Can distance education be implemented in light of the Covid-19 Pandemic to achieve the Third National Development Plan (NDPIII)?
Uganda’s third National Development Plan
(NDPIII) is practically in progress to guide citizens and institutions towards
common development extrapolations for the next five years. With the broad goal
of “increased household incomes and improved quality of life” it is accompanied
by the theme: “Sustainable industrialisation for inclusive growth, employment
and wealth.” This is expected to be achieved through five key objectives:
Enhancing value addition in Key Growth Opportunities (Agriculture, Tourism,
Minerals, Oil and Gas and Knowledge); strengthening the private sector to drive
growth and create jobs; Consolidating and increasing the Stock and Quality of
Productive Infrastructure; Increasing Productivity, Inclusiveness and Wellbeing
of the Population; and Strengthening the role of the public sector in the
growth and development process.
One vital strategy to achieve the aforesaid
goal is through enhancing the welfare
and productivity of Ugandans by, inter
alia, boosting the quality of education and vocational studies. This will apparently
alleviate the recent 2.7 percent unemployment rate, noticeable mainly among the
youth — who comprise the highest population in the country. However, it is not
a new opinion that integrating and intensifying practical skills in our
education system will help reduce the fairly high unemployment level among
school-leavers or graduates. Besides, employees are less prevalent in the
formal sector than the informal — where in reality their trainings may not be
an assured prerequisite. It is mentioned in the NDPII that the vast numbers of
joblessness among graduates is partly attributed to the largely inapt curriculum
concerning labour demands. In that regard, the curricula and pedagogy of higher
learning institutions are constantly reviewed.
Now, there is the Covid-19 pandemic; a deadly
communicable disease that was first discovered in the country on March, 2020.
This has somewhat affected our welfare, productivity and economy, thus
exacerbating the unemployment challenge meant to be largely resolved by the
educational sector. Ironically, this ill-fated status quo has presented
innumerable exploitable opportunities to ensure that we adapt as quickly as
possible to recover the apparent economic recession, while battling the unemployment
predicament through technical and vocational education. Yet, there is a section
of the public urging the government to promote distance learning in our
education. Lessons in this mode of study are conducted remotely; with relatively
less physical interface between learners and instructors, thus an appropriate
method to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
Notwithstanding, distance learning was accentuated
by H.E. President Yoweri Museveni on September 20, 2020 in his speech on status
of Covid-19 disease in Uganda. Now, in agreement with the president, distance
education would be good as it utilises
virtual learning techniques such as the internet, now readily accessible to at
least 49 percent of the populace (according to the Uganda Communications
Commission). Learners can now access internet at their own homes or at
facilities such as local libraries. Other technical formats for study include television,
radio, postal letters, DVDs and teleconferencing. Depending on the institution and
instructor’s arrangement, there is some degree of flexibility where learners
can study at their convenient time. The method is cost effective in that
neither instructors nor learners incur costs of travelling to venues,
accommodation fees, classroom fees and stationery.
With the uncertainty of whether the pandemic would
be wiped out sooner than later, distance learning seems like the better option
to ensure knowledge conveyance to a healthier population. However, a shift in plans of such great magnitude is
not passed into law that easily; there is need to review the current education policy
framework to accommodate the changes. This echoes what is technically known as
‘Policy Analysis’— the art and science of determining a suitable public policy,
from among alternatives, to achieve set goals. Policy analysis involves
thorough scrutiny of the content, context and actors of a policy being proposed
or implemented. This minimises speculations that might have largely negative
outcomes. Hence, plenty of decisions, consultations, monitoring and evaluations
are considered besides institutional and legislative reforms.
Simply put, policy analysis requires rational
decision-making among policymakers to select a rational policy. And for the
policy to qualify as rational, it should satisfy a set of conditions:
desirability, effectiveness, justness and affordability. Firstly, is the purpose of the policy desirable as an
educational policy; does it promote the enhancement of worthwhile knowledge,
skills, attitudes and values among Ugandans? Does the policy promote the type
of education suitable for beneficiaries to enhance job creation, technological
innovativeness, household income and economic development and others? Though
distance learning can be used for theoretic purposes and to an extent practical
demonstrations, it cannot be effective for technical or vocational studies as these
require actual contact of learners and the required equipment, specimens and
apparatus. The latter applies to courses in the fields of biology, chemistry, medicine,
engineering, tailoring, catering, fine art, agriculture and others.
Secondly, is the means for achieving the
policy purpose likely to be effective? Here, there is need to evaluate the available
capacity required to implement the suggested policy or plan. For instance,
whether the instructors are skilled or experienced enough to teach or examine
students through virtual media — Skype, Zoom, email, teleconferencing etcetera.
Remember, virtual learning is a relatively new concept among Ugandans, so there
is a higher likelihood that not many instructors are conversant with it. On the
learners part, are there sufficient technology (computers, radios, television,
internet etcetera) available for all of them countrywide? Remember, Uganda has
remote areas equally faced with Covid-19, and whose infrastructural development
is yet to favour internet connectivity or radio and television broadcasting
services. These will not access the online studies, implying that there is no formal
education for them.
Thirdly, is the means for achieving the purpose of the policy
affordable for the government, institutions of learning and the learners
themselves? In other words, the measures to achieve the educational policy
should be achievable with the available finances of each actor. If it is
relatively expensive, government intervention would be necessary, yet considering the stringent budget that allocated
for each sector of the economy this may be difficult. Therefore, for distance
learning to be successful, learners
must acquire a range of equipment and services including computers, radios,
webcam, and stable internet connection which is relatively expensive to some Ugandans.
Also, there should be maintenance services for technology after breakdown, loss
of connectivity, loss of radio waves or effect of malware. These require extra costs
to rectify. Without these, learning session will come to a halt, thus
interrupting the study for at least one of the learners.
And
lastly, the means for achieving the policy purpose must be just, implying, not
unethical, legally incorrect or inconsistent with a higher level policy or law.
For instance, distance learning may not be effectively applicable to students
with disability (especially the blind and deaf). Also, educational policies,
like other public policies are significantly influenced by international,
regional and national regulations or binding agreements (United Nations and
African Union among others). Say in the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals 2030, Goal 4 indicates that member states
should ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong
learning opportunities for all. And, particularly in 4.3, all women and men
should equally access affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary
education. These are unsurprisingly spelt out in the NDPIII. Uganda being a
member of the United Nations should meet these targets, hence must promote only
those educational policies that do not alienate the disenfranchised learners.
Overall
though, these actions require a lot of time, finances and not expertise. Hence
for now we must rely on the health sector to see how the Covid-19 crisis moves
from here, instead of endorsing an experimental concept aimed at enhancing our
education system. Then, we either compromise human health in favour of the
current mode of pedagogy (better suited for practical studies) or vice versa — we
cannot sacrifice both. Otherwise boosting vocational studies
especially in the science field is destined for nothing short of failure;
implying that targets indicated in the NDPIII are likely unachievable even
prior to half a year into the five year implementation. This is not to say the educational
targets in the previous two NDPs were superbly achieved — obviously no. But
again, Uganda has the world’s second youngest population in desperate need of
employment. Emphasising the need to ask too much from educational policymakers
and the decisions they make.
For more
arguments and insight regarding educational policy and planning, I highly recommend
the book ‘Policy Making and Educational Policy Analysis’ by Jide Owalabi. He
was a former Professor at Makerere University College of Education and External
Studies who wrote quite extensively on the subject matter. The information I
have written here encapsulates some of his work. Moreover, I have incorporated knowledge
distributed on a much wider scale by — in my experience — dedicated qualified
Professors and lecturers at the Makerere University East African School of
Higher Education and Development.
By Ogola Laster Stoney
Master of Education in Educational Policy and
Planning
Year One
0784497870
