Information for the Guidance of Tutors
The Zimbabwe Division of the Rapid Results College Worldwide

Context:
This is an example of a letter sent to tutors of distance education courses. This has been designed by the principal of the Rapid Results College and is circulated to RRC tutors. No date of publication appears on the booklet, but it was submitted to the SAIDE Global DistEdNet researchers in June 1999.

Source:
The Rapid Results College, Zimbabwe

Copyright:
Copyright Approved

THE  RAPID  RESULTS  COLLEGE

  Dear

  INFORMATION FOR THE GUIDANCE OF TUTORS

The Principal Officer and all the staff of the Rapid Results College welcome you as a member of our tutorial panel.  It is our sincere hope that you will enjoy many years with us providing an essential service to the students of the College which you will find stimulating and - since education is our purpose - from which you too may learn even more.

Even though you may have marked test or examination papers in the past, PLEASE read these notes carefully and refer to them frequently for there are significant differences between marking the work of a correspondence student and that of other learners.

Potential correspondence students have a choice of Colleges and they are careful to choose the best.  All businesses make promises - some-times exaggerated - to attract custom and the Rapid Results College is extremely conscious of the need to honour its promises to its students.

In our publication "Your Career in Zimbabwe" which is given to anyone enquiring about a correspondence course, we promise "your Tests are marked speedily and returned to you with teaching Model Answers and helpful comments on your progress" and "any points in your lectures which puzzle you are explained by the Tutor"

Far from conveniently forgetting those promises. once the student has enrolled, we commit ourselves and our tutorial panel again in the booklet "How to Study" which is sent to all students when they enroll with the College.  In there we say that Tutors "will review your work, guide and criticise your approach, point out where further study is needed", and we advise students how to frame questions on any part of their course where they need clarification or more detail from you.

Studying by correspondence requires a considerable amount of determination It is easy to lose interest and to lose heart when there is no-one else close to hand to help solve difficulties and to give encouragement.

Unless the student is a member of a Study Group, there is often no fellow student to work alongside and with whom progress can be compared or difficulties discussed.

Whether a student is in a classroom or is learning by correspondence( the tutor must help to raise his standard of knowledge and give him guidance in his studies.

The correspondence student needs, additionally, encouragement to keep going in the face of difficulties.  An important attribute of the correspondence student is that when he enrolled he was an enthusiastic volunteer with a definite objective in mind.  However he needs that interest to be stimulated in order to maintain and strengthen his determination.

The College is interested in the progress made by every student. Progress can be measured by the tests he answers but progress is achieved if Tutors use them as a method of teaching and to prepare for his examination.

In marking each script, it is correct for you to expect that the student is able to demonstrate the following:-

          (a)  Technical correctness of the information given.

          (b)  Relevance of information to the question asked.

         (c)  A standard of language usage appropriate to the course he is taking.  This
                 includes not only correct spelling, punctuation and grammar but also clarity 
                 of thought and expression.

         (d)  Good layout of the answer showing a planned approach and the inclusion 
                 of any appropriate workings.

         (e)   A presentable script in the context of legible handwriting and tidy overall 
                 appearance.

Weakness in any area will be penalised by the examination body so appropriate advice must be given to any deficient student so that he can improve.

The College will keep you supplied with all new lecture material for subjects you are marking but to avoid a complicated system of double checks and acknowledgements we ask that you make contact immediately you feel you do not have all you need.

It is our experience that on occasion a student will ask a most complicated question or seek information relevant to but outside the scope of his course.  If you feel confident to deal with such a query, please record the time you spent for, as you know, we pay tutors fees for queries according to an hourly scale.  If you are at all in doubt though, please refer the query back to the College for us to obtain a comprehensive reply.  Should you be interested in having a copy of that reply for your own future reference, we would b. pleased to provide this on request.

You will receive three copies of a list of the tests for marking. The list will be completed by our Test Department showing the student's name and number, his course and the test code.

Please enter on the list the mark awarded to each test  and when you have completed marking please compile your claim.  If you received more than one list of tests, your claim for all lists should be consolidated on one.  The College will make every effort to process your claim without delay.

All three copies of each list must be returned with the tests. You are welcome to make your own copy if you wish but (until our computer facilities are expanded) we must have all three returned please.

A copy of the list will be sent to you with your payment for fees so that you can verify the amount paid.

In marking the work of a correspondence student, there are very definite techniques in maintaining his interest and encouraging him.  Please read the following points carefully and remember that what you write on his script is all he will receive - it cannot be amplified by oral communication.

1.  The standard of marking should be appropriate to the examination that the     
     student intends to write.  Most examining bodies do not disclose their pass  
     marks but as a general guide they appear to be in the range of 45% for 
     elementary levels to 60% for advanced levels. You should mark fairly avoiding 
     any tendency to "give him a fright" with an unnecessary low mark.  By the 
     same token, do not be over generous as he will get a false sense of security.

Do not be over concerned if the majority of papers you mark earn a high percentage.  Remember that you are dealing with enthusiastic volunteer students and the test is covering a small part of the total course. Also of course we believe they are studying from excellent material!

2.  Having asked you to avoid being over generous, the one possible exception is the
     first test of a series.  To receive a good mark and praise where it is deserved for
     his first test is a very definite boost to a student who is not quite sure whether he is 
     being over-ambitious in attempting his course and it gives him a standard for his
     future work.

3.  The student is always looking for comment and guidance.  He will welcome
     deserved praise and if he is being honest with himself he will pay close attention to 
     constructive criticism.   If the student sees his script marked merely with ticks 
     and crosses and "See Model Answers" he will feel that he could apply for the 
     answers and save himself postage on his tests. Never make comments which 
     offend, blame, degrade or otherwise seriously discourage the student.  Even 
     comments like "wrong" are "not good enough" can be de-motivating unless they 
     are supported by constructive comments and helpful advice about what the student 
     can do to improve.  In a classroom situation, the Tutor can expand on any written 
     comments whereas in correspondence tuition you have to comment fully on the
     test  itself.

4.  By the time the student is submitting his later tests in the series he is well into the 
     habit of studying, is well motivated and is looking for advice to improve further.  It 
     is wise at this stage not to give marks too easily but to choose them carefully so 
     that they demonstrate the standard reached.  Praise and approval should be given 
     only on merit and deserved criticism shows its greatest effect at this stage.  
     Guidance as to how to improve is needed most of all at this stage.

      When a student is good, do not assume that a high mark speaks for itself.  The 
     good students as well as the poor one requires a positive response from his tutor 
     and will be stimulated by suggestions of a different approach to a question or a 
     different application of a theory.  Only a short note is needed 
     to provide this.

5.  When dealing with queries from students, check if it falls into one of the following 
     categories in which case we suggest you deal with it as indicated.        

    (a)  If it is clear that the student is not studying his lecture properly, you may tell 
            him to study them more closely.

     (b)  If the point of the query is explained more fully in a later lecture, there is no 
            need to give a full answer.  Inform the student instead that the point is dealt 
            with later in the course.

     (c)  If the student is asking for more detail than is required for him to write the 
            examination successfully there is no obligation on the College to provide a 
            full explanation. A short answer can be given but he should be told that it is 
            outside his syllabus.

    (d)  Sometimes a student will present a past examination question in the form of a 
           query.  While we like to encourage the student who is helping himself, there is 
           again no obligation to deal with such queries.  If you have the time and are 
           prepared to deal with the query, please do so but return the query and your 
           explanation to a Director of Studies in order that we may raise the matter with 
           the student.

The College receives many applications for appointment as a Tutor and we are fortunate to be able to choose the most experienced and best qualified for our tutorial panel.  We have a range of many thousands of different lectures in our prospectus and although our permanent staff  watch for syllabus changes and deal with students' queries, it is probably true to say that our tutorial panel is dealing in more depth with material in the lectures and has more opportunity to judge its validity to the final examination papers and how effectively it educates our students.

While the principal job of a Tutor is to mark the students' tests and answers their queries, the College also asks that you give us advice on any aspect of our tuition material such as updating material, amendments to improve the course and advice on examination question cover.  Revision of course material is a continuous exercise by the College's Tutorial Department so if you find a weakness or an error in the material, please draw this to our attention with a short note. We will then check whether your comment has already been discovered and is being corrected.  If it has not, we would then approach you to discuss whether you could suggest the required amendments and negotiate an appropriate fee for this additional service to the College.

No matter how long it takes a student to settle down to write a test, we find that he is eager to have the results of that without delay.  That is a natural expectation since he wants evidence of his progress before he forgets what he wrote and proceeds to the next part of his course. Please will you establish a definite regular pattern of collecting, marking and returning tests.  We realise that for the majority of Tutors, this service to the College and our students is additional to a full days work.  So should you find that we are giving you too many tests and you cannot give the student necessary service in a short "turn-around" time, please mention this to the Test Department.  We will then adjust the quantity of marking to the level you feel confident to deal with.

Finally, please feel free to approach the College on any matter and do not be afraid to criticise us whenever you feel our service to the students can be improved.  Similarly, we shall approach you if we fee that there is something not quite right.  Any criticism we may have will always be intended to be constructive and in the interests of our student body.

Again, the College welcomes you as a Tutor and looks forward to many years of association with you.

Yours sincerely

A H HASLER
PRINCIPAL OFFICER
THE RAPID RESULTS COLLEGE

2.9  Fee Structure

Most of the programmes were charging commercial rates and the fee was per subject or group of subjects. The average for majority of  the privately owned programmes was  $225 per subject at ZJC, $300 at "0" and $350 at "A" Level. For the tertiary courses the  fee was higher and an extra amount charged  for  payment  by  installment.  Most  programmes  also charged  additional  fee  for  materials  like  science  kit, literature  packs  for  specific  subjects  and  postage  of materials. Examination fees, was paid separately and in many cases, the students made their own arrangements to sit the examinations. Under CDE the fees had increased from more than $3000  per  year  to  more  than  $4000.  Once  registered  or enrolled, there was no refund for failure to complete the course or take the examination for most programmes.

Only the Study Groups which were closely monitored by MOE had the lowest fees. A greater part of the fees was for printed materials procured from RRC and CACC.

With the current economic hardships fees had been difficult for many of the students despite the strong desire to acquire education and some training.  There was evidenced  in The Herald, of 12 April 1996 where some students under CDE were quoted to be finding the fees unaffordable. The programme authorities had also refused to allow the students to write examinations  prior  to  the  payment  of  fees.  Under  some programmes students had been taken to court, after failing to pay their installment.

     In the absence of a legal instrument to facilitate government assistance and 
     intervention in distance education the problem is  likely  to  continue.  Thus  while  
     students  under  the conventional  system  including  universities  and  teacher 
     colleges are given government assistance a facility to be extended to private 
     universities,  no similar provision is exist for students under distance education.

2.10 Provision of Resources

This was an area of conncern. For most programmes students relied solely on printed materials for their learning and assignments. There were no extra instructional materials like textbooks and other publication to support their work. For the few programmes using the radio  especially CDE,  only few programmes  were  on  the  air.  Fortunately  most  private programmes had adequate printing capacity for the materials for their students and additional for other programmes. The Study Groups which had no printing facilities to produce their own materials were supplied by RRC and CACC but for a fee. Materials from some of the programmes, had also been sold and used by students in the conventional system. However, the CDE which had only started in 1994 with a large student enrolment had serious shortage of materials. For some areas materials were written after the students had been enrolled and the production  and  distribution  of  materials  still  needed improving.

Libraries to support students, were not readily available. Where a library existed, the books had been irrelevant or out of date. Only the Correspondence School had adequate library facilities and books were sent to pupils on request.  The reprographic facilities for the School were also impressive.

2.11 Co-ordination and Monitoring Structures

There is no national body or committee to coordinate and monitor  distance  education  in  the  country.  The  private programmes had their own Board or Council which meet and discuss areas of common interest for the development of their programmes. However, of late there has been a move to form a national coordinating committee on distance education. This seems  to  be  mainly  from pressure  groups  or  individuals interested in distance education as business venture and very little  national  effort being made  especially by the- two Ministries involved in education and training. Under Ministry of Education, there was a Department in charge of Non-formal-education and included adult education. Although attempts had been made to address distance education, this had not been very fruitful and the efforts to establish ZIDE (Zimbabwe Institute of Distance Education) which was going to coordinate all such programmes, had not taken off the ground. There was also no close links or a networking approach to educational planning  and  management  between  the  distance  education programmes  and  the  conventional  system.  This  was  only experienced under CDE and DEC where UZ and the conventional teacher colleges respectively had links with the programmes.

2.12  Summary of Findings

2.12.1 Eleven programmes were identified as being involved in distance--education 
           with few offering only correspondence education.  Of the programmes 4 were 
           registered under Ministry of Higher Education and the rest under Ministry of 
           Education.

2.12.2  Only two programmes namely the Correspondence School and the Centre for 
           Distance Education were run by government. The rest were private and two 
           were under the University of Zimbabwe

2.12.3 A few programmes had roots outside Zimbabwe and some including ZDECO 
           which originated locally had links with external institutions for some of their 
           courses.

2.12.4 All programmes were based in Harare and few had centres in main cities like 
           Bulawayo, Gweru and Masvingo with no distance education programme 
           established in the rural areas.

2.12.5  Four programmes offered primary education and majority offered  
            secondary and  tertiary  education.  Highest concentrated was at JC, 0 and A 
            levels, certificate and diploma  and  only  three  programmes  offered  
            degrees including two which offered externally degrees.

2.12.6   The majority of programmes used the print media to transmit their learning 
            content to students and only the Correspondence School and CDE 
            programme under UZ used the radio in addition to the print media.

2.12.7  Few  programmes  like  RRC,  CACC  and  ICS  were  purely 
            correspondent and the rest had an element of face-to-face teaching.

2.12.8  The fees varied from one programme to another and per courses. Generally, 
            there was emphasis on running the programmes as business ventures and 
            making profit with majority of the programmes being privately owned and 
            seeking to be self-sustaining.

2.12.9  A variety of  courses and subjects were offered  for majority of the 
            programme and this applied to most levels covered by the programmes.

2.12.10 No  specific legal  instrument  existed  to  facilitate planning and development 
            of distance education, nor was there an administrative structure to effectively 
            monitor and co-ordinate distance education in the country.

2.12.11 Most institutions concentrated on arts, social science and commercial subjects 
            at the expense of the technical subjects. Only CACC and RRC had attempted 
            to offer some theoretical skills course, but these were very basic.

2.12.12 Few programmes  had  their own  assessment  system but majority relied on 
            the public examinations administered by the conventional system.

2.12.13 Resources for most programmes, were inadequate and there was an outcry 
            for more reading materials or libraries and expanded electronic media to 
            support the courses.

2.12.14 The entry requirements varied from one programme and course to another 
            but generally these were very flexible with ability to pay fees and 
            commitment to learning being uppermost. The open learning approach where 
            students can join the courses and complete at their pace, was also hailed by 
            many.

3.   CONCLUSION

Although there were some efforts to promote distance education in Zimbabwe, a lot still needs to be done for it to be viable and to impact on human resources development as required. This includes the expansion of the area and redefine the concept of distance  education before  a variety of  programmes  start mushrooming in the country. The quality of the programmes will also  need  to  be  monitored  and  improve  and  the  courses diversified. The attitude of the people to the whole area of distance  education will  need  to  be  transformed  and  the urban/rural disparity addressed. All these and many more will need to be addressed if distance education is to be a viable alternative or complement the conventional education system.

4.  RECOMMENDATIONS

In the light of the findings and conclusion of the study, the recommendations are 
as follows

4.1  Zimbabwe will stand to benefit by expanding and improving distance  education 
       to strengthen the human resources development base.

4.2  Adoption of specific policies and plans on distance education will go a long way to 
       promote the area and specific legal instrument must be enacted with a focus on 
       this and facilitate financing of the programmes.

4.3  A coordinating machinery must be put in place at national level  and  this  could  
       be  outside  the  usual  government structures to avoid stifling the area through 
       bureaucracy.

4.4  The learning material base, e.g. libraries and textbooks for specific course areas 
       must be strengthened and additional modes of instruction like the radio, television 
       and the recent internet technology attempted. This will go a long way to facilitate 
       better acquisition of knowledge by the students and avoid  half-backed  
       graduates  for  which  reason  distance education has been regarded as second 
       rate.

4.5  Distance education programmes  in technical areas must be boosted and 
       strengthened.  This could be achieved through liaison with the conventional 
       institutions for use of their equipment while some are operating below capacity

4.6  Marketing  and  advertising  of  distance  education  need strengthened  and  
       reduce  the  negative  attitude  currently existing in preference of the 
       conventional system.

4.7   A closer link between distance education and the conventional system must be 
       developed and applied to promote the two as equal strategies in  human 
       resources development and address the need for education and training in the 
       country.

REFERENCES

1. Report of the Ministerial Committee on Further Development of University 
    Distance Education

2. An Implementation Report on the Establishment of External Degree  Courses  
    for Secondary  School  Teachers  and  of  a Programme on Management Training 
    and Supervision

3. Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Establishment of a Second
    University or Campus (1989)

4.  Study  Group  Facilitator's  Perceived  Role  Of  Appropriate Technology In 
     Distance Education For Out-Of-School Secondary Level Learners In Zimbabwe 
     By Chrispen Max Gundani

5.  Manpower Planning and Development Act 1994

6.  Education  (Correspondence and Independent Colleges)
     Regulations 1990 (Statutory Instrument 23)

7.  Centre for Distance Education News Letter Volume 2 NO. 2 1995

8.  Butt-s, D  Distance Learning and Broadcasting, (1981) Vol. 15

9.  UNESCO : Education Innovation for Development (1979), Paris

  Information Pamphlets from CACC, RRC, ICS, IPMZ1 ZDECO and Open 
   Learning Centre

APPENDIX 1

  LIST OF INTERVIEWEES