Revitalising ODL provision for schooling in Zambia.
The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) @COL4D recently supported the Zambia College of Distance Education (ZACODE) in conducting a capacity-building workshop focused on Open and Distance Learning (ODL). This initiative aligns with Zambia’s commitment to using Alternative Modes of Education Provision to improve educational access for out-of-school children, youths, and adults. The workshop aimed at enhancing ZACODE’s capabilities, addressing low learner enrolment, and tackling gender disparities in Zambia’s educational system. The collaboration is guided by objectives outlined in a new Memorandum of Understanding between COL and Zambia's Ministry of Education, marking an important step towards expanding educational access and equity in the country.
The Ministry of Education prioritises using Alternative Modes of Education Provision (AMEP) to provide early childhood education, primary and secondary education, as well as vocational education for out-of-school children, youths and adults. Whilst ZACODE is mandated to play a central role in meeting this goal through ODL, it had a very low enrolment of fewer than 300 learners nationally by the end of 2024.
The ODL capacity-building workshop was officially opened by Mrs Enidhe Habweza from the Copperbelt Provincial Education Office, who emphasised the critical need for ZACODE to enhance its operational capacity and broaden access through distance education. Following her remarks, Mr Tobby Gondwe, Senior Education Officer from the Ministry of Education’s Department of Distance Education, provided a detailed overview of Zambia’s education context, highlighting significant access challenges, notably low transition rates between educational levels and pronounced gender disparities affecting girls' progression from primary through to senior secondary education.
Dr Ephraim Mhlanga from Saide, who facilitated the workshop, concluded, “ZACODE has great potential to expand access at the schooling level through ODL, and there is great commitment at DODE to support the college in moving in this direction. However, the current enrolment of fewer than 300 learners is too small for the College to be sustainable nor for it to have any significant impact in terms of access at the national level.
Dr Tony Mays, Director of Education COL, observed that the workshop was the first step in a process to achieve three objectives agreed upon in a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with the Ministry in September 2024. The specific objectives of the new MOU are as follows:
• To create online courses and open textbooks for Grade 10 in three subject areas, English Language, Computer Studies and Business Studies at Zambia College of Distance Education (ZACODE);
• To strengthen the ODL system in Zambia to make it robust enough to undertake online/offline delivery systems for learners/students at all levels of education delivery; and
• To assist in the integration of ICT and OER in teaching and learning through evidence-informed policy development and implementation.
Support to achieve these objectives will be provided in COL’s new financial year starting July 2025. COL previously worked with the Ministry on Increasing access to open schooling through an e-Learning intervention.
#COL4D #OpenDistanceLearning #EducationForAll #ZambiaEducation #DistanceEducation
#ZACODE #InclusiveEducation #EducationalAccess #CapacityBuilding
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Solomon Islands launches Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report.
24 March 2025. @COL4D President and CEO, Professor Peter Scott @peter_scott, is joined (L-R) by the Honourable Mr Tozen Leokana, Minister for Education, Solomon Island, Dr Franco Rodie, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, Solomon Islands, and Mr Jonathan Andrew Curr, High Commissioner of New Zealand to the Solomon Islands, to present the GEM Report Unesco in Honiara, Solomon Islands – a collaboration between COL and the UNESCO GEM Report Team.
The report analyses the use of technology in education in the Pacific region, where infrastructure represents a challenge for deploying digital technology. The GEM Report on the Pacific highlights significant insights and case studies on digital education across the region. This latest release in Solomon Islands marks the third launch of the report by COL, following previous launches during CHOGM 2024 in Samoa and subsequently in Fiji.
The GEM Report has benefited considerably from New Zealand’s generous support, reinforcing COL's ongoing partnership with New Zealand in advancing open, distance, and flexible learning across the Pacific. This collaboration has successfully provided skills training to thousands of youth while empowering educators with enhanced competencies to effectively integrate digital services into education.
Full report available here: hdl.handle.net/11599/5660
#COL4D #MFATNZ #CHOGM2024 #Education #TechnologyInEducation #PacificEducation #GEMReport #UNESCO #DigitalLearning #EdTech #SolomonIslands #EducationalCollaboration #InclusiveEducation
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