Factors Affecting Students Completion from the In-service Diploma in Primary Education (DPE) by distance mode at the University of Botswana

Judith W Kamau
Distance Education Unit, University of Botswana

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     Last modified: October 16, 2006
     Presentation date: 11/01/2006 10:00 AM in ST Windsor B
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Abstract


In a bid to raise academic standards from primary school to the tertiary level, and in its drive to achieve universal primary education by 2016 by expanding a teaching force that is shrinking through retirement and disease, mainly through(HIV/AIDS), the government of Botswana, through Recommendations 100 (a) of the Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE) of 1994, raised the minimum qualification for primary school teacher certificate (PTC) holders from certificate to the diploma level. Recommendation 104 (b) of RNPE, mandated all (PTC) holders to be upgraded through part time studies. The first cohort of 600 teachers enrolled on this four year DPE programme in December 1999, with an expectation of completing their studies and graduating no later than December 2003. So far, no students have graduated from this programme which is a collaborative venture between the University of Botswana and the Ministry of Education.

This paper, explores the challenges faced by the consortium of educational providers and stakeholders who set out to share available resources in the design, development and delivery of the DPE programme and how these challenges contributed towards the delay in the completion of the programme by learners. The paper also discusses how collaborative and participatory methods designed to achieve maximum benefit in the preparation and distribution of learning materials, tutoring and marking of students' work and how joint management and administration of assessment procedures and processes impacted on programme completion dates.