Policy

Policy provides guidelines for action and, in the case of distance education, must take cognisance of the systems nature of distance education planning and provision. A distance education policy framework therefore needs to answer questions like the following: Why do we want to use distance education? Who are our target audience? What kind of distance education system do we need? What technology mix will be appropriate? How will we manage planning and costing – given the necessity of upfront investment in programme and materials development? What kind of staff do we need and where do we need them to ensure appropriate decentralised learner support? How will we assure the quality of programmes, materials and assessment? Whom should we be working with? This links primarily to Nadeosa Quality Criterion 1: Policy and planning but informs all other criteria.

Examples of SAIDE's work in the policy arena are:

• Our submission to the Higher Education Green Paper in 1997, in a submission entitled The Higher Education Policy Process: An Open Learning Perspective.
• In 2002 we were commissioned by the Council on Higher Education to conduct an investigation into the contribution of distance education in higher education in South Africa. The report entitled Enhancing the Contribution of Distance Higher Education in South Africa. Report of an investigation led by the South African Institute for Distance Education was released by the CHE together with an accompanying policy advice report in 2004.
• SAIDE's Director, Jennifer Glennie has been very active on the Council on Higher Education and was instrumental in the formation of the first Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC).