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Learning for a Better Future:
Overcoming Disadvantages
Keynote Address
presented at the 20th ICDE World Conference
On Open and Distance Education
April 1-5, 2001
Duesseldorf, Germany
Professor Dr. Abdul W. Khan
The Commonwealth of Learning
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
“The fundamental cure for poverty is not money
but knowledge”.
Sir W. Arthur Lewis, Nobel Laureate, Economics
“The elimination of ignorance, of illiteracy and
the needless inequalities of opportunities are
objectives that are valued for their own sake”.
Amartya Sen in India: Econocmic Development
And Social Opportunities (1995)
Education and Sustainable Development
Human Capital &
Productivity
Family Health &
Nutrition
Education
Personal
Development
Social
Development
Reduced
Poverty
Macro-Economic
Growth &
Development
The Wheel of Change
Educational
Technological
Change
change
Change and the Future of Learning
 Nature of change
 Nature of response to change
 Speed of change
 Conceptualization of change
 Changes in identities to individuals and groups
Societal Trends and Learning
DEMOGRAPHICS

World Population is estimated to be 7.2 billion by 2015,
a rise of 1.1 billion since the year 2000

95% population increase in developing countries alone.
Societal Trends and Learning
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ICT, biotechnology, material science and nanatechnology
will generate enormous opportunity for the creation of
new knowledge and its intelligent utilization.

BUT it could widen the gap between rich and poor
UNLESS effective measures are taken to harness the
potential of Science and Technology
Societal Trends and Learning
NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT

Sufficient food to feed the world population

Poor infrastructure and distribution

Political instability

Chronic poverty will lead to malnourishment in parts
of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The dwindling resources available for education will
further decline
Societal Trends and Learning
THE GLOBAL ECONOMY AND GLOBALIZATION

The networked and interdependent global economy will be
driven by rapid and largely unrestricted flows of
information, ideas, cultural values, capital and goods and
services.

The developing countries can only benefit from
globalization, if they can provide opportunities for their
people to acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes to be
competitive globally.

Failure to do so will mean widening the economic divide
and marginalization.
Societal Trends and Learning
CONFLICT

Risk of war among developing countries is low, but
developing countries will face both, internal conflicts and
regional interstate wars stemming from religious, ethnic,
economic or political disputes.

The number of refugees, homeless or displaced people may
increase significantly requiring educational provision of a
very different kind.
A World of Contrasts
Knowledge
Prosperity
Globalization
Ignorance
Poverty
Marginalization
Gross Disparities between Urban and Rural Areas in
Developing Countries

In Peru illiteracy rates are three times higher in rural areas than
urban areas

In Pakistan, 54 per cent of urban children aged 10-14 have
completed school – twice the level of rural children in the same
age group

The net enrolment rate for the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa
is three times the national average, and the capital’s gender gaps
in enrolment are the narrowest in the country

Niger’s capital Niamey has a net enrolment rate of over 90 per
cent, compared to less than 20 per cent in rural areas

Mali’s national capital region of Bamako has a net enrolment
rate in excess of 80 per cent. Rural northern regions as Kidal,
Timbuktu, and Gao have enrolment rates of less than 20 per
cent
Gender Inequality in Education

Women are 60 per cent more likely then men to be illiterate

There are 42 million fewer girls in primary school than boys

Gender gaps in enrolment have not narrowed significantly, even
at the primary level. In South Asia, the net enrolment rate for
girls in 20 per cent lower than for girls; in Sub-Saharan Africa
and the Middle East, it is 10 per cent lower

There are 12 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with a gender gap
of more than 20 per cent in enrolment

An average six-year-old girl in South Asia can expect to spend
about six years in school – three years less than an average sixyears-old boy
Barriers to Learning Opportunity

Increasing access

Reaching the disadvantaged groups and communities

Providing educational inputs of good quality

Making educational opportunities available at affordable cost

Enhancing the relevance of educational provision to societal
and individual needs

Providing opportunities for lifelong learning
Paradigm Shift
FROM
TO
Privileged of few
(exclusive)
Right of all
(inclusive)
• Teaching and teacher
centred
• Learning and learner
centred
• Fixed location, time and
pace
• Flexibility in location, time
and pace
• Terminal certification
• Life-long learning
• Rigidity in terms of entry
and exit
• Flexibility in terms of entry
and exit
Factors for ODL Growth

Political desire to increase provision for learning

Economic desire to cut the cost of education, while increasing
the participation level

Social desire towards egalitarianism to ensure equity and
equality of opportunity

Educational desire to improve the relevance and the quality of
the curriculum and to make provision for lifelong learning
Constraints in Exploiting
the Potential of ICTs

Access to technologies

Cost of technologies

Lack of infrastructure

Lack of adequately trained human resources

Language barriers

Institutional barriers

Lack of techno-literacy

Policy and regulatory constraints
Strategies to Reach the Unreached

Multiple Media Approach

Appropriate ICT

Integration of training in ICT application

Sustainability

Satellite mediated networks

Community access approach
Community Telelearning Centres:
A Model for Developing Countries
Educational
Providers
Products
Provider -1
a
Provider -2
b
Provider -3
c
Provider -4
d
Vendors
Community Telelearning
Centres offering
both web -based and
conventional
course delivery
Consumers
Learners
Forecasts on Technology
“Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons”
(Popular
Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949).
 “I think there is a world market for may be five computers” (Thomas Watson,
chairman of IBM, 1943)
 “I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the
best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last
out the year” (The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957)
 “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home” (Ken Olson,
president and chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977)
 “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a
means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us”
(Western Union internal memo, 1876)
 “The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay
for a message sent to nobody in particular?” (David Sarnoff’s associate in
response to his urgings for investment in radio in the 1920s)