DEOSNEWS Vol. 4 No. 4.
Copyright 1994.

Director of ACSDE and Editor of AJDE:  Dr. Michael G. Moore.
DEOSNEWS Editor:  Melody M. Thompson
DEOSNEWS Reviewer:  Doreen M. Lyons

DEOS was established with a grant from the Annenberg/CPB Project.

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EDITORIAL

This issue of DEOSNEWS presents an article on distance
education in Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Authors Zindi and Aucoin
relate the colonial history of distance education in the two
countries, discuss developments since independence, including
government initiatives and barriers to implementation, and
suggest areas on which educators and government must focus to
ensure the success of distance education in Africa.


IS DISTANCE EDUCATION THE ANSWER?
FOCUS ON TANZANIA AND ZIMBABWE

Fred Zindi and Robert Aucoin
Concordia University
Department of Education
1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd West
Montreal, Quebec
H3G 1M8
Canada
RAUCO@VAX2.CONCORDIA.CA


INTRODUCTION

     Tanzania, formerly known as Tanganyika, became
independent from British rule in 1961. Nearly 20 years later, in
1980, Zimbabwe, formerly known as Southern Rhodesia, then
Rhodesia, achieved independence from the ruling white minority
government.
     In order to fulfil the aspirations of the masses, the majority of
whom had been denied the right to education during the colonial
era, on attaining independence both Tanzania and Zimbabwe
adopted policies of free universal education for primary and
secondary school pupils.  This politically appropriate decision to
expand the education system soon resulted in an enormous drain
on the economies of the two countries.  It took Zimbabwe
only 10 years after independence to reverse the policy of free
education.  By 1991, pupils were required to pay fees.
     One solution to the difficulties experienced in
financing educational programmes in the midst of the economic
turmoil in both Tanzania and Zimbabwe and to solving problems
such as the shortage of teachers, shortage of classrooms, and the
high cost of maintaining a conventional educational system, was
to return to the cost-effective methods used in the colonial era.
One such method was through distance education.

ADVANTAGES OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

     In many African countries, competing social needs such as
health, food, transport, and education pose a great problem for
those governments with limited resources.  Distance education,
because it does not require large investments in physical
facilities, teachers, or text books, becomes appealing. If
properly managed and organised, distance education is indeed
cost-effective.  Distance education is an individualized form of
instruction and is therefore capable of catering to individual
needs.  It is flexible: a student can work at his/her own pace
during his/her own time and there is no age limit as to who
should take distance education courses.  It is also comparatively
cheaper than the conventional system of education and therefore
students can afford to pay the required fees. People who would
otherwise be marginalized by the conventional educational
system--such as women with children, workers, and disabled
people--can take courses through distance education because of
its flexibility.

WEAKNESS OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

     In Tanzania, the budget for adult-education and distance
education programmes is around 10% of the total amount
budgeted to the Ministry of Education  (Dahwa, 1993).
Zimbabwe's Ministry of Education spends less than 5% of its
annual budget on adult and distance education.  Because of
the small budgets prescribed for distance education in these
countries, the payment of salaries to mentors, the parity of
esteem between distance and conventional education, continued
use of unrevised learning materials, the lack of well remunerated
education officers to monitor the quality of educational input,and
limited expenditure on workshops or study group programmes,
the perception of those people who choose to study through
distance education is one of mass-produced programmes which
are inferior to conventional systems. Consequently, both
Tanzania and Zimbabwe's distance education programmes have
been plagued with problems such as delayed feedback, inability
to deal with individual needs, and a lack of student motivation.

REASONS FOR THE RISE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

     During the colonial period, distance education in both
Tanzania and Zimbabwe was largely a response by voluntary
organizations to the desires of many Africans to acquire formal
academic education; this was a time when educational
opportunities at the secondary school level were limited
to very few Africans, usually those who made the 'A' grade in
English and Arithmetic (Wakatama, 1983).
     In 1954 the Central African Correspondence College was
established and many Africans in the then Federation of
Rhodesia and Nyasaland registered as private candidates for
study by correspondence from this college.  Later, in 1962, the
Rapid Results College was established in both Zimbabwe and
Tanzania (Ntirukigwa, 1986; Wedemeyer, 1966).  Other
colleges included Transworld Tutorial, International
Correspondence Schools, Wosley College,  and The British
Tutorial College.  These colleges were established in Africa to
cash in on the lack of educational opportunities faced by many
Africans under colonial regimes. The governments in the
colonial era also felt that they could not spend inordinate
resources on formal education among Africans, because
this was a sure way of creating a class of people who would
challenge the legitimacy of those governments.  The undeterred
Africans, however, sought alternative education: studying
through distance education.
     Distance education also provided a palliative for the colonial
conscience: by providing the foreign currency to register with
foreign educational institutions, the governments felt that they
were doing at least something for the Africans.  However,
distance education made very minimal demands on the national
fiscus since no new buildings, no text books and no per capita
grants were provided by government.  The only expense was for
salaries of a few education officers who monitored the
programme.  It is only the cost-effectiveness of distance
education that has kept it alive in both Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

THE STATE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION IN TANZANIA

The Pre-independence Period

     Distance education in Tanzania has a long history; prior to
independence there were several private institutions offering
various forms of distance education. However, these institutions
were foreign and were more correspondence schools than true
distance education institutions, since they did not offer face-to-
face contact. These institutions included International
Correspondence Schools, the Wosley College, British Tutorial
College, and The Rapid Results College (Ntirukigwa, 1986).

The Post-Independence Period

     With independence in 1961 came a multitude of problems,
including a largely uneducated population and a high annual
growth rate of 3.5%. At this rate the population would double
every twenty years. In addition to the high growth rate, 48% of
Tanzanians were under the age of 15 and were, therefore, of
school age. Other problems included a very low per capita
income of US $100, which is the second lowest in the world,
after Mozambique. These problems made the need for full scale
educational expansion obvious.
     Tanzanian adults also wanted and needed to be educated,
since the colonial era had denied most of them that right, as was
the case with most colonial regimes. The result was the
concurrent expansion of the education system at the primary,
secondary, and tertiary levels. This was an enormous drain on a
new country that was already spending 20-30% of its GNP on
education. For all of these reasons, the new Tanzanian
government decided to embark on large-scale educational
programmes; distance education programmes were to play a
major part due to their relative cost efficiency. Officially, the
government of Tanzania introduced distance education
programmes for two reasons: " i) to provide mass
education on a wide scale and ii) to provide professional training
for nationals in post teachers  (sic), cooperative/ development
workers." (Magnus, 1991).
     Distance education in Tanzania, as in many African nations,
has followed four different paths: correspondence institutes;
radio programmes used to improve residential instruction; radio
and visual campaigns to promote literacy, health and other issues
of national importance; and formal distance education and
training institutions. The development of distance education has
followed a chronological hierarchy ranging from correspondence
schools in the 1960's to a proposal for a full-scale open
university in the late 1980's.
     The emergence of true distance education in Tanzania began
in 1970 with the melding of the Institute for Adult Education
(IAE) and the National Correspondence Institution (NCI) based
at the University of Dar Es Salaam and supported jointly by the
Government of Tanzania and the Swedish International
Development Agency (SIDA). These institutions had been
involved in correspondence and radio programmes since 1967,
but it was only in 1970 that they made the move towards true
distance education. The objectives of IAE and NCI are to
produce correspondence courses to serve a variety of needs
including " 'mass' courses at a basic educational level in
important subjects and academic courses in secondary-school
subjects for adults, including many teachers and professional
courses" (Young, 1980). In addition to the printed course
materials, IAE and NCI provide radio broadcasts and face-to-
face meetings between students and tutors, who occasionally
visit the regions outside of Dar Es Salaam.
     Currently NCI has 70,470 students enrolled in 23 courses that
include "basic school education/ further education at school and
basic professional training (e.g. preparation for A-levels, high
school certificate and entrance qualifications for university
studies, upper secondary level, technical college etc.)/ university
study and further professional training (after basic professional
training and/ or job experience); Teacher Training, Certificate
Grade A." (Doerfert, 1989).
     NCI does not use local study centres and, as a result, face-to-
face contact is voluntary if it is offered at all. However, the lack
of formal study centres allows for much flexibility in pacing and
teaching methods as well as flexibility in options for students.
For example, students decide when they will start their courses,
when they will order their materials, and when they will send in
their assignments.
     Materials are developed by members of course teams, which
consist of subject specialists and editors only and do not include
instructional designers or distance education specialists.
However, NCI is able to formatively evaluate all materials that
are used by their learners. At this time all course materials are
written course units and there are no immediate plans to change
or expand this medium.
     Despite the lack of student study centres, there is student
support in the form of two-way communication through the
correction of assignments, comments on assignments,
answering learners' questions and requests, and contacts with
learners initiated by either the institution or the learner. The
media used in the two-way communication include written
correspondence, telephone, and direct (face-to-face) contacts
(Doerfert, 1989).
     Although the quality of the materials has been evaluated and
found to be high, there has been no evaluation of the graduates.
It has been found that the average success rate is only 35% and
the non-starter rate is 25%, according to 1972-1984 figures
(Doerfert, 1989). To reduce non-starter and drop out rates, NCI
has begun mailing standardized letters of encouragement or
reminders and has implemented visits to learners by people
appointed by the institution.
     NCI has been very successful and continues to address
educational problems in Tanzania. So far, 35,000 teachers have
been trained under NCI. NCI does have plans to expand its
services by "introducing diploma and certificate courses in
management and administration. Also technical and vocational
courses are being planned in carpentry, masonry, plumbing,
tailoring, radio and electric technology and motor mechanics,"
and including more face-to-face contact between the institution
and students (Young, 1980, p.217, Magnus, 1991).
     In 1976 the Arusha Appropriate Technology Project: Local
Production Programme (AATP) was initiated to encourage rural
people to help design and produce teaching materials (Young,
1980). These teaching materials are used in local discussion
groups to discuss local problems. Among the types of projects
addressed under the AATP was the Kisigis Homesteads Cattle-
dip Management Programme. Through this programme, models,
pictures, slides, and cassette recorders have been used to
demonstrate more effective cattle dipping methods to help reduce
health problems associated with cattle. It has been noted that
hoof and mouth disease as well as tick-borne diseases have
dropped in the area since the implementation of the programme.
Other projects sponsored by the AATP have included
discussions with womens' groups on topics ranging from baby
care to agriculture (Young, 1980).
     The last distance education institution in Tanzania was the
South African Extension Unit (SAEU), which started operations
in 1984. However, the SAEU has been operating in other
African countries for many years (Magnus, 1991). The aim of
the SAEU is to provide educational opportunities to South
African exiles living in Tanzania and other Frontline states,
including Angola, Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia, and
Zimbabwe. Currently the SAEU has a staff of 11 and is
sponsored by the Commonwealth Secretariat, Commonwealth
Fund for Technical Cooperation (CTEC), United Nations
Education and Training Programme for Southern Africa
(UNETPSA), the Swedish International Development Agency
(SIDA) and NORAD.
     There were 1350 students enrolled in SAEU programmes in
1989 (the last year for which data was available) in subjects
ranging from "English, Mathematics and Agriculture to O and A
level courses imported from Wolsey Hall and Metropolitan
College, UK... including Mathematics, English, Physics,
Chemistry, Biology, Sociology, Principles of Accounts,
Economics, Business and Law." (Magnus, 1991). All
programmes covered a range of educational levels from basic
education to secondary education to adult non-formal education.
All courses are designed in cooperation with the Tanzania
National Correspondence Institution and employ a variety of
media including correspondence units, audio-cassette
programmes, weekend schools, and face-to-face meetings
(Magnus, 1991).

THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA

     In December of 1989, the Commonwealth of Learning
published a proposal--"The Role of Media Technology Within
the Proposed Open University of Tanzania"--for an Open
University to be based in Dar Es Salaam (Cutting, 1989). There
has been very little, if anything, done to act on the proposal for
an open university in Tanzania; however, the proposal itself was
both ambitious and honest, although not a little unrealistic.
Cutting called for heavy involvement of the Posts and
Telecommunications Corporation (PTC) to facilitate faster and
more efficient communications (Cutting, 1989). Cutting
proposed that the PTC be improved to allow for greater speed in
mail delivery. In addition, the proposal called for the PTC to
install better telephone lines that would be able to accommodate
faxes, teleconferencing, and computer technologies. However,
in an interview with the Director General of the PTC, F.C.
Kasambala, it became clear that this was an unrealistic objective.
At the very best it was hoped that these technologies would be
ready by the year 2000 (Cutting, 1989).
     The proposal also appeals for the expansion of the National
Correspondence Institute to facilitate the production of multi-
media materials (Cutting, 1989). Given that, in 1989, NCI was
having difficulties producing enough materials for its own
programmes, it is unlikely that they would be able to also
produce materials for an open university. In fact, NCI
is currently experiencing severe shortages of trained staff,
equipment, and spare parts.
     The proposal notes that Tanzania is a very large country with
a largely rural population, which makes it a prime candidate for
an open university. What the proposal fails to point out is that
Tanzania has a very poor transportation system, very poor
roads, and many people without access to electricity. The result
is that most of the potential learners of an open university would
not have access to the types of technologies that the PTC is
being asked to provide. It is unfortunate that Cutting did not
heed the lesson that Tanzania learned years before: to rely on
existing technologies.
     Cutting also proposes that Radio Tanzania be used by the
open university due to the success it has enjoyed over the years
with its own educational broadcasts. However, it is not clear
whether or not Radio Tanzania can handle the extra load that an
open university would require. Despite this possible limitation,
the idea of using Radio Tanzania is probably the most realistic
option to be found in the proposal.

THE PRE-INDEPENDENCE PERIOD

     As outlined above it was in 1954 that the Central African
Correspondence College was established in the then Federation
of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, mainly to alleviate the problem of
lack of educational facilities for those Africans who could not be
accommodated into existing educational institutions.  The Judges
Report commissioned by the Rhodesian government in 1962
recommended study by correspondence for primary school
leavers who wished to further their educational careers but failed
to find places in existing secondary schools. By 1975, 60% of
Zimbabwe's Africans taking Junior Certificate and 'O'Level
examinations were doing so through distance education (Dahwa,
1993). Most of these students were registered with colleges such
as Rapid Results College and Transworld Tutorial. Those who
took degree programmes were mainly registered with the
University of South Africa.  By 1979, over 3,500 students had
graduated through correspondence and distance education.

THE POST-INDEPENDENCE PERIOD

     The main post-independence distance education programme
initiated by the Zimbabwe government was the Zimbabwe
Integrated Teacher Education Course (ZINTEC) (which was
UNICEF/Zimbabwe Government Programme of Co-
operation).  This was established to alleviate a teacher shortage
caused by the rapid expansion of the education system at the
time of independence.  Four colleges in Mutare, Masvingo,
Harare, and Gwanda enrolled over 5000 trainee teachers in the
first six years of the inception of ZINTEC.  By 1986, according
to the Ministry of Education, 3903 teachers had graduated from
ZINTEC. The programme involved students spending 16 weeks
in residence learning theories of education, as well as their
teaching subjects.  This was followed by three and half years of
on-the-job experience for the students, who were assigned to
primary schools to teach while simultaneously receiving
supervision and distance education modules on both educational
theories and teaching courses.  After passing the distance
education programme, students would then go back to the
colleges for another 16 weeks before taking the final
examinations.
     The 1982 mid-term evaluation of the ZINTEC programme
showed that, on the whole, pupils taught by ZINTEC student
teachers had better results in their national examinations than
those taught by other teachers (Chivore, 1982). The reason
given for the effectiveness of the ZINTEC programme was that
most students who received distance education courses were
able to put theory into practice while they learned on the job,
unlike the students from conventional colleges, who spent most
of their three years learning theory and were only able to apply it
after they had completed their training.
     On the basis of another ZINTEC evaluation in 1986, the
Ministry of Higher Education moved to transform the ZINTEC
National Centre into the National Distance Education Centre.
However, due to a drop in the growth of educational
opportunities--from 72 percent in 1980 to 54 percent in 1986--
the Ministry decided to phase out two of the ZINTEC colleges.
Mutare and Masvingo have since become conventional colleges,
but still adopt a more or less ZINTEC approach, in which
students spend two years in residence and one year of
supervised teaching practice in the field.
     At independence a number of local and privately owned
distance education colleges also were established.  For example,
Zimbabwe Distance Education College (ZDECO) offered 'O'
Level, 'A' Level, and degree programmes.  By 1990, nearly
20,000 Zimbabwean students had enrolled with ZDECO.
(Ndlovu, 1993). In 1985, the Zimbabwe Integrated system of
Secondary Education (ZISSE) was launched to develop methods
of reducing teaching costs without compromising the quality of
education. This system combined half-time face-to-face teaching
by qualified teachers with half-time supervision of self-study
groups by mentors using distance learning materials (Kala
1988).  A total of 1800 students were enrolled, but numerous
problems were encountered in the implementation of ZISSE.
The Ministry of Education did not come up with the supply of
materials agreed upon, teachers went without pay for long
periods (sometimes up to 12 months), there was a general
shortage of teaching staff and transport, and mentors were
unwilling to implement the project, which seemed to them to
have no direction at all.  By 1990 the ZISSE concept was almost
history, as less than 100 students were still listed in the ZISSE
books.
     In 1989, the Adult and Non-Formal Education Division of
the Ministry of Education and Culture established the Zimbabwe
Institute of Distance Education (ZIDE) to complement private
distance education colleges. Due to the failings of the ZISSE
concept, enrollment figures after 1987 began to drop. (See Table
1). However, after the establishment of ZIDE, which aimed
at promoting and popularizing the concept of Distance
Education, enrollment figures began to rise once again.

TABLE 1: ADULT AND DISTANCE EDUCATION IN
ZIMBABWE

Year         Enrollments       # of Study Groups         # of Mentors
1979             6,347            56                        -

1980             9,423           106                       208

1981            11,176           120                       242

1982            37,726           520                       832

1983            41,050           840                     1,005

1984            41,139           620                       909

1985            42,077           649                     1,084

1986            40,859           635                     1,022

1987            40,067           406                       706

1988            28,154           387                       824

1989            36,257           511                       832

1990            37,659           579                       902

1991            42,005           598                       907


Source: Ministry of Education and Culture, Computerized
Statistics, December, 1992.


     In 1993 the University of Zimbabwe established a Distance
Education Centre.  1500 students enrolled for the September and
January 1994 courses.  Although courses are only being offered
in Educational Administration at the moment, it is hoped that
within two years courses from across all faculties of the
university will also be offered through distance education.
According to government sources, Zimbabwe will save an
estimated $163 million in foreign currency (which is the amount
currently paid to foreign correspondence colleges) as a result of
localizing degree programming through distance education.

CONCLUSION

     From the foregoing account it is difficult to say whether or
not distance education is the way forward for the implementation
of mass education in both Tanzania and Zimbabwe.  According
to the 1990 UNESCO report, for distance education to succeed
in Africa, educators, planners, and governments must work
together and focus on three main areas: information and
research, the training of specialists, and the production or
acquisitions of materials.  Future distance educators will have to
show flexibility in their needs assessment, provide training for
local experts, increase local participation, use indigenous
channels of communication, and improve the two-way flow of
information (Ofori-Ansa, 1983).
     There is a need for governments to adopt a comprehensive
policy on distance education as well as for effective co-operation
with Distance Education Colleges.  As long as distance
education is viewed as a poor cousin of the formal education
system, it will not be able to fulfil its role of increasing
educational opportunities.  There must, therefore, be adequate
funding for distance education programmes, with mentors
adequately remunerated, as well as an adequate supply of
materials and transport before distance education can realize its
potential.  For now it will suffice to say that distance education
is only being used as a means of sustaining cut-backs in formal
education by those governments facing economic hardships.
     In many western countries, in order to promote distance
education, designers of programmes have included packages of
high technologies such as electronic mail, internet computer
systems, CD Rom units and touchtone telephone
communications which provide on-line or off-line generic
programmes. Here distance education is viewed in a more
positive light since a lot of money is spent on its organization. It
is also characterized by two-way communication, technical
media and the involvement of a formal or bureaucratic body
whereas in Tanzania or Zimbabwe, this kind of organization
hardly exists. Apart from the mass distribution of pre-
packaged print and broadcasting media, interaction with others
and access to resources (such as libraries) is virtually non-
existant for those who study at a distance.
     A viable system of distance education seems to be a distant
goal that can only be achieved when African governments take a
more serious role and interest in it by providing the much needed
finances to support distance education.

REFERENCES

Chivore, B.R. (1982). "An Interim Assessment of the ZINTEC
Programme and Implications for Teacher Education in
Zimbabwe."  Harare. Mimeographed.

Cutting, A.K. (1989). "The Role of Media Technology Within
The Proposed Open University of Tanzania."  The Common-
wealth of Learning, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Dahwa, L.E. (1993). "The State of Distance Education in
Zimbabwe."  Paper prepared at a Distance Education
Conference:  University of Zimbabwe.

Doerfert, F. et al. (1989). "Short Descriptions of Selected
Distance Education  Institutions."  Zientrales Institute fur
Fernstudienforshung Arbeitsbereich, FernUniversitat, Hagen,
Germany.

Kala. L. (1988). (in Dorsey, Matshazi and Nyagura) "A Review
of Education and Training in Zimbabwe.  Manual prepared for
CIDA/Zimbabwe project, April 1992.

Magnus, J. (1991). "A Survey of Distance Education 1991."
New Papers on Higher Education:  Studies and Research 4,
UNESCO, Paris, France.

Ndlovu, S. (1993). "The State of Distance Education in
Zimbabwe."  Paper prepared at Free University of Zimbabwe's
Distance Education Conference.

Ntirukigwa, E.N. (1986). "Distance Education in Tanzania" in
Learning Strategies for Post Literacy, The Tanzanian Approach.
A Reader.  Muller, J. (ed).  German Foundation for
International Development,  Bonn, Germany.

Ofori-Ans, (1983) "Africa's Search for Communication
Technologies for Education:  A Reflection in Problems and
Prospects. "  In Development Communication Report, No. 43,
Sept, 1983, USAID, Washington, D.C., USA.

UNESCO. (1990)  "Priority:  Africa."  Programme of Action
Proposed by the Director-General (1990-1995).  Proceedings of
a Seminar on Distance Education (1st, Arusha, Tanzania,
September 24-28, 1990).  UNESCO,  Paris, France, 1990.

Wakatama, M. (1983) "Educational Opportunities in Zimbabwe"
Teachers' Forum. Vol 4. No 1, p.p. 67-68.

Wedemeyer, Charles A., Ed. (1966). The Brandenberg
Memorial Essays on Correspondence Instruction--II. University
of Wisconsin, Madison. University Extension.

Young, M. et al. (1980). "Distance Teaching for the Third
World The Lion and the Clockwork Mouse."  Routledge and
Kegan Paul Ltd, London.


Copyright 1993. Fred Zindi & Robert Aucoin

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