Teacher Upgrading through Distance Education in a South African Context

In 1994, after the dismantling of Apartheid in South Africa, there were more than 85,000 teachers in the system who had no tertiary qualifications or were inadequately qualified. Most of these teachers lived in rural areas, and had no access to tertiary institutions. This situation required a unique approach to overcome the problems specific to the demographic and socio-economic circumstances of the country.The North-West University in South Africa took up the challenge and became involved in the huge task of upgrading the qualifications of these teachers by implementing a distance education programme. A flexi programme has been implemented by the establishment of thirty-two learning centres in locations throughout the country, which are accessible to these students. Full time lecturers and trained part time facilitators offer contact classes twice a month. Vacation schools provide additional learning opportunities. The recruitment and enrolment of students, distribution of study material and other administrative duties are supplied by supporting companies.Quality control for all these programmes is ensured by benchmarking against the programmes presented on the main campus i.e. B.Ed Hons., ACE and NPDE. Currently more than 17 000 teachers are enrolled in modules presented in the flexi mode and a passing rate of more than 70% attests to the success of the programme.