Quality assurance in open and distance education in Uganda

Abstract

There has been a rapid transformation of conventional or ‘brick and motor’ higher education institutions into dual-mode institutions in Africa in a bid to enhance access to higher education and promote equity. This context-driven transformation has ignited the need to prove to the various stakeholders in the higher education landscape that the quality of open distance e-learning (ODeL) is comparable to that of conventional higher education. Consequently, quality assurance is advanced as the most reliable tool for building stakeholders’ confidence in ODeL and guaranteeing parity of esteem of ODeL qualifications and those of campus-based education. However, a dearth of studies about the fluid nature of quality assurance in an ODeL setting exists in Africa as compared to a burgeoning of studies on quality assurance of conventional education. It is against this backdrop that this chapter explores the quality assurance practices and policies in ODeL at the Uganda Management Institute. The results reveal both a convergence and divergence in quality assurance practices for conventional and distance learning. The divergences have been occasioned by the time and spatial separation of ODeL students from the institution and the academics, and the blended nature of the ODeL mode.