Integration of Distance Education Institutions of other Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Member Countries into the Distance Education Association for Southern Africa (DEASA).
Judith W Kamau and Obonye P Mphinyane

Context:
Paper Presented At the DEASA 25th Anniversary 23 - 25 October 1998

Source:
Collected from Judith Kamau and Obonye Mpinyane in June 1999 visit to Botswana.

Copyright:
Granted for website use by authors.

Integration of Distance Education Institutions of other Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Member Countries into the Distance Education Association for Southern Africa (DEASA).

The Distance Education Association for Southern Africa started as the Distance Learning Association for Southern Africa (DLA) in 1972. The founder member countries were Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa and Swaziland. By 1993 it had included Namibia. However, at one point the South African Extension Unit which took care of South Africa refugees in Tanzania was a member. Also Zimbabwe Distance Education College (ZIDECO) a private institution in Zimbabwe was also a member at some point.

The Distance Education Association for Southern Africa (DEASA) has its aims and objectives as to;

• provide a platform for discussing issues affecting and/or related to the distance education field.
• encourage exchange of expertise among member institutions as efficiently and widely as possible.
• to exchange information and materials on distance and to promote co-operation among member institutions.
• promote educational activities and opportunities for those who are not part of the conventional education system.
• to seek assistance from National Governments and International Organisations to promote distance education.
• to collaborate with governmental and non-governmental organisations in the furtherance of distance education.
• present and advocate for the interest of distance education to government funding and policy formulation fora.
• encourage members and member institutions to maintain the Association's code of ethics in advancing distance education.

The current DEASA membership comprises distance education institutions in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland, all of which are SADC member countries. The Association has been in existence for almost twenty six years now. Comparatively it has done well.

Since the early 1990s questions have been raised as to whether time was not ripe for the Association to have its efforts transcend beyond the boarders of the five countries into the rest of the SADC member states. In considering the answers to the questions, the "yes" or "no' type of answers did not seem to be the best.

DEASA felt that the best way to find the answers would be by taking a closer look at both SADC and DEASA to establish in particular, similarities and interests as far as co-operation and collaboration in distance education is concerned. This paper intends to track SADC's interest in distance education and compare them to those of DEASA. These will help DEASA members to make a decision and how to forge ahead as development regard wider coverage.

SADC has shown interest in collaboration in distance education. In 1986, a study was commissioned by the SADCC Regional Training Council to facilitate co-operation in distance education between all nine member states by initiating the establishment of an Institute for Distance Education in Southern Africa, (DEASA), Jevons etal, 1986). The study noted that time for such a proposal was ripe because;

• distance education was already established in each of the nine member countries, through the scope was limited and that there was room for mutual help.
• economies of scale would make possible higher quality, low cost increase and increased range of offerings.
• implementation of the proposal would help to meet manpower needs in many fields.
• the proposed institution would be more than an institution in one country trying to meet the needs of all nine countries as best as it could. It would actively involve educators in all nine countries, and thus reinforce regionality - "thinking SADCC."
• it would fit well with the current Commonwealth moves to foster collaboration in open learning.

Before the 1986 study was undertaken, proposals had been made to the SADCC Regional Training Council for an establishment of an Open University for Southern Africa. But before committing itself, the RTC wanted to explore alternatives. Hence the 1986 study.

The 1986 study noted that distance education was already established in each of the nine countries. The proposed institution would be a base for co-operation which would actively involve educators in all nine countries. It would be the centre for networking through which course materials and facilities shared. By means of these machineries, ideas, knowledge and expertise would be shared and disseminated effectively without expenditure on travel, (Jevons et al, 1986).

According to the same study, distance education would be used in the following areas;

• contribute directly to the development needs of SADCC and encourage regionality.
• decrease dependence on countries outside SADCC particularly the Republic of South Africa.
• help increase skills for further economic benefits.
• be consistent with manpower needs identified in SADCC.
• cooperate in inservice teacher training, business studies, especially accounting and financial management.
• have a solid base from which to contract money to prepare particular courses.
• collaborate in preparation of course materials and provide delivery and support.

The above identified uses of distance education in SADCC (which are not in anyway invariant with those of DEASA) would help meet needs of member countries and proof the worth of co-operation. It was proposed that the Institute would have a Board of Governors comprising one member from each of the nine countries. The Board would meet twice a year in different venues. But not necessarily in a restricted rotational manner. Main donors would have the right to send observers to meetings. In order to facilitate the conduct of business between Board meetings, there would be a Steering Committee which would be smaller and would meet more frequently. The institution would use permanent and seconded staff.

It has been noted that the DEASA objectives are very similar to those of SADC regarding collaboration in distance education. Even how DEASA would meet to discuss issues is what is suggested for SADC. The major difference here is that while DEASA has an Executive which rotates IDESA would have a Board. DEASA has limitations. As such cannot run a board.

For its sustainability each member country would contribute for its support as well as in decision making. Similar to this proposal for IDESA, DEASA has survived through small contributions from member institutions but recently it has been apparent that subscriptions are beginning to strain small institutions which do not have continued government support.

If it ever existed, IDESA would exploit the existing technology to enhance interactive communication with member institutions and supporting agencies. Equally, DEASA's interests to use the existing technology are quite high. The major problem is financial support for acquisition and sustainability. IDESA would have to look into the language issues in the region with Angola and Mozambique being Portugues speaking countries. If DEASA expanded to other countries, the language problem would be compounded and there would be need to look seriously into that.

In 1989, a two member consultancy was commissioned by the RTC to establish the location of the proposed institution under the following terms of reference;

• visit the following SADCC countries; Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
• on the basis of interviews, and observations, identify institutions which, with necessary strengthening, are suitable to serve as headquarters and sub-headquarters of the institution.
• recognise that the survey pays attention to administrative facilities, communication facilities, professional facilities and other features that the consultants may find to be of importance for identification.
• take note that after the survey, a report with conclusive recommendations is submitted to the RTC.

The study noted among others that;

• the coming up of the institution would open tremendous possibilities for strengthening SADCC member countries human resource development efforts.
• both human and material resources can be organised and pooled together to strengthen distance education in member countries
• the need for regional co-operation was emphasised.
• the idea to co-operate in distance education in SADCC was said to be unanimously accepted.

Yet another study which noted the same ideas as noted by the previous ones was undertaken in 1995. It was commissioned by the European Union on behalf of the RTC to assess regional co-operation in the field of distance education in the field. Going through the findings of the 1995 study will be overemphasising what has already been established through the previous studies. Infect, the area seems to have been over researched and it is high time some implementation takes place.

Implementation of the SADC initiative can start, by strengthening the DEASA initiative since the general SADC policy is that of strengthening existing institutions rather than erecting new ones (Matshazi and Zulu 1989:50).

As alluded to elsewhere in this presentation, Southern African Development Coordinating Community (SADCC) was created by Organisation for African Unity (OAU) in the 1960s to enable front line states to co-operate in the liberation of Southern Africa, accelerate economic growth and reduce dependence of its member states on South Africa. In its development strategy, SADCC embraced a multi-sectoral approach with a major concern to promote agriculture, trade environment and education just to name a few. In the education sector in particular, SADCC countries set out to improve foundations, middle level and tertiary education by sharing available resources in-country and across countries. In recent years, SADCC has shown keen interest to expand educational opportunity to all by diversifying modes of delivery beyond conventional classroom teaching. Various reports (Jevons, et.al. 1986, Matshazi et.al. 1989, and SADCC 1996, 1997,) give glowing testimony on SADC initiative to embrace the distance education mode of delivery. Article 9 (1997) in particular expresses the need for SADC to achieve universal literacy and numeracy within the shortest time possible by member countries establishing national and distance centres which shall network regionally in order to strengthen their efforts. Article (9:16-17) sees application of distance education as relevant to the following areas in the region:

• improve access to education and training.
• achieve universal literacy and numeracy
• reduce cost of education by utilising economies of scale offered by distance education.
• develop national policies on distance education at country level which will provide framework for regional co-operation.
• where there is no distance education institutions, member states to establish distance learning institutions at national level and at all levels of education and training.
• establish a SADC Distance Education Centre which will strengthen distance education and training systems in the region through collaboration.
• promote co-operation among distance education institutions in the region in the design, production and dissemination of distance learning materials in the training of distance educators and trainers in the region.
• "… encourage and support the creation of regional professional associations in distance education and exchange of personnel through which institutions shall share ideas, views and experiences to enhance the quality and relevance of their programmer". p 17.

Judging from the above and (items f to h in particular) a framework for co-operation of SADC member states in distance education already exist. What remains is for DEASA to tap the above initiative or work out mechanisms that would facilitate inclusion of other SADC member states into DEASA. Towards this goal, DEASA needs to address certain challenges.

1 The DEASA Constitution

1. Article II on aims and objectives forms a basis for inclusion of other SADC members into DEASA because they have many similarities to 9 of the protocol on Education and Training cited above.

2. Article III Membership

This article allows DEASA membership to countries in Southem Africa. Does this article refer to Southern Africa geographically and a historically perceived i.e. Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi to the Cape or to the SADC Southern Africa which embraces countries outside this cultural region such as Tanzania in East Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo DRC in Central Africa? The term "Southem Africa" needs definition, given the current SADC co-operating partners against the historical region of Southern Africa.

3. Article V: Executive Committee Article V.3 provides that the chairman and Secretary come from the same institution in the same country. The Treasurer comes from another country. The Term of office for the executive committee is 2 years. Using this management structure, it will take 28 years for each SADC member state to serve on the executive committee given that currently SADC has 14 countries with diverse cultural backgrounds and operating in 3 different official languages conducting business i.e. French, English and Portuguese.

Article VIII: Working committees Networking for DEASA

Networking for committees has been difficult due to limited communication. Members have only managed to network through e-mail which is not available in all countries. The use of telephone is limited by costs. The use of e-mail facility places extra financial burden on DEASA member institutions, because this facility is limited to the work of the institution only.

These constitutional examples and communication constants are not exhaustive. The bottom line is that the DEASA constitution would have to be amended to allow participation of other institutions outside the current five member countries.

11 Administration

The administration of DEASA has been encumbered by a number of constraints which are as a result of the way it conducts its business.

1. Currently decision making is delayed because the executive is based in different countries with no provision of means of communication to facilitate frequent networking between members and the executive and members.

2. The duties allocated to DEASA executive committee members are additional to their institutional duties. This calls for extra commitment and hard work by committee members to executive DEASA business without delay.

3. Change of executive Committee is accompanied by transfer of assets i.e. books of accounts, Bank accounts, machines etc. Transition is not smooth. These facilities are based in one institution/country making it difficult for the other four DEASA member countries to access them. This problem is likely to be compounded when nine other countries join DEASA and if the current administrative structures remain operational.

4. It has not been possible for DEASA member institutions to exploit their own expertise and training to design activities such as frequent workshops and research together, outside the two annual meetings. The newsletter which is the only other rallying point suffers from lack of subscription of articles from member institutions beyond the institutional reports. The newsletter needs to be strengthened as a networking tool with possibilities of developing into a DEASA journal which could carry papers from the anticipated wider DEASA/SADCC constituency.

Need for a Secretariat

Given the above management and administrative constraints which do not seem to be tamable by "distance", DEASA needs to examine its current administrative structures with a bid to seeking an alternative management structure. Perhaps, DEASA now needs a Secretariat which can carry out business on behalf of this Association. If this is acceptable the lines of command and accountability raise the next challenge for DEASA and need immediate attention.

Membership Scope

Issues of membership should be addressed as well. For example, is membership going to remain per institution in a country or per country.? If other SADC members join there is likely to be a need of a Governing Board or Council comprised of a member from each country and Steering Committees in-country or across countries which would transact business in between DEASA general meetings. Lack of a DEASA organisational management structure has resulted to DEASA not having a well pivoted fulcrum around which all issues can be addressed.

IV Sources of funds

DEASA is established as a non-profit making association with a mandate to raise funds. The current funding strategies are mainly institutional and individual membership subscriptions substituted here and there with funds from donor agencies such as COL and AIDAB in the past. DEASA has not been able to raise funds outside institutional/individual subscriptions and donations because of issues related to co-ordination. A permanent DEASA Secretariat would be responsible for fund-raising by hosting professional workshops, conferences and bidding for research projects which would be conducted on behalf of DEASA by DEASA members for a fee. The Secretariat would also seek scholarships for DEASA member institutions for courses at Certificate, diploma, first degree and masters degree levels. If a wider SADCC membership is acceptable then subscriptions are likely to be by country and not by individual institutions in each country. Already certain institutions E.g. the University of Botswana's beginning to ask why the CCE and DAE should pay separate subscriptions when the two departments belong to the same institution.

Conclusion/suggestionsl/recommendations

A.  Integration of other SADC countries into DEASA.

1. This presentation has argued that there is a case for the integration of other SADCC member states into DEASA. What remains to be done is to work out mechanisms of how this integration will be done.

2. If this is acceptable, there is need for DEASA to consult the SADCC Secretariat and present a case for financial support of a wider, more regionally representative, more strengthened DEASA.

3. DEASA needs to work out both short term and long term goals to facilitate this process, indicating time frames, indicators of success, cost implications monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and how co-ordination of activities will be harmonised. This strategic plan would then be discussed with SADCC and modalities of integration and financing agreed.

B. Creation of Permanent Secretariat

Extending membership to other SADCC members requires a regular and strengthened management structure. The DEASA Secretariat would deal with the following issues:

1. Fundraising.
2. Communication/ networking with member institutions and individuals.
3. Timely production/dissemination of the DEASA newsletter including soliciting of articles and banking them for future issues.
4. Co-ordinating DEASA activities such as workshops, research, seminars caucus and meetings in country and across countries.
5. Evaluation of all DEASA activities.
6. Identification of new programmes and projects.
7. Linkages with DEASA institutions and International Communities and funding agencies.

8. Identifying institutions for training distance education personnel and soliciting scholarships for members.

References

1. SADC (1997): Draft Discussion Paper on a Regional HRD Strategy and Strategic Policy Framework for SADC, Mbabane-Swaziland.
2. SADC (1997): Protocol on Education and Training in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
3. DEASA (1993): Distance Education Association of Southern Africa (DEASA) Col-funding: An Evaluation report for COL-(first Draft).
4. Matshazi, M.J. and Zulu, J.D (1989): Consultancy to Establish the Location of the Distance Education Programme: A Report submitted to the SADC Regional Training Council.
5. Jevons, F.R., North cot. P.H. and J.H. Polhems, (1986): SADE (Southern African Distance Education Project: A Draft Proposal submitted to the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference, the Government of Swaziland and the. Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation, Swaziland.
6. DEASA Constitution.
7. Chisoholm L. Et.at (1998): SADC Initiative in Education Policy Development Planning and Management, SADC Human Resources Development Sector, Mbabane Swaziland.
8. Ruyter, J 1995: European Union Study on behalf of the SADC Regional Training Centre.