A Programme for Improving Services to Students:
The Role to be Played by Part-Time Tutors
Muro, A., Mbenna, I.C., Ndaalio, A. &
Reuben, N.Z.

Context:
A paper presented at the NCI's Annual Tutors' Conference on saturday, 28 May, 1988.

Source:
Document collected by SAIDE on aregional visist to Tanzania in 1999.

Copyright:
Text published with authors' permission.

A Programme for improving services to students:
The role to be played by part-time tutors

Introduction

During the last meeting of the Institute of Adult Education’s Master Workers Council at Sumbawanga last October, one of the departments whose performance was subjected to intense criticism by the delegates, was the Department of Correspondence Education (NCI). Among the Department’s shortcomings pointed out were; suspension of some programmes; failure to provide prospective students with learning materials for which the affected students have already paid the required fees; putting wrong addresses on mail to the Regional Centres; and failure to respond to various queries from the Centres promptly and satisfactorily. Its was further noted that students were being provided with wrong learning material; the flow of units was irregular besides lacking continuity; Part-time tutors were taking too long a time to mark and comment on student’s assignments. Furthermore, delegates noted that the handling of the assignments by the tutors left a lot to be desired as the marking was done either without comments or with discouraging remarks, and that the final score was often wrongly added. (1)

It is important to note here that the Management and Staff of the NCI was not caught unaware when delegates enumerated the foregoing and other problems during the Sumbawanga meeting. Prior to the meeting, NCI’s Management and Staff tried hard to solve some of the problems which were within its capacity. (2)  Moreover, after the meeting, the Institution continued with the difficult task of finding effective solutions to these problems. Our determination to spare no efforts in solving these problems is vindicated by the fact that the theme of this Annual Tutors’ Conference is: "A Programme for Improving Services to Students".

Writing on the principles of correspondence learning, Rence Erdos, noted that teaching by correspondence is;

…. A special technique in which the student is taught by at least two teachers – the writer of the course instruction, and the instructor who receives the student’s work for evaluation and who gives through his comments on it whatever further teaching is necessary. (3)

Discussing about the effectiveness of correspondence learning the former Head of the NCI, Mr E.N. Ntirukigwa observed thus:

In correspondence education, teaching which begins with the preparation of the self-instructional teaching material becomes effective at the stage of marking, commenting and grading the student’s work. (4)

It is then quite evident from the foregoing remarks that the role of a part-time tutor in bringing about effective learning by correspondence is not only crucial, but also indispensable. Moreover, bearing in mind the fact that often, the course-writer is also a part-time tutor, one could rightly argue that part-time tutors hold veto power in any attempt envisaging to bring about effective learning by correspondence. The following part of the paper will attempt to substantiate this contention. We begin with a review of the NCI’s available programmes, those under preparation, and the anticipated ones.

NCI’s programmes

Beginning with one course Introductory Political Education which was released in November 1972, NCI had by May 1986, 23 courses on its course-roll as shown in Table I:

Table 1: Release of NCI’s Courses: 1972 –1986

Source: NCI’s Statistics and Evaluation Sub-section

Out of these, 5 are mass education courses, 15 are academic/secondary education courses, and 3 are profession oriented courses. Meanwhile, courses in law, Agricultural Education and Vocational Education are at various stages of preparation. Under the current five year plan, NCI plans to release a Diploma Course in Management & Administration, Courses in natural Science, Home Economics, Liberal Arts, and Vocational Education .

Table 2: NCI’s Five Year Plan on Course Release: 1987/88 – 1992/93:

Source: NCI – 1987

NCI looks forward to receiving support from part-time tutors in the pursuit of the objectives underlying the foregoing programmes. Tutors can assist the Institute in planning, writing the courses, and in marking and commenting on studenmts’ assignments. Let us now see what is expected of a Tutor as a course-writer.

Course Production:

This involves course writing, editing and printing. Ideally, all Tutors should participate in this task, particularly, in writing and editing course material. We have however notes with concern that although part-time tutors are potential course-writers, rarely do they participate in course material production workshops. Perhaps, lack of interest, skill and unattractive remuneration may, to varying degrees, account for this attitude. Nevertheless, this attitude should change, otherwise NCI will continue to experience numerous difficulties in preparing suitable learning material for its students. Similarly, without developing their writing skills, Tutors cannot master course content, and subsequently they cannot mark and comment on students’ assignments fairly and effectively.

Although lack of adequate financial and human resources has adversely affected course writing in the NCI, editing and printing of written course materials seem to be real hurdles in NCI’s course production process. Obviously, part-time tutors are not in a position of solving NCI’s printing problems. However, as Course-Writers, part-time tutors have a duty to facilitate the work of the NCI’s Editorial Staff in order to accelerate the process of course production.

Erdos has cautioned that there is no one correct method of writing a correspondence course. (5) According to her, a method which will be successful in one set of circumstances may be useless in another. For this reason, Erdos has identified variables which determine variation in correspondence course writing as follows:

1. Varying standards of students

The writer’s approach to the students must take into consideration the age of the students. This involves not only the difference between writing for children of primary school age and writing for advanced students, but the differences in writing instruction about identical topics for different age levels. For example, a course in language and composition dealing with identical topics for children and for adults, the instruction for the children must be woven about the interests of children; if for adults, about adult interests.

2. Varying nature of subject content

The varying nature of subject content demands variation in presentation. When ideas are the subject matter, the presentation will generally be explanatory and discursive with little or no pictorial or diagrammatic illustration. When the subject matter deals with facts which can be illustrated, much of the instruction can be most successfully given by picture and diagram.

3. Course based on books

Another variable determining the method of writing correspondence courses is availaility of suitable books from which students, with the correspondence course as study guide, can gather information.

In such circumstances, the correspondence course will not need to contain information except of points where it is necessary to supplement the information in the books vaailable.

4. Course not based on books

Some syllabuses, particularly in technical subjects, are so selective that there are no appropriate books available. Correspondence courses using such syllabuses must give guidance in study as well as actual information to be studied. These courses are therefore entirely self-contained, offering the only source of information about the subject they are teaching. Here, it should be added that the lack of appropriate educational books in our country, has left no other option to NCI except to produce self-contained units.

It should now be emphasised that for whoever a correspondence course is written, and irrespective of its method of presentation, it must contain those features which makes a correspondence course a teaching instrument, It must guide the student’s studies, aid him in the assimilation of knowledge and skill, give him practice in the use of this knowledge and skill, and test his understanding and attainment to find out where he needs additional help. In short, the writer must realise that writing a correspondence course is an assignment quite different from that of writing a book or lecture. A correspondence course must contain not only information but also teaching.

Many correspondence schools have a manual to guide writers and editors. NCI has so far produced four such manuals, namely:

• A Guide for Writers
• A Guide for Tutors
• A Guide for Editors, and
• NCI House Style.

We call upon Part-Time Tutors to acquaint themselves with information contained in these manuals so that in writing courses, they may be able to produce correspondence courses of satisfactory professional standards. It needs no emphasis that it will not take NCI’s Editorial Team a long time to edit and prepare manuscripts of this kind for publication. This then is the context within which part-time tutors can hasten NCI’s course production processes.

Counselling

Besides Tutors and Editors, another crucial cadre of Staff in the NCI is that of Students’ Counsellors. A Student Counsellor has a two-fold role. First, it is to promote learning by correspondence and secondly, to assist and guide students in choosing and studying courses successfully. For some time now, Counsellors have not been able to promote learning by correspondence effectively, partly because they have been constantly pre-occupied with the second task, i.e. to assist and guide students in choosing and studying courses. The Table below illustrates the magnitude of cases of this type handled by Counsellors each year.

Table 3: Number of cases Handles by Counsellors August 1973 – October 1986

Two inferences can easily be drawn from the data given in the above Table. The first and most obvious is that in general, a substantial number of cases is handled by Counsellors each year. Secondly, effective 1979, cases handled, have generally tended to decline. Definitely, this is not a healthy trend, as it shows that in our Country, contrary to popular expectations, fewer adult learners are learning by correspondence each year. (6) In our opinion, the basic reason behind this trend is NCI’s inability to release new courses and reprint deleted units of the existing courses regularly. Efforts should be made to assist the Institution to mobilise sufficient financial and human resources to overcome this problem. Furthermore, as a solution to this problem, the Institute of Adult Education should now seriously consider implementing the proposal to introduce enrolment and learning by pace in the NCI. (7)

On the other hand, an analysis of the nature of cases which are most handled by Counsellors shows that majority of them should actually be handled by the Part-Time Tutors. For instance, Counsellors handle technical queries such as: "When did Omari Hassan bin Makungaya fight the Germans?" "How shall I study this unit as I don’t have the recommended text book, teaching aid, etc.?" "Every time I attempt this Unit I am given low marks without being shown where I have gone wrong. What shall I do as I am now totally confused?" "For thus Unit I should have got 100%, however, my final score has been 79% Why is this the case?" (8)

One could go on citing examples similar to the above as to say the least, the list is far from being exhaustive. However, the crux of the matter here is the need to draw your attention to the fact that some of the tutors do not perform their duties diligently and thoroughly. Besides marking and recording students’ assignments promptly, fairly and accurately, part-time tutors should also handle competently technical queries raised by students in their workbooks. An approach of this kind will provide students with immediate and correct feedback to their work, and relive Counsellors of an unnecessary burden.

With this relief, Counsellors can devote more of their time to administrative and social problems which normally undermine adult learners performance in correspondence education. The point being made here is that part-time tutors have a duty to assist Counsellors promote correspondence learning in our Country.

Conclusion

The essence of this brief paper was to bring to the attention of part-time tutors, NCI’s current problems and to highlight on the extent to which they can solve them. While admitting that some of the problems are beyond part-time tutors’ reach, the paper has emphatically argued that part-time tutors have an indispensable role to play in alleviating NCI’s course production and counselling problems. The paper has pointed out what part-time tutors can institution surmount existing problems in these two crucial areas in correspondence education by participating in course production workshops and by handling competently technical queries raised by students in their workbooks. Aware of prevailing deficiencies in these tow areas, the paper has challenged part-time tutors to take the necessary measures with a view to rectifying the situation.

Finally, its should be pointed out that we owe part-time tutors a word of gratitude for assisting the Institution to render educational services to people who cannot get this basic service from formal institutions of learning. Given the fact that the Country’s literate population is growing rapidly while opportunities for formal learning seem to decline, there is no doubt that the demand for correspondence education would continue to rise. Needless to say then that the challenge ahead of the NCI is big. However, we can confidently state that with effective support from the part-time tutors, NCI can meet this challenge.

Notes

1. See, "Taarifa ya Mkutano wa Baraza la Wafanyakazi, Taasisis ya Elim ya Watu Wazima, Subawanga: 6 – 17, Novermebr 1987."
2. See; "Miniti za Vikao vya Kamati ya Utendaji, Isdara ya Elimu kwa Njia ya Posta: 1985 – 1988 (febnruari)."
3. Renee Erdos, Teaching by Correspondence (London, Longmans, Green & Co. Ltd, 1967) p.11
4. E.N. Ntirukigwa, "the role of Distance Education in In-service Teacher Education and Training"; Paper Presented at the NCI’s Annual Tutors’ Conference, 1980.
5. Erdos, op. cit.; pp. 12-13
6. For instance, whereas 6, 379 students were enrolled in 1978, this figure dropped to 3, 776 in 1979, and 1, 890 in 1980. Between 1981 & 1984, an average of 3, 200 students were enrolled each year. However, this figure dropped to 1, 770 in 1985, 2,310 in 1986, qnd rose to 3, 195 in 1987 – NCI Statistical Serction.
7. See "Taarifa ya kamati ya kuandaa utaratibu wa kusoma kwa muda maalum (study by ace) – 1982".
8. These cases have been cited from letters addressed to the Chief Students’ Counsellors Office by students.