The Prospects And Challenges Of Open Learning And Distance Education In Malawi

Open and distance learning is a fairly new concept in Malawi. The major public provider, the Malawi College of Distance Education, rolled out its activities only about 40 years ago. Over the years, the demand for distance education has tremendously increased. The present government has displayed positive political will to uplift ODL as outlined in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy as well as the National Education Sector Plan. A growing national interest in education coupled with political stability and a booming ICT industry also raise hope for success. However, a fragile economy with a GNI per capita of -US$ 200 over the last decade, poor public funding, erratic power supply and lack of expertise put strain on efforts towards the promotion of ODL initiatives. Despite the challenges, the nation appears determined to go flat out and explore all possible avenues that could revolutionise education access and equity through ODL. {"references": ["R. De Cassia Veiga Marriot & L. P. Torres, Handbook of research on elearning\nmethodologies for language acquisition. Pennsylvania:\nInformation Science Reference, 2008.", "K. Widdowson, \"Open learning: An alternative approach to the\ndelivering of training,\" in Open Learning and New Technology:\nConference proceedings, R. Atkinson and C. McBeath, Eds. Perth:\nAustralian Society for Educational Technology WA Chapter, pp. 347-\n355.", "G. Greenberg, \"Distance education technologies: Best practices for K1\n- 12 settings,\" IEEE Technologies and Society Magazine (Winter), vol.\n17, no. 4, pp. 36-40, 1998.", "International Council for Distance Education (2010). \"Definition of open\neducational practices\". Available:\nhttp://icde.org.", "M. G. Moore & G. Kearsley, Distance education: A systems view, 2nd\ned. Belmont, CA: Wardsworth, 2005.", "R. Siaciwena, \"Open schooling: Issues and challenges,\" presented at the\nPan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, Round Table Session on\nSectoral Development Issues, Brunei Darussalam, Vancouver, Canada,\nMarch 1 - 5, 1999.", "D. Valentine. (2002). Distance Learning: Promises, Problems, and\nPossibilities. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. 5(3).\nAvailable\nhttp://westga.edu.", "C. F. Laymaman, \"Malawi College of Distance Education to move to\nresource-based open learning,\" presented at the Pan-Commonwealth\nForum on Open Learning, Brunei Darussalam, Vancouver, Canada,\nMarch 1 - 5, 1999.", "Malawi Government, Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (2006\n- 2011). Lilongwe: Malawi Government, 2006.\n[10] Ministry of Education, Science and technology, National Education\nSector Plan (2008 - 2017), A statement. Lilongwe: Malawi Government,\n2008.\n[11] B. A. Ojo, \"E-learning and the global divide: The challenges facing\ndistance education in Africa,\" Turkish Journal of Distance education,\nvol. 30, no 3, pp. 6 -79, 2009."]}