Factors influencing Demand for Bachelor of Education degree by Distance Learning at the University of Nairobi

Abstract

The development of the distance mode of teacher training can be characterized as an attempt to resolve the conflict between aspiration for more education by an ever increasing number of Kenyans and the need to broaden the base of high level human resources for national development and that of resource constraint - both human and financial. This paper discusses a research study that was carried out to establish the factors influencing the demand for the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) Arts Degree Programme by Distance Learning mode at the University of Nairobi. It was a descriptive survey and had seven objectives and seven hypotheses to test. The target population for the research study comprised all the students enrolled in the B.Ed. (Arts) programme of the University of Nairobi who were studying through the distance learning mode. Through stratified random sampling , the study focused on the 2002 cohort that was undergoing part six semester in the School of Continuing and Distance Education. Chi square tests were used to analyze the relationship between demand for distance learning considered as a dependent variable and the independent variables of gender , age , income level , admission criteria , employment status and source of finance. A 0.1 level of significance was used to determine the acceptance level in all the hypotheses.