13 March 2002
Lagos — A giant stride in the march towards realising the open and distance learning dream was taken last week with the commencement of a one-month Course Materials Development Meeting holding in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital. Bukola Olatunji, who was in Lokoja, and has been following the steps taken so far, reports
First there was the national workshop on distance education organized by the office of the Special Adviser on Education to the president, Chief Samuel Babalola in September2000. The workshop, whose theme was, Evolving a National Policy on Distance
Education in Nigeria drew participants from all walks of life, since everyone is a stakeholder in education.
Among other recommendations, the workshop came up with the Abuja Declaration of 2001 - 2010 as the Decade of Distance Education in Nigeria. A materials development workshop was also proposed. Many participants expressed the hope that the workshop would not be a mere talk shop. A follow up to that workshop was held in June last year. This time a sub regional to develop the materials for open and distance education in the country, it was co-sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja office of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural organization (UNESCO), Dakar, Senegal-based UNESCO BREDA (Regional Office for Education in Africa), office of the Special Adviser on Education and the Education Tax Fund (ETF).
It drew more than 250 participants from the primary, secondary and tertiary education sectors, the ministry and its parastatals. There were also international participants from the Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia. One of the resource persons, Mr. Neil Butcher, came from the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE).
While declaring the workshop open, Minister of Education, Prof. Babalola Borishade expressed happiness that the September 2000 meeting "was not another talk shop." He was not alone.
The minister described as historic, a "development that will quicken our journey and re-entry into the open and distance learning arena." The development is the existence of a National Open University Act, which subsists in the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990, Volume XVII at page 10862. The law, which came into effect on July 22, 1983, was never repealed. The national Open University was merely suspended by a budgetary pronouncement made by former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, on April 25, 1984.
During the June workshop, participants were trained in 'Writing Distance Education materials, Use of Visuals, Development of CD-ROM, online materials, Choosing Appropriate Technology, among others.
At the end, they called on the Federal Government to sustain the efforts already begun in implementing the action plan for distance education. They also recommended capacity building efforts for distance education and conduct of similar workshops with higher intensity at the country level.
The visit of officials of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), led by the President and Chief Executive, Prof. Gujaraj Dhanarajan, between July 13 and 20 last year followed the workshop. They held meetings with Government to explore ways of implementing the 10-year programme adopted at the September workshop. COL agreed to support Nigeria in human and infrastructure capacity building, training of teachers and design of instructional materials for distance learning.
Dhanarajan had said during that visit that Nigeria had the infrastructure to make the Distance Learning programme take off this year. He expressed the hope that with the political will expressed by the government the goal would be achieved.
So it came to pass that about nine months again after the last workshop, a National Open University Course Materials Development meeting opened in Lokoja on March 1, and will run through to the 29th of month. The COL, in keeping to its word, sent three experts down from Canada, who left at the weekend.
During their one-week stay, Instructional Designer, Mr. Bruce Thompson; Education Specialist, Ms. Helen Lentell and Prof. Mohan Menon, also an Education Specialist, initiated the 'students' into course development. Through an intensive one-week all- hands-on workshop, they were taught systematic ways of developing and designing instructional materials and courses for distance learning.
The 'students' are experts in their own rights. National coordinator of the NOU, Prof. Olugbemiro Jegede described them as "over 125 top-rate academics from Nigeria's institutions of higher learning."
They were taken through more than one session each on 'Seven Critical Elements of Instructional Design for Open Learning, Preparing Instructional Materials and Delivery of Open Learning. There were also two sessions of 'Evaluation of Open Learning Programmes, as well as open questions and discussions on open learning.
Lead facilitator, Mr. Bruce Thompson said with the number and quality of people attending the workshop, "they will have a lot of success in the development process. I am very impressed by the turn out and the academic quality of the people that are attending this workshop. It is going to take a lot of hard work, but they are very ambitious."
Ms. Lentell also described the participants as "very keen and knowledgeable", while Pro. Mohan Menon assured that they have been taken through systematic ways of developing course materials for distance education,
For the rest of the month and beginning this week, participants will be engaged in course writing, content editing, scripting and preparation of audio, video, television, CD-Rom and web-based materials.
Jegede said, 183 courses will be written and 235 others adapted "in 54 programmes carefully chosen to kick-start the re-establishment of the National Open University in Lagos." He added that "this time around, we are committed to make the National Open University second to none in Africa and will rival the best in the world through the courses we shall develop in this town (Lokoja).
While declaring the workshop open, the Education Minister, Prof. Babalola Borishade said NOU "will take off with over 46 post graduate, undergraduate, diploma and certificate programmes in many areas determined by national needs, popularity with the
Nigerian public, employer preferences and individual professional and academic development."
The programes include Peace Studies and Conflict, Criminology and Security Studies, E-Banking, E-Commerce, E-Learning and E-Library. Also on the list are Hotel and Catering Management, Management Information Systems, Teacher Education, Mobile Communication Technology and Agricultural Extension. Others are Cooperative
Management, Legal Secretarial Studies, Imports and Exports Administration and Management, as well as Computerized Book keeping.
The minister explained that while open and distance learning has the same output as the conventional mode of studies, it has distinctive pathways and processes that include its heavy reliance on quality-based, well-designed instructional materials carefully crafted and structured using all the features and principles of multimedia instructional design in order to make self or individualized learning user-friendly.
Borishade reminded the participants that the expectation of the nation was very high. "You must therefore apply yourselves and promptly produce these materials for the good of this country", he advised. They are required to use the techniques of open and distance learning and the appropriate technology to design courses and transform curricula into high quality learning materials.
The minister commended the contributions of all international donor agencies and developments partners "for their continued support of our efforts in the march towards achieving greater heights in the area of education." He singled out the COL whose contributions "have continued to encourage our determined effort to institute for posterity, an educational mode which provides all Nigerians with equal and enhanced access to quality education." Both Borishade and Jegede acknowledged the contribution of the Education Tax Fund to the NOU. While the minister said: "I must not forget to note very pleasantly the emerging collaborative partnership between ETF and the National Open and Distance Learning programmes. . . As you may have noticed, ETF is the major financier of this Course Writing meeting...," Jegede said: "Permit me to thank the ETF who boldly decided to sponsor this workshop at a time when all lights seemed dim." Chairman, Board of Trustees of ETF, Mrs. Olutoyin Olakunrin attended the opening ceremony, so did the Kogi State Governor, Prince Abubakar Audu, who was the Special Guest of Honour. Chairman senate committee on education, Senator Alex kadiri, who chaired the opening session, made the pleasant revelation that the National Assembly has allocated N3.2 billion to open and distance leaning.
It is expected that the Open and Distance Learning Programmes in Nigeria will:
Raise literacy level of the population incrementally and systematically so that the goals of Education for All (EFA) shall be met on schedule;
Put in place a sustainable infrastructure for the government to meet its social obligations to the different segments of the population by providing access to quality education at all levels by all who desire it;
Improve the existing teaching force as well as train new teachers through other methods complimentary to current teacher education practices so that Universal Basic Education (UBE) objective can be attained as scheduled;
Establish an infrastructure that supports wealth creation at national, community and individual levels to meet the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) objectives;
Harness the opportunities of the information age for the enhancement of skill acquisition so that Nigerians shall be on the right side of the digital divide;
Develop a framework to facilitate the delivery of education for national orientation and civil responsibility and thereby creating a reliable avenue for the delivery of "education for living together" to all citizens.
Increase penetration, wider reach, affordable and cost effective educational opportunities for all so that nobody is left behind;
Institute in an organised and comprehensive manner open and distance learning which will facilitate workplace training and professional development;
Enhance community ownership and participation in the management and provision of education at all levels nationwide, especially through Community Resource Study Centres.
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