Challenges and issues of distance education Pakistan

1. CHALLENGES AND ISSUES OF
DISTANCE EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN
By Hina Jalal , Roll # 303,
, PhD, Education
Department of Education, GCUF. 2015

2.  “Distance education is a field of
education that focuses on teaching
methods and technology with the
aim of delivering teaching, often on
an individual basis, to students who
are not physically present in a
traditional setting such as a
classroom” (Awe, 2003).

3. One of the biggest issue in education is that there is low
rate of participation of Pakistani adults in tertiary
education than the other countries. The obvious reasons
are:
 Financial Constraints
 Insufficient number of academic institutions
 Inadequate Institutes for employees
 Differences between personal schedule and education

4. The University’s distance education program offers
following merits:
 Reaches wider students community.
 Provides opportunity for obtaining higher education at
cost affordable by common man.
 Helps student’s complete studies without suffering
emotionally or financially due to relocation.
 Possibility of seeking help of appearing in examinations
while out of town.
 Enables students to earn while they learn.

5.  Need for support staff for training and technical
assistance
 Adequate assessment of distance education classes
 Adequate student services for DE students
 Operating and equipment budgets
 Faculty acceptance and
 Organizational acceptance

6. Pakistan, being a third world country faces additional
challenges for matching Distance Education standards
with the traditional universities. these challenges can be
categorized as:
1. Administrative related challenges
2. Faculty related challenges
3. Student related challenges

7. 1. ADMINISTRATIVE RELATED CHALLENGES
 High quality course content
 Availability of technology
 Delivering quality with most difficult classes
 Online admission and examination system
 Specification of educational objective
 Suitable fee
 Online class and course registration
 Online library and text book sales
 Adequate assessment of distance education classes

8. 2. FACULTY RELATED CHALLENGES
 Training on subject and technologies
 Workload problems
 Compensation issues
 Help desk and technical support for faculty
 synchronous and asynchronous learning

9. 3. STUDENTS RELATED CHALLENGES
 Online counselling and advising services
 Campus testing centre for students
 Assessment of student learning and performance
 Orientation and preparation
 Online application system
 Online tutoring services
 Student completion rate
 Reducing cheating/ unfair means

10.  Sufficient resources and
infrastructure
 Sufficient infrastructures
like physical and digital
library
 Competent and
experienced senior faculty
 Particular system of quality
assurance
 Complete detail about all
programs
 Students’ Financial
Support
 The assessment strategies
and validity
 Provide self study material
 Motivate the learners
 Improve the interaction
Higher Education Commission provided a thematic guideline
to the Directors of Distance Education , like

11.  Lack of technology adoption
 Societal recognition
 Funding
 Quality assurance of academic programs
 Management issues
 Instructional delivery method
 Relevance of education
While the advance countries are tackling issues,
we in Pakistan still face some issues to implement the
provided lines in Distance Education system. Such as

12.  Cheap computer facilities and network infrastructures
must be integrated with appropriate software systems in
Pakistan.
 An advanced methodology is needed to help the
instructors or administers to minimize hesitation to
adopt technology during distance education.
 In our country adaptation of advancement technology is
very costly for common man.

13.  It must be realized that Distance education is
an innovation that is going to be accepted
with caution by a society
 Fear that mechanization of education could
bring down the standard

14.  The issue of funding continues to dominate discussions
on challenges facing in Pakistan.
 Sufficient fund must be provided by the institution
running the program to make it result oriented.
 Distance education institutions can be categorized
under specialized institutions that are given special
attention in view of their capital intensive nature

15.  The propensity of the distance education system to
malpractices in homework assignments, tests and
examinations.
 There should not be any room for complacency as the
level of examination malpractice involving staff and
students was still intolerably high

16.  It becomes imperative for the management of distance
education institutions in PAKISTAN to adopt
management strategies that will ensure sustainable
development of distance education.
 Most of pioneer staff of distance education institutions
in Pakistan are drawn from the formal system of
education.

17.  There is a great difference between distance learning
and traditional type in which students listen to
lecturers, read their textbooks and are busy with
memorizing and recalling selected topics.
 Distance learning, since students do not have unlimited
access to lecturers as in formal tertiary institutions,
instructional materials must be packaged to facilitate
self-study and easy comprehension by the learners
without much assistance from their facilitators.

18.  The content of education more meaningful and the
methods of delivery more cost-effective within the
context of nation building and economic development.
 The lack of social demand for education is related to
the fact that families and communities do not value or
are ambivalent about formal education. It is pointed to
the Parental disillusionment with the present education
systems and expressed support for More relevant
curricula

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