forwarded from:
"African Network of IT Experts and Professionals (ANITEP) List"
Distance-Education Conference, Accra
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WOMEN FIND A SHORTER ROUTE TO CLASSROOM
by Asare Kofi
ACCRA, Apr. 30 (IPS) -- African women, long deprived of information,
education, and training can look to advances in information technology to
bring learning to their doorsteps. By tailoring programs to meet the needs
of women, distance learning could help them acquire relevant skills to
become better informed on issues and well equipped to do their jobs,
according to participants at the April 27-29 International Conference on
Technology and Distance Education.
The conference, held here, was organized by the U.S.-based Worldspace,
Inc., which plans to launch a program for disseminating distance learning
materials in Africa via a satellite radio system. Academics and educational
administrators who spoke to IPS noted that many of the students already on
distance learning programs are female, including married women. "Distance
education is for the disadvantaged in the first place, those who are
looking for a second chance in education," says Mary Ngechu of the
Department of Distance Studies, College of Education at the University of
Nairobi, Kenya. "And women are the most disadvantaged educationally since
many of them do not complete their education."
The University of Nairobi, which has 14,000 regular students, currently has
about 1,600 students registered for its distance learning program. And
thanks to distance education, women farmers in a remote Kenyan village can
now learn about virtually any topic they want. This program started as a
means of getting farmers research findings from the university, which they
previously had no access to. Unlike in formal education programs, says
Ngechu, the students decide what topics to listen to, based on their
immediate needs.
Participants also say that distance learning offers opportunities for many
of Africa's working middle-level professionals to upgrade their skills and
hence improve their competence. "It is an empowering tool for those who
drop out of the schools or do not even start," Ngechu says. Also, distance
education caters for women who are in seclusion, such as Muslim women,
since with the help of technology, the lectures can be delivered in their
living rooms. Women also face the problem of lack of access to information,
which the University of Nairobi program also seeks to address. Because they
lacked access to the radio (which is monopolized by the men), women farmers
were unable to access information on research findings which have bearings
on their agricultural work.
To overcome this difficulty, designers of the Farmers Program created a
radio program which was broadcast on a frequency known only to group
members. According to Ngechu, members listened to the broadcasts, which
were on topics selected by the farmers themselves, and members of the group
ensured that each member applied on her farm the methods discussed on each
broadcast. The results have been quite impressive, says Ngechu. "After a
year, we found that 70 percent of the farmers had adopted the technologies
in agriculture and in health (such as for treating malaria), and the
success rate was very high." The women chose to start from agriculture,
moving on from thereto health and other issues relevant to their needs.
"It's a way of reaching women (who constitute about 80 percent of the
farmers in Kenya) and giving them information which is important to our
agriculture, health and government so that they can understand these thing
and be able to make decisions for themselves," she says.
At both the University of Lagos, Nigeria and the University of Namibia,
Windhoek, women constitute a majority of the students in the distance
learning programs. "It's a great opportunity for women, particularly the
married ones, since they do not have to leave their homes," says Professor
Joshua Ojo, the director of the Correspondence Open Studies Institute
(COSIT) of the University of Lagos. The program has run for about 20 years,
turning out graduates in various fields, including women.