| dc.description.abstract | This study sought to determine the factors that influence sustainability of the Bachelor of Education (Arts) degree [B ED (Arts») through open and distance education (ODE), offered at the University of Nairobi through the College of Education and External Studies (CEES). The study endeavored to determine how relevance, affordability and quality of the B ED (Arts) degree program through open and distance education influenced the sustainability of this program over the years. Since the inception of the program in 1988, the college has offered the B ED degree through open and distance education. Through this programme, many teachers have had a chance to satisfy their desire for more education and realize their ambitions of getting promotions or better pay. Those who may have been locked out of higher education by the stringent universities' admission rules have also benefitted ftom this programme as they now have a chance to study, thanks to open and distance education.
Despite reported cases of student dropout, the larger percentage go on to complete their studies successfully, and more and more students continue to enroll for the B ED course through open and distance mode. The study was conducted using the Correlational Research Design. Random and purposive sampling techniques were used. The B Ed (Arts) distance learners in Part VI, that is the graduating group of the program in the year 2011, were studied. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to calculate and show the direction and magnitude of the relationship between the variables identified in the study.
Findings revealed that relevance of the Bachelor of Education (Arts) degree programme of the University of Nairobi influenced its sustainability as the clientele was satisfied with its applicability to the job market. Secondly, the study established that affordability of this programme influenced its sustainability since the students rated it as filirly priced and were able to pay for it with relative ease. Lastly, the findings show that the quality of the programme influenced its sustainability and that was why there was an increase of students enroHing for this programme annually.
The study recommended that: the School of Continuing and Distance Education should supplement the print module with electronic media; the College of Education and External Studies should organize frequent evaluation exercises to review content and media used in order to keep abreast with changes in the world of knowledge; and meetings at the various regional centres should be conducted in such a way that students are encouraged to participate actively in them. | en_US |
