Institutional Policies And Commitment For Supporting Distance Learners In Dual Mode Public Universities In Ghana

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to gain insights into institutional policies and

commitment for supporting Distance Education (DE) learners in public dual

mode universities in Ghana. The study was underpinned by Simonson’s theory

of equivalency and a Policy analysis framework (PAF) for studying distance

education institutions. The study used the convergent parallel design of the

mixed methods in which qualitative and quantitative approaches were adopted.

Six principal officers and 632 DE learners from the public universities were

purposefully and conveniently sampled respectively to respond to interview

schedules and a student survey questionnaire for data collection. Audio

recordings of interviews were transcribed and coded into nodes which

provided easy retrieval of themes that emerged. The quantitative data was

analysed using descriptive statistical methods (including percentages, means,

standard deviations and graphs where appropriate).

The major findings of the study generally, indicate the lack of institutional

policies specifically formulated for DE delivery in public dual mode

universities in Ghana. The use of policies meant for conventional students and

unofficial conventions and guidelines to carry out some key DE activities to

the detriment of DE learners was revealed. This finding contravenes the

Equivalency Theory in Distance Education delivery. The current institutional

policies being addressed in the universities are concentrated on academic,

faculty, students, and fiscal geographic governance, technical and philosophic

issues. None of the universities identified clear-cut institutional policies on

legal issues. The study also indicated DE learners’ dissatisfaction with the

array of support services provided and the non-availability of some support

services such as guidance and counselling.

The moderate level of commitment towards DE delivery despite the nonavailability

of specific institutional policies in the universities was also

revealed. The findings of this research study led to the conclusion that

although DE in public universities in Ghana is growing for the past decade,

institutional policies to serve as a framework for its successful implementation

are lacking. The findings from this study is consistent with earlier research

findings by Butcher (2013), affirming that generally, institutional policies and

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commitment which are essential to the success of all DE programmes and their

students are lacking in most dual mode universities in Africa.

Based on the findings of the study, six recommendations were made; The

major finding among others is that the Ministry of Education and the Ghana

Education Services should encourage stakeholder discussions for a national

(DE) policy from which the universities could use as a spring board to conduct

policies audit and needs assessment of existing institutional policies, to

identify areas of weaknesses that do not ensure institutional support and

commitment towards institutional goals and objectives, and learner success.