"This of course means that educational opportunity cannot be provided in traditional ways, requiring students to attend fixed locations at fixed times for a lengthy period.
"We have to provide opportunities that fit with the constraints and exploit the possibilities of the complex and demanding lives of learners," he said on the second day of the All-Africa Minister's Conference on Open Learning and Distance Education, at Cape Town's International Convention Centre. Professor Asmal however warned people to guard against the introduction and adoption of distance education and associated new technologies.
"Unless we do so, we are in danger of once again turning our countries and continent into laboratories for educational experiments for external agencies, the failure of which in past decades has done untold damage to our educational system," he said.
Highlighting other perils that people on the continent should guard against, the minister spoke out against increasing enrolments with little regard for the quality of the learning experience. He also warned against the poor quality of programmes on offer, which had little or no relevance to skills and human resources development needs. – BuaNews.
EMAIL THIS ARTICLE SAVE THIS ARTICLE FEEDBACK
To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
