An assessment of the planning, organising and controlling of distance education offered by the Zambia College of Distance Education

The problem of this study arose from the fact that there was no documentation on how the planning, organising and controlling of distance education offered by the Zambia College of Distance Education were conducted. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to assess the planning, organising and controlling of distance education offered by the Zambia College of Distance Education. Its objectives were to: i) assess the planning of distance education regarding the development of instructional materials, ii) examine the organisation of distance education offered by the Zambia College of Distance Education; and iii) establish the extent to which distance education is controlled by the Zambia College of Distance Education.
The study used a Mixed Methods Design. The study had a total sample of 100 respondents of which 5 were administrators; 15 were lecturers and 80 learners who were selected using the snowball sampling procedure. Administrators and lecturers were sampled purposively. Thus, a semi-structured interview guide and questionnaire were used to collect the data. The questionnaire was administered to the lecturers and learners while the interview guide was conducted with the administrators.
The findings of this study revealed that the planning of distance education regarding the development of instructional materials was done by lecturers who are course specialists in various departments. It was outlined that inadequate resources such as printing machines and finances were some of the challenges faced by the course specialists. It was established that the institution organised learner support services for the learners which included; administrative and academic counselling among others. The study discovered that the Zambia College of Distance Education was controlled by the Ministry of General Education Headquarters since the financial support and regulations emanated from there.
The study concluded that the planning of distance education regarding the development of instructional materials was done by the course-specialists. The learner support services committee ensured that the institution appropriately organised learner support services. The provision of distance education was mainly controlled by Headquarters.
The study recommended that the Ministry of General Education should grant power to the institution so that it can generate resources and carry out activities according to the local demands. The Zambia College of Distance Education should improve in the planning of sessional dates in order for the learners to interact with the lecturers and among themselves.