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Distance education in Anglophone Africa: experience with secondary education and teacher training
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... Another important cost-reducing factor is the high student-teacher ratios in most face-to-face distance education sessions. For example, in Malawi, the student-teacher ratio in traditional secondary schools is 25:1 while in the distance education study groups it is 55:1 (Murphy & Zhiri, 1992). Finally, distance education allows the system to save on the costs of building educational facilities. ...
... They are not expected to teach since they lack adequate subject-matter expertise at the secondary level. In 1986, the average ratio of student to supervisor was 55:1 (Murphy & Zhiri, 1992). MCDE has been successful in expanding access to secondary schooling to students who otherwise would be unable to continue their post-primary studies. ...
... The costs of MCDE are significantly lower than the costs of traditional schools: in 1988, MCDE cost about one-third as much per examination pass as regular secondary school (Anzalone, 1995). The MCDE study center system appears to be able to retain students until their examinations with relatively low dropout rates (Murphy & Zhiri, 1992). In terms of quality, however, MCDE leaves much to be desired. ...
... There is little government support in terms of financial support to the universities to manage distance education programs. This makes it difficult for the universities to run distance education programs to meet the needs of the growing student population who have gained admission to universities via distance learning (Asabere & Enguah, 2012;Murphy & Zhiri, 1992). ...
In the past two decades, there has been rapid demand for higher education in Ghana. This has created continued pressure on the government to institute viable alternative solutions to curb the incidence where qualified applicants are often denied admission to higher education due to limited infrastructural facilities. Distance education has emerged as the best alternative means to help provide admission to qualified applicants, especially those in the field of teacher education. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze secondary data from two public universities that offered teacher education degree programs in distance education. Results indicate an increased progression of students in teacher education programs in distance education over the last ten years. This chapter offers background information on distance education with emphasis on teacher education in Ghana. In addition, the chapter discusses the results of secondary data, prospects, and challenges facing distance and teacher education in Ghana. Possible solutions, recommendations for future research, and conclusions follow.
... Student enrollment in higher education has grown faster than financing capabilities, reaching a critical stage where the lack of resources has led to a severe decline in the quality of instruction and in the capacity to reorient focus and to innovate (World Bank, 2010). Roberts and Associates (1998), further explains that currently more than 140 public and private institutions provide tertiary distance education services within sub-Saharan Africa and methods of delivery are mainly print media, supplemented by written assignments, and face-to-face tutoring by instructors (Murphy & Zhiri 1992). Most distance learning programs are in the area of teacher education preparation with the sole purpose of providing the upgrading of required skills for teachers and as well as for professional development. ...
Distance education in Ghana is rapidly gaining recognition as a result of the increasing demand for higher education by qualified applicants, most of whom are denied admission due to the limited space and resources. Distance education promotes cross-national, multi-disciplinary perspectives in educational practice and equips students, faculty, and administrators with resources to compete in the academic world of the 21st century. Universities in Ghana have opted for distance learning as an alternative measure to reduce congestion and help remedy student admissions to the few universities available (Dzisah, 2006). However, little is known about the trend of distance and blended learning education in Ghana. This chapter addresses the trend of distance learning and university education; distance and blended learning in Ghana; information on African Virtual University and distance education, benefits, challenges, recommended strategies of distance and blended learning programs in Ghana; and a conclusion.
Technologists working in nuclear medicine departments in sub-Saharan African countries do not have access to formal training in nuclear medicine and have been recruited mostly from related fields of radiologic technology. Because of the nature of the specialty, the numbers that require training are small, and it is therefore not cost-effective for higher-education institutions in these countries to set up training programs. There is also a lack of expertise in this field in Africa. Assessing the feasibility of running a distance assisted training program to provide training where none exists was undertaken as part of a project sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the African Co-Operative Agreement for Research, Development, and Training related to Nuclear Science and Technology. Seven countries were nominated, but only 3 centers in 2 countries, Sudan and Tanzania, had the infrastructure to support training. Twenty-one students received the first modules in November 1999, and 13 completed the course in December 2001. All students except one were examined in their own departments. Students received an IAEA Certificate of Achievement at the end of the course, at which time the program was evaluated. Analysis of the data indicated that the conceptualization and design of the material were excellent. There were, however, some problems with the implementation of the program, notably the lack of preparedness of the supervisors, limited departmental resources, and a range of nuclear medicine investigations inadequate for clinical competency. The course was seen to have a positive impact, as it not only allowed technologists to develop skills necessary for the profession but also encouraged critical thinking, reflection, and problem solving. One third of untrained nuclear medicine technologists working in sub-Saharan Africa have now received cost-effective, structured on-site training.
Nous proposons un projet, nomme tropics, dont l'objet est d'etudier et concevoir des outils logiciels speci quement adaptes aux problemes rencontres par les concepteurs et developpeurs d'applications de calcul scienti que. Ces applications de calcul scienti que imposent des contraintes importantes, provenant de leur taille d'une part, des langages et des styles de programmation employes d'autre part. Par ailleurs, le domaine du calcul scienti que recele des besoins en analyses et transformations de code, beaucoup plus variees et complexes que les classiques veri cations de typage et traductions. Nous proposons donc de tirer parti de deux aspects de notre experience, qui sont l'analyse, la compilation et la transformation semi-automatiques de programmes d'une part, la comprehension des problemes du calcul scienti que d'autre part, pour proposer, etudier et implementer des outils logiciels nouveaux, utiles aux acteurs du calcul scienti que.
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