Distance education boosts indigenous languages
17-AUG-05
Ms Pandor was addressing delegates at a three-day African Council for Distance Education (ACDE) Inaugural Annual Conference held at the University of South Africa (UNISA).
The ACDE was launched last year to bring together all African universities and higher institutions that offer open and distance education programmes.
This conference which started on Tuesday and ends today, focuses on academic training, curriculum, reform, capacity, governance, administration and human resource development.
"Distance education will assist in strengthening mother tongue instruction in general and diversity of language in the tertiary sector in particular. The technology already exists for this," Ms Pandor said.
"What we need to do, she added, "is to mobilise and adapt the existing know-how for educational purposes."
The Minister further said there was a need to focus the minds of "bright" young researchers, technologists and academics by developing the appropriate content in appropriate languages with appropriate role models.
In addition, she indicated there were also areas of need that remained untouched by distance education model institutions.
In this regard, she said distance institutions could play a significant role in giving skills to public service or in supporting local government to promote development and planning.
"The work of the council could begin to consolidate thinking around such matters and ensure institutions design responsive programmes in critical areas of development.
"Further, in the area of education reform and development, distance education remains an untapped resource for instant innovation and support," she said.
Ms Pandor also emphasised that distance education was a positive vehicle for broadening access to higher education and for offering countries an opportunity to expand access to higher education.
This, she said would be fundamental to address massive backlog of tertiary education in Africa.
According to her, a striking aspect of the changing geography of higher education was the growth of distance education using radio and television in the developing world.
Today the five largest distance universities in the world are "all based in developing countries, and all ... have been established since 1978 - in Turkey, China, Indonesia, India, and Thailand.
By Themba Gadebe - BuaNews
