It sounds post-millennial, but distance education was nothing new to Sri Lanka. Our first distance learning experience was in the pre-information age. Using the postal service, then widespread and accustomed to the public, tutors offered subjects varying from English to radio technology. They were popularly known as ‘correspondence courses’. The model was simple. Teachers and students never met face to face. Once registered for a course, paying directly or by post, the student received a package of printed self-study modules. Evaluations were done at regular intervals using the same mode. The question papers came by post and the students were supposed to send
answers again by post before a given deadline.
The subjects ‘taught’ in correspondence courses included English, Sinhalese literature, art of making poetry and writing fiction, dress making, radio technology, and motor mechanics, among others. Success rates are unknown. A popular blogger recently wrote how he learnt radio technology from material received by his father from a correspondence course. This could be the exception, not the norm. Irrespective of success rates, this model was fairly popular during 1940-1980.
The culmination of this model was the ‘open university’. This concept was born in the UK with the establishmentof t he world’s first successful distance teaching university. Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1969 established an open university in the UK. The first batch of 25,000 students was accepted in 1971. It is notable for having an open entry policy, i.e. students’ previous academic achievements were not considered for entry.
Following the same model, the Open University of Sri Lanka was set up by the government of Sri Lanka in 1978 as the first distance-mode higher education institution in the country. It aimed at providing opportunities for working adults to pursue higher education, and enjoy the same legal and academic status as any other university in Sri Lanka, and offering courses ranging from one-year certificates to diplomas and research degrees at postgraduate level. The subjects are wide ranging and include professional English, business administration, applied electronics and construction management, among others.
Almost all courses conducted by the Open University use distant education as the dominant mode, and make use of the dynamic network of island-wide regional and study centres. Subject materials are distributed in print and electronic formats. Printed course material, normally provided at the time of registration for a programme/course, is the core element in a typical study package. Printed course materials are designed to suit self-study. They offer the subject content.
Not many know how popular the model has become. More than 20,000 students followed Open University courses in 2015. This was one out of every five undergraduates.
The second phase of distant education, which was short lived and not as popular as the first, replaced printed material with cassettes. When registering for a course, students received a set of cassettes (usually 5-10). One is supposed to play them on one’s own. This mode was used largely to teach English and other foreign languages. Reasons for its less popularity could be the lack of facilities at the student’s end. The mode required both a cassette player and electricity. During the 1980s, when this mode started, less than 50% of Sri Lankan households had electricity and many could not afford to have a cassette player.
[pullquote]Sri Lankan society still treats education as a face-to-face activity. The physical role of a teacher is still important in education. Hence, demand for distance education is seriously limited[/pullquote]
The third phase was digital. It began in the mid-90s with the advent of the internet age. The visible difference in this phase was the extensive and affordable availability of digital tools. While Sri Lanka is still behind the developed world, as an emerging economy, it has made significant developments in the digital front.
Distance Learning Center Sri Lanka (DLCSL), which started as a World Bank project, is the best example that demonstrated the new thinking of distance learning. It was established in 2002, as the Sri Lankan node point of the Global Development Learning Network, a partnership of over 120 recognized global institutions in over 80 countries, some universities and other development institutes of the public and private sectors. Colombo connects with these international partners by video conferencing through a dedicated high-speed link.
DLCSL has been working independently since 2007 as a learning facility provider for both private and public sector clients. The target audience is largely mid-senior level professionals, but some courses are aimed at junior officers. The DLCSL mandate includes the development of relevant courses for the Sri Lankan context and subjects include climate change, disaster management, labour relations and microfinance, among others.
Still these remain exceptions, not the norm. Distance education is not something widespread in Sri Lanka. Even after so many years of new successful operational models, we still face numerous challenges in taking the concept ahead. One clear challenge is cultural. Sri Lankan society still treats education as a face-to-face activity. It is not just a question of content availability. The physical role of a teacher is still important in education. Hence, demand for distance education is seriously limited. Most prefer the traditional mode, even when there is a more affordable distance education option. This could be the reason behind the relatively low uptake of distance learning in higher education.
The second impediment is the lack of ICT infrastructure. One PC per every 10 households is not an encouraging figure. Even when PCs are available, they are shared by family members, limiting the time for a single individual. Not all rural areas are covered by broadband service providers. Electricity may not be available for 24 hours a day. These issues severely reduce demand for distance learning. Without significant ICT proliferation, the rural population will not benefit. The third challenge is the language issue. A vast majority are not fluent in English, thus hampering the delivery of distance learning courses in English. This challenge is particularly applicable for courses offered by international agencies.
Then, there are general reasons that make education less attractive to a large section of the population. In the Sri Lankan context, training does not necessarily make the corporate climb easier. In government, seniority plays a bigger role. In the private sector, only performance matters. Receiving training, unless it is specific or makes a visible difference within a short time, is rarely identified as a reason for promotion. ‘Old school’ managers generally see training as something totally irrelevant to day-to-day work. Such attitudes stand in the way of capacity building.
The attitude of the government, in general, too is not encouraging. While the regulatory environment puts no barriers, the government has made no significant efforts to promote distance education on a large scale and in an integrated manner. Distance education efforts in Sri Lanka have generally been implemented by individual government or semi-government agencies as standalone initiatives. A change of this attitude is essential for the expansion of distance education in Sri Lanka.