Making Open and Distance Learning Inclusive: The Zimbabwe Open University’s Experience with People with Disabilities

Abstract

People with disabilities (PWDs) have always been at the peripheral of formal education programmes. Historically their education has been a result of handouts from benevolent missionaries and NGOs. Studies have shown that people with disabilities if afforded the chance to learn can also perform as well as any able bodied person benefiting and achieving adequate independent living standards (Chimedza and Peters, 2001). Key to meaningful and effective inclusion is the creation and provision of suitable study materials (Modesto and Tau, 2009). This study, therefore, was on how Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) is including PWDs in its programmes specifically focusing on the creation and provision of appropriate study materials. A qualitative survey design using a semi structured interview schedule was used to collect data from Department chairpersons, the Academic registry managers and the Materials Development Unit (MDU) editors. Themes were developed from the collected data and analysed. The findings show that ZOU is including PWDs but is facing problems of developing and providing adequate study materials for some disabilities. The study recommends that disability specialists be involved in the creation and development of study materials both in print and electronically. Collaboration with organization of and for people with disabilities and other Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions will help bring critical expertise together to improve the inclusion of many PWDs into ODL.

Enablers and disablers to academic success of students with visual impairment: A 10-year literature disclosure, 2007–2017

“…Linked to distance education is yet another study conducted by Kaputa (2013), ‘Making open and distance learning inclusive: The Zimbabwe Open University’s (ZOU) experiences of people with disabilities’. According to Kaputa (2013), only less than 1% of learners with disabilities were present at ZOU. This is in sharp contrast with the World Health Organization who argues that an estimated 15.6% of the world population was made up of people with disabilities.…”

“…In a related study to Kaputa’s (2013), Mafa (2012) stresses that in Zimbabwe, inclusion had actively been on the national agenda since 1994. Nevertheless, there were still a lot of scepticism and ambivalence towards the implementation of inclusion in Zimbabwe, as in a number of sub-Saharan African countries.…”

“…In addition to Kaputa (2013) and Mafa (2012), Chataika (2011) explored lived experiences of students with disabilities in HE in Zimbabwe. The findings indicated that students with disabilities continue to experience attitudinal, physical, and institutional barriers.…”

University Students’ Persistence With Technology-Mediated Distance Education: A Response to COVID-19 and Beyond in Zimbabwe

“…Despite these challenges, TDE has continued to grow the world over (UNESCO, 2020). In Zimbabwe, there has been a general belief that universities offering distance and open education provide inferior education to their students (Kaputa, 2013;Musingafi et al, 2015;UNESCO, 2018), with some referring to DE as education for "old" people who have failed to compete for access to university education in conventional universities (Rupande & Nyenya, 2014). Despite this initial negative belief, online DE in Zimbabwe continues to grow and gain in popularity due to its flexibility, accessibility, and affordability, with some universities preferring to use blended learning.…”