Harare — There has been a significant change in the patterns of livelihoods in Zimbabwe before, during and after political independence gained in 1980.

The Fast Track Land Reform Programme, completed about five years ago, has unravelled tremendous challenges in the education sector and society in general.

Education entails the acquisition of a set of skills, attitudes and knowledge necessary for informed participation in the cultural, economic, political and social life of communities.

Education in general, and educational reform in particular, have long been regarded the world over as major instruments for socio-economic and political growth and development.

Consequently, governments, planners and other stakeholders have found it justifiable to make massive investments in education.

The expansion of the educational system itself as a reform strategy has created relatively new problems in developing countries such as the problem of educated unemployment.

However, the critical issue is that educational reforms need to be complemented by many other forces in society to attain real impact. Such forces could include agricultural, rural and industrial development, economic restructuring and political stability.

Open and distance learning constitute the best approach to tackling the challenge of equitable access to higher level of education that Zimbabwe faces, as the learner has a high level of control over the location, timing, content and/or method of study.

In fact, open distance learning is the only mode of education that can adequately address the fundamental priorities of national economic integration; increase in productivity, with focus on district-base development, creation of an environment favourable to growth of the nation's productive sector and support to small and medium-size companies, as it makes higher education accessible where it is needed, at a more affordable and cost effective manner.

An ODL university is open in several senses:

• It is open to applicants of any age or background

• Through open and distance learning, one can enjoy the full benefits of studying, whilst still in employment or at home

• It utilises an array of educational methods, including print media, and is supported by alternative technologies. For example, CD tutorials, television, radio broadcasts, small group tutorials, mailed correspondence lessons, and other media.

• It is accessible to students from remote districts in all provinces of the country.

• Students can progress at their own pace.

• Accessibility and affordability are the hallmarks of ODL.

Currently, there is only one university, the Zimbabwe Open University, that is offering open distance learning.

ZOU is a State University, which since 2003 when it held its inaugural graduation, has churned out more than 17 000 graduates in various areas of expertise. This feat has been made possible by the fact that the open university promotes accessibility to education throughout the country and has regional centres in all the 10 provinces.

Furthermore, as a matter of policy, the Zimbabwe Open University has strove throughout that education is affordable to its students who span from company executives to learners coming straight from high school. The University currently has about 20 000 students and this makes it the largest centre for higher learning in Zimbabwe based on these impressive enrolment figures.

While the pedagogy employed within a course or unit must be at the heart of the experience, the technology employed also has an impact, both negative and positive, on the experience for the student.

E-learning covers a broad range of activities which involve the embedding or adaptation of information technologies within the learning process. This can mean that a traditional course often has to be entirely re-engineered either for a wholly online experience or a hybrid approach of online and offline activities.

ICTs are pervasive in all our working lives and it is essential for the running of the university. However, it is much more than utility resources, it is a fundamental contributor to the knowledge we create.

There is no area of academic endeavour that does not depend on ICTs and in many disciplines, its innovative use is essential for attaining international excellence.

Hence, due consideration needs to be given when allocating financial resources to the support and alignment with all areas of academic and learner support work for an ODL university.

To this end, both innovation and rock-solid utility provision should be enabled to make an open university or educational institution an entity to reckon with in the modern world.

It should, invariably, be the object of the ODL-offering university in this country to provide the learning environments, support systems, academic programmes, facilities, technology to enable the life-long success of the students, with their diverse needs, interests, capabilities, and ambitions. The strategy for learner support is to evaluate the presence and quality of learner support, materials availability, and learner help functions and this includes learning materials, CDs, textbooks, along with the relevance to learner, community, economy and employer needs and its accessibility and flexibility.

ICTs serve to ensure that the university or educational institution offering ODL will be known nationally and internationally for its:

• unique applied and interdisciplinary distance and open learning degree programmes

• interdisciplinary research initiatives in areas of national importance and significance

• innovative, integrated, interdisciplinary curricula that offers high quality education in a conducive distance and open learning environment

• leadership in shaping the national agenda on university engagement that is unsurpassed.

Dr Gabriel Kabanda is the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Zimbabwe Open University.