Financing practices adopted by distance learners: the case of Bachelor of Education (Arts),
Date
2010Author
Rambo, Charles M.
Odundo, P A
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Distance Learning provides people in employment with the opportunity
to acquire degrees through a flexible and cost-effective process. Although
the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) finances higher education in
Kenya, no provision has been created to finance distance learners. In
view of this, over 70% of distance learners experience fee payment
difficulties and another 34% drop out annually. In response to the situation,
learners have adopted various financing practices, which remain
unexplored and undocumented. Using a survey design, data were
sourced from 446 active and 227 inactive learners, as well as 16 key
informants. The study found that distance learners adopted two broad
categories of financing practices, namely, personal means and
institutional funding. While financing from personal means was generally
inadequate and unsustainable, institutional funding was by large
inaccessible, unaffordable and inadequate. This crystallized the need for
a dependable financing program for distance learners. The study
recommends the need to amend the HELB Act to allow for financing of
distance learners; increase HELB’s budget, strengthen Constituency
Development Fund (CDF) and micro-finance programs, and encourage
employers to support vulnerable learners.
URI
http://distance-education.uonbi.ac.ke/sites/default/files/cees/disteducation/disteducation/jcode_journal%20-%20electronic%20version_0.pdfhttp://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/38300
Citation
Journal of continuing, open and distance education volume 1, issue 1, january 2010Publisher
University of Nairobi The School of Continuing and Distance Education, University of Nairobi
Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [1039]