In addition representatives of private providers should be included in the NBFET.
• In recognising the role of private providers and examining bodies in enhancing access and labour market responsiveness, policy has to meet the challenge of creating an environment which will not allow the proliferation of poor quality or 'fly by night' operators but rather will encourage educationally sound and sustainable provision. Policy should create a regulatory framework to ensure that private providers offering further education and training programmes have the necessary infrastructure and resources to provide quality programmes and to encourage them to offer programmes accredited through SAQA.
• The Green Paper proposes 'mode neutral' funding. This proposal is of some concern to distance education institutions, although the response of distance education institutions to this proposal, beyond noting the concern, is unclear. Furthermore NADEOSA is concerned that programmes below NQF 2 are accommodated in respect of quality assurance, but not with regard to resourcing and articulation arrangements.

Report Back: International Council for Distance Education

The position of ICDE Vice-President Africa became vacant when Mr John Samuel, the previous vice-president, resigned on 30 June 1997.

After consultation with the distance education community in Africa, paid-up members of the ICDE were invited to submit suggestions to the ICDE General Secretariat as to names of people to be considered for this position.

The ICDE Executive Committee, in keeping with the ICDE constitution, announced on 15 May 1998 that it had coopted Prof Hugh Africa, Vice-Chancellor of Vista University, as the new ICDE Vice-President for Africa. His term of office is until 24 June 1999.

The Advisory Committee of the Southern African Branch Office of the ICDE wishes him well for his period of office.

Prof Africa and Ms Jennifer Glennie, outgoing NADEOSA President, were recently appointed to the newly constituted Council for Higher Education.

Dermot Moore

UNISA Broad Transformation Forum

There has been much strategy on the transformation front at UNISA over the past few months: the Transformation Forum's language policy enjoyed extensive debate at Senate and now sits with Council; the Student Electoral System was approved, an Interim Electoral Commission established, and arrangements for elections are well underway; the Tuition Policy (where the Forum made a major contribution) has been approved and an implementation plan is being constructed; and extensive debates are occurring on the draft UNISA Act, especially around the role and composition of Senate. All this is, however, overshadowed by turmoil around the appointment of the new principal.

As reported in our last newsletter, I was elected together with Thabeka Mda as the UBTF's representatives on the Selection Committee. The Committee, chaired by the Chairperson of Council, consists of representatives of different stakeholder groups including Senate, Management Services Forum, Council, the Academic and Professional Staff Association (APSA), NEHAWU and students. The process agreed to by the University aims at transparency and fairness, and involves shortlisting, public presentations, voting by Senate, Management Forum and the UBTF, as well as interviews conducted by the Selection Committee. Recommendations will be made to Council by the Selection Committee, as well as by the three bodies mentioned above. Council will make the final decision.

The Selection Committee worked hard to attract a very high level set of candidates, but principalship of any university in South Africa is seen as an extremely tough job and many potential candidates did not want to apply. Unfortunately, two of the initial five shortlisted candidates also withdrew. This has led to some delays with the result that the process is currently scheduled to be completed in September.

This highly participative process has been a huge learning experience for all involved. There is no doubt that we have made some mistakes. We have embarked on a process of analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the current selection procedure with a view to making proposals about future procedures for other senior positions.

Jenny Glennie

Report on the progress of the National Standards Body for Field 5 (Education, Training and Development)

Tessa Welch - NADEOSA representative on the Field 5 NSB

In this article, Tessa Welch focuses on the conceptual work undertaken by the NSB for Field 5 thus far, rather than the discussions of representivity, budget and business plan, and other organisational matters. In subsequent editions of the NADEOSA newsletter she will keep readers updated about further developments.

The main work of an NSB is outlined in the Government Gazette, 28 March 1998 no 18787, p 16:

A National Standards Body shall

(a)	define and recommend to the Authority the boundaries of the discrete field for which it is constituted, by the value added by the field including but not limited to process, product or service, related to the other fields;
(b)	define and recommend to the Authority a framework of sub-fields to be used as a guide for the recognition and/or establishment of Standards Generating Bodies.
(c)	recognise and/or establish Standards Generating Bodies within the framework of sub-fields, or withdraw or rescind such recognition of establishment;
(d)	ensure that the work of Standards Generating Bodies meets the requirements for the registration of standards and qualifications as determined by the Authority;
(e)	recommend the registration of standards on the National Qualification Framework to the Authority;
(f)	recommend the registration of qualifications to the Authority;
(g)	update and review qualifications;
(h)	liaise with Education and Training Quality Assurance bodies regarding the procedures for recommending new standards and qualifications, or amending registered standards and qualifications;
(i)	define requirement and mechanisms of moderation to be applied across Education and Training Qualify Assurance bodies;
(j)	appoint office-bearers, such committees and member of committees as required to carry out the functions designated, in consultation with the Authority; and
(k)	perform such other functions as may from time-to-time be delegated by the Authority.

To date, the NSB has tackled functions (a) and (b).

Task (a) - definition of the field

The definition of the field was more complex than had originally been imagined. The Education, Training and Development Practices Project had set the scene for the NSB and suggested that the field would be concerned with equipping educators to teach, train or work in different contexts and sectors of education and training. The argument in favour of following this definition of the field is that the roles and competences of educators outlined by the ETDP project, and later by the Technical Committee preparing Norms and Standards for Educator Training and Development, define the concerns of the field. The roles of:

• learning mediator,
• designer of learning programmes and materials,
• leader, administrator and manager,
• scholar, researcher and lifelong learner,
• assessor,
• community developer with a pastoral role, and context/phase/subject/learning area specialist

define what educators need to learn to do in whatever context or sector of education they are working.

However, some members of the NSB thought that the field ought in addition to be concerned with the registration of unit standards and qualifications for learners involved in general education and training (whether it be adults or young people). The argument was that although individual unit standards might be registered by NSBs in a range of different fields, no NSB had responsibility for registering qualifications of a general educational nature.

In the end it was decided that the field will concern itself with the registration of unit standards and qualifications for educator training and development and that the Field 5 NSB will ask SAQA for an answer about whose responsibility it is to register qualifications for General Education and Training.

Task (b) - delineation of the sub-fields

The second task was to decide upon the sub-fields within Field 5. The importance of determining sub-fields is that Standards Generating Bodies will be recognised/established in each of the sub-fields. The following sub-fields were eventually decided upon:

• Early Childhood Development - ECD (the training and development of educators to work with children from 0 to 9 years of age);
• General Education and Training - GET (the training and development of educators to teach learners up to Grade 9 in schools);
• Further Education and Training - FET (the training and development of educators to teach/train/develop learners at levels 2, 3 and 4 on the NQF);
• Adult learning - ABET and AFET (the training and development of educators to teach adult learners whether in adult basic education and training programmes or in adult further education and training programmes);
• Higher Education and Training - HET (the training and development of educators to teach learners at level 5 and above on the NQF).

There was a lengthy debate about whether or not workplace education or occupation-directed education and training ought to appear as a separate sub-field. However, it was felt that it was covered both under adult learning and under further education and training, and was not a separate sector of education and training as were all the other sub-fields. Workplace ETD was erroneously gazetted in the Government Gazette of 3 July 1998 as a sub-field of ETD, but will be corrected in the next version.

The NSB working group which made the initial recommendation about sub-fields also suggested that the ETD field should have a number of cross-fields which would perform a unifying role in between the sub-fields for coherence and integration purposes. The cross-fields would provide a common set of concerns which should be apparent in the unit standards and qualifications registered in all the sub-fields.

The final list of cross-fields was:

• Roles and Competences of Educators (see the list mentioned above)
• Education of Learners with Special Educational Needs (ELSEN)
• Democracy and Human Rights Education
• Environmental Education
• Enterprise and Economic Skills
• Life Skills
• Technological, Mathematical, and Scientific Literacy
• Communication, Language and Literacy
• Information Literacy
• Cultural and Aesthetic Sensitivity
• Human Resource Development.

This list represents generic components which each qualification intended for the training and development of educators should reflect.

Task ( c) - establishment/recognition of Standards Generating Bodies

As far as the establishment and recognition of Standards Generating Bodies is concerned, the following suggestions have been made:

• a research audit needs to be done on standards writing initiatives in the field taking into consideration under-resource initiatives and capacity;
• the NSB needs to develop principles that they can use to register qualifications and standards;
• the final report of the Technical Committee developing Norms and Standards for Educator Training and Development needs to be scrutinised by the NSB, as does the final report of the ETDP project.

In conclusion, it must be noted that the NSB has received an application from two different bodies to become an SGB for the sub-field Early Childhood Development. The NSB has responded by requesting the two applicants to present a joint proposal for a single SGB, rather than two separate proposals.

Guest Writer Series:

Introducing the TELISA Initiative

"Telisa is finding its greatest appeal with people who are pragmatic and keen to see pilot projects implemented" writes Paul West, Director of Technikon SA's Centre for Lifelong Learning and one of the initiators of the TELISA initiative. TELISA aims to develop the African continent by providing access to various technologies, by enabling access to and sharing of information, and through the collaborative development of educational materials across the region.

The Telisa Initiative was conceptualised by the Centre for Lifelong Learning of Technikon SA in consultation with a number of stakeholders, including the Centre for Educational Technology and Distance Education, the Telematics for African Development Consortium, the Distance Education Association of Southern Africa (DEASA) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (Mikomtek). Its progress is being closely followed and supported by the World Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the SADC Human Resource Development Coordinating Office and the PEACE Foundation of South Africa.

The initiative comprises of three components:

1.  Enabling access to and sharing of information

An important priority is the establishment of a series of information servers, developed and run with the specific purpose of supporting educational institutions, learners, community development organisations and those involved in the development of the region (Africa). Typical support services that will be offered through this infrastructure will include:

• an Africa-wide clearing house of hyperlinks selected according to development and education needs;
• links to research on Africa and, where possible, full-text of research papers on the region;
• digital means to help the flow of information and collaboration between academic centres of excellence in Africa;
• storage of content to support education and development in developing countries.

2.  Providing access to appropriate technologies

Access to appropriate technologies is to be provided by Information Communication Technology (ICT) Centres to be established in areas of need. Infrastructure installed in each centre will vary according to local needs but are likely to include access to:

• telephones;
• a photocopier;
• a document laminator;
• facsimile facilities,
• desktop computers;
• Internet;
• community information; and,
• typing and secretarial services.

3.  Developing education materials

Another important focus of the initiative is to develop core academic, cultural and other materials to support existing institutions on the continent and help preserve aspects of culture and art that are important to people in the region. The pilot project is expected to include the following programmes:

• Agriculture;
• Animal Science;
• Small & Independent Business Management;
• Accountancy;
• Import / Export;
• Technology;
• Mathematics;
• Science;
• Access Programmes;
• Other programmes, funds permitting, as determined by the implementation coordination team.

Progress with Implementation

Progress to date includes the approval of grants for the establishment of ICT Centres in Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. Daimler-Benz AG of Germany has agreed to fund the first centre to be opened in Maseru on 5 October, 1998, with the World Bank and a British Foundation having agreed to fund establishment costs of the other two.

Interest has been expressed by the African Virtual University (AVU) to support the establishment of the initial Telisa Information Servers using their Internet infrastructure. Already, the AVU provides a digital library that contains 1700 full-text journals and a card index file of a wide range of information to support education and development.

Pilot projects to develop core content for higher education will be launched in 1999 using multi-country institutional teams. Materials developed in this way will be made available to institutions that wish to participate in the Telisa Initiative. The Telisa servers will include a range of services to support smaller institutions with aspects such as online registration (unique to each participating institution), online library (media and text), virtual meeting rooms and collaborative project work areas.

Telisa has and will continue to draw on the valuable research and policy development work undertaken by many organisations and governments. Lessons learned from Telisa pilot projects will be published in case study format so that both the overall Telisa Initiative and other projects can benefit from the experiences. Many valuable experiences are expected to be gained from the projects as they unfold and this form of learning will be made available to others in an attempt to accelerate the development processes in Africa.

Conclusion

Telisa is finding its greatest appeal with people who are pragmatic and keen to see pilot projects implemented. Seemingly endless 'talk-shops' have left Africa with little tangible progress other than the formation of many debating forums and conferences. Support for Telisa has come from those people both in Africa and elsewhere who like to see a bias for action and who like to learn while doing.

Additional information on Telisa may be found on the web site at: http://pgw.org/telisa. The African Virtual University may be found at: http://www.avu.org. The World Bank forum to promote Internet connectivity in Africa is at: http://www.worldbank.org/aftdr/connect/. The Telematics for African Development Consortium web site is at: http://www.mikom.csir.co.za/tfad/MainPage.htm.

Working to Overcome Poverty Through Information

At a recent conference on Global Connectivity in Africa held in Addis Ababa, the South African Minister of Telecommunications, Jay Naidoo said in his keynote address that Africa is seen as the largest group of some of the poorest nations in the world and that it was up to Africa to correct this situation. Major telecommunications projects under development such as Rascom and Iridium and those already in existence such as Intelsat and Inmarsat give one great hope for rapid development during the first quarter of the new century. A view-point of shorter than this to make a substantial difference in the continent may be unrealistic. By combining the outcomes of targeted research with carefully run pilot projects, Africa could emerge in the 21st century as an equal competitor in the world economy.

The Integrated Community Building Programme offered by Technikon SA helps community groups to form active forums and develop community development projects. Telisa is supporting this programme by interfacing with international agencies to raise grants to cover the capital costs of installing an ICT Centre. The ICT Centres will provide communities with shared access to the facilities mentioned earlier in this article. Community information starts with the need for information about the people who live in that community and then expands to using technology to interact with suppliers and purchasers of goods and services in other areas. Even export opportunities may be exploited by small businesses using the community infrastructure.

News flash

Irene Chadibe, National Tutorial Programme Coordinator of the Department of Student Support at the UNISA, has been selected as a Houle Scholar by the Cyril O. Houle Scholars in Adult and Continuing Education Program. This award, which entails a financial grant of $40 000-00 over two years, is intended to support emerging scholars expected to make a significant contribution ton the field of adult and continuing education.

Ms Chadibe is one of the first cohort of nine Houle Scholars to receive this honour. These selected scholars represent three regions of the world: Latin America, Southern Africa and the United States of America. During the two-year period of the award, each Houle scholar will conduct a research and/or demonstration project that addresses a problem relevant to adult education.

NADEOSA members who would like to receive more information on this prestigious scholarship should contact Dr. Bradley C. Courtenay at the following address:
Department of Adult Education, University of Georgia, 423 River's Crossing, 850 College Station Road, Athens, Georgia 30602-4811, USA

Tel: (706) 542 2214
E-mail: hsp@arches.uga.edu

NADEOSA Membership and Information Secretariat Update

by Jenny Louw

Membership

Soul City, an NGO committed to educating the nation on health issues through the use of multimedia and edutainment is the newest member of NADEOSA and a warm welcome is extended to them.

Sadly, despite a number of reminders, approximately 15 members have not paid their membership fees, thus will no longer be invited to participate in NADEOSA activities.

Information

During the past six months NADEOSA members and interested parties have been provided information via a May newsletter, two information updates, monthly conference listing updates as well as access to information via an internet website.

Statistics show that 182 visitors visited the NADEOSA website in May and 161 visitors in June. Visitors have come from South Africa, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Ethiopia, Finland, Senegal, Namibia, Ukraine, Netherlands, Switzerland and Mozambique.

Members are asked to consider the following issues for the forthcoming year:

The maintenance of a website is a costly exercise:

• Do members feel it is useful to have a website?
• Should the information secretariat be more selective in the information that is provided on the internet?
• Should the information secretariat focus more on the information update service provided via email and facsimile?

Members are once again requested to proactively contribute to the information sharing process by forwarding material that is relevant to the NADEOSA membership for circulation. Information in digital form sent via email is preferred.

Once again any queries can be directed to myself at:
Tel no: (011)403-2813, Facsimile: (011)403-2814 or email: jennyl@saide.org.za.