Fulfilling the learning resource requirements of students at the Open University of Tanzania

204 JOURNAL OF LIBRARIANSHIP AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, 32 (4) DECEMBER 2000

Fulfilling the learningresource requirements of

students at the OpenUniversity of Tanzania

ALLI A.S. MCHARAZO and ANTHONY OLDEN

Reports more fully the results of a study and questionnaire survey, previ-ously reported on in an earlier article (Journal of Librarianship andInformation Science, 31 (2) June 1999, p.101-109), conducted at the OpenUniversity of Tanzania (OUT) to determine the user needs of their distanceeducation students. Data is presented for 1994-1998, showing the distribu-tion of students by regions of the country and by gender. Discusses thematerials used by distance learning students: module/unit study materials;textbooks, other books and reference materials; human support; and pub-lishers. Details are given of the role played by the Tanzania Library Service,OUT Library, and other libraries. Notes the effect of changing attitudes andsets out the study conclusions and recommendations applicable narrowly toOUT and more widely to planners of distance learning programmes.

INTRODUCTIONDistance education students have similar learning resource requirements irre-spective of the university at which they are enrolled. But their socio-economicenvironment has a major impact on the extent to which these needs are fulfilled.Disparities in educational provision between the developed and the developingworld – and between developing countries themselves – are well-known. In someinstances the gap is widening, not narrowing. Oxfam points out that, by com-parison with 1980, ‘per-capita public spending on education in sub-Saharan Africaand South Asia has fallen by 60% compared with the industrialized world’(Education Now, 1999, 85). This is evident in Tanzania, where budgets have kepton reducing the percentage share of the Ministry of Education: from over 20%in the 1960s to 14% in 1970/71 to 4% in 1988/89 to 2.5% in 1996/97 (Bgoya, 1992;United Republic of Tanzania, 1998).

Disparities at university level are less extreme. The colleges and universi-ties that were established in the late 1940s, the 1950s and the 1960s aimed atachieving the highest standards, and frequently did so (Olden, 1998). But thechanged economic circumstances of the 1980s and 1990s have had an adverseimpact. Universities are suffering, and there is no likelihood that the number oftraditional type institutions will increase significantly. A recent survey of uni-versity libraries found that, with some exceptions, the amount spent by uni-versities on books and journals out of their own money was ‘pitifully low anddecreasing’ (Rosenberg, 1997, vol 1, 2).

Distance education is not a cheap alternative to conventional education, butit does offer economies. Dodds (1976) points out that large numbers of studentscan be reached by few teachers; that once the teaching materials have beenproduced and the system is established, additional students can be enrolled withonly marginal cost; that new buildings are not required because spare-time useof existing facilities is possible; and that students in employment can continueto work. In Tanzania, Chale (1992) found that each teacher trained by the dis-tance education method cost one quarter of the cost of each teacher trained con-ventionally.

Alli A.S. Mcharazo is Librarian of theUniversity College of Land and ArchitecturalStudies, a constituent college of the Universityof Dar es Salaam. He has taught at ThamesValley University, worked as a librarian withthe Tanzania Library Service, and acted as aconsultant for Book Aid International, theSouthern African Book Development EducationTrust and the Tanzania Commission forScience and Technology.

Anthony Olden is a senior lecturer in theCentre for Information Management, ThamesValley University, and the author ofLibraries in Africa: pioneers, policies,problems (Scarecrow Press, 1995).

Address: University College of Land andArchitectural Studies,PO Box 35176, Dar es Salaam,TanzaniaE-mail: [email protected]@tvu.ac.uk

at University of West London on June 28, 2016lis.sagepub.comDownloaded from

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ALLI A. S. MCHARAZO and ANTHONY OLDEN

While a substantial amount of literature exists on dis-tance education, there is little published specifically onresource provision for distance learners, and very little onprovision for students of the Open University of Tanzania(OUT), whose degree programmes commenced in January1994. This paper is based on an investigation by Mcharazo(1999), which included a survey of 54 OUT students, inter-views with senior OUT staff, and interviews with public,academic and other librarians in Tanzania. A paper on theresearch methods (Mcharazo and Olden, 1999) includesinformation on Tanzania and its Open University and on thebackground to the survey.

THE STUDENTSAccording to the university’s own statistics, up to andincluding 1998, a total of 4809 students enrolled. Like otheruniversities, OUT has a drop-out rate, which means that notall who enrolled are still active. Out of the 4809 there are4106 studying for degree programmes and 703 for theFoundation Course. The students are based in Zanzibarand in the twenty regions of mainland Tanzania. A verysmall number are based outside the country: in Kenya,Burundi, Uganda, Zambia, Lesotho, Namibia and the USA.Almost 40% of students are resident in Tanzania’s main city,Dar es Salaam, where the university has its headquarters.Distribution of students and breakdown by gender is shownin table 1.

Law is the most popular subject, taken by 30% of thestudents. Education comes next. Many students are non-graduate teachers attempting to upgrade their qualifications.Others include administrative staff employed by the gov-ernment, by parastatal organizations, and by non-govern-mental organizations; accountants; magistrates; surveyers;technicians; police officers; librarians; and businessmenand women. The ages of the 54 students surveyed rangedfrom 28 to 55. Most were in their early and middle 40s. Theaverage age was 41.

Some points in the literature on distance education aresupported by the Open University of Tanzania statistics andby the background information obtained from the studentsurvey. Others are not. One of the main problems con-fronting African governments at independence, accordingto Curran and Murphy, was the ‘large number of able peo-ple who did not have access to second-level education’(1992, 21). This is still true, as is the fact that many able peo-ple who have completed secondary education do not haveaccess to tertiary education. Benge and Olden (1981) pointout that lack of opportunity rather than lack of ability oftendetermines the level at which people study. Certainly OUTis giving opportunities to those who would otherwise nothave had them, but in Tanzanian terms most of these ben-eficiaries are relatively comfortable.

Zindi and Aucoin (1995, 32) state that ‘women withchildren, workers and disabled people’ – those who wouldotherwise be marginalized by the conventional educational

JOURNAL OF LIBRARIANSHIP AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, 32 (4) DECEMBER 2000 205

Table 1. Student distribution by region of Tanzania, byother countries, and by gender 1994 - 1998

REGION OF TANZANIA MALE FEMALE TOTAL

Arusha 229 18 247

Dar es Salaam 1595 312 1907

Dodoma 112 22 134

Iringa 201 12 213

Kagera 108 6 114

Kigoma 89 8 97

Kilimanjaro 190 20 210

Lindi 42 1 43

Mara 107 6 113

Mbeya 293 20 313

Morogoro 170 31 201

Mtwara 77 14 91

Mwanza 234 23 257

Pwani (Coast) 94 9 103

Rukwa 47 2 49

Ruvuma 97 6 103

Shinyanga 131 5 136

Singida 47 5 52

Tabora 133 8 141

Tanga 109 13 122

Zanzibar 115 15 130

OTHER COUNTRY

Burundi 5 0 5

Kenya 18 1 19

Lesotho 1 1 2

Namibia 1 0 1

Uganda 2 0 2

USA 1 0 1

Zambia 1 2 3

TOTAL 4249 560 4809

(88.4%) (11.6%) (100%)

Source: Open University of Tanzania statistics



Fulfilling the learning resource requirements of students at the Open University of Tanzania

system – can benefit from the flexibility of distance pro-grammes. This is also true, but curiously the percentage ofwomen enrolled at OUT is lower than at the University ofDar es Salaam and Sokoine University of Agriculture, bothtraditional contact institutions. Almost 12% (560 out of4809) is very low, substantially lower than the 23% (213 outof 909) enrolled at Sokoine in 1994/95 (United Republic ofTanzania, 1996). Most OUT students are mature students,and most mature Tanzanian women have children andfamily responsibilities. It may be that the best way toadvance up the educational ladder is to physically dis-tance oneself from the family for some of the time at least.

Top of the list of reasons that students give for study-ing with OUT is lack of the necessary qualifications requiredto gain admission to the University of Dar es Salaam. AnLLB student based in Tanga region stated:

I have decided to join OUT because I am in dire need of get-ting an LLB degree as I failed to get a chance for studying asimilar course at the University of Dar es Salaam.

But even if they were to be accepted by the Universityof Dar es Salaam, it would be difficult for many due tofinancial and family commitments. According to anotherTanga-based student:

I have this desire to get a degree while I am outside a uni-versity campus. . . . Also fees payable to OUT are not so highand capable of being paid . . . and it is easy to take care of myfamily at the same time as dealing with OUT studies.

Others stated that they were not willing to give uptheir jobs. However, they were particularly interested inadvancing and developing their careers without attend-ing college or university full-time. A year four BA(Education) student in Kilimanjaro region said that he wasresponding to educational changes under which teachers atsecondary school level needed to have a first degree. Afew students stated that they were used to the culture ofstudying by correspondence.

The pre-OUT qualifications of the respondents rangedfrom the ‘A’ levels held by many to the Masters Degree inBusiness Administration held by a student reading for anLLB. The qualifications can be categorized as follows:

• ‘A’ level • ‘A’ level and a certificate• ‘A’ level and a diploma (for example, in education,

law, or veterinary science)• Undergraduate degree • Post-graduate qualification.The majority of students had an ‘A’ level qualification

and a certificate or diploma.Most of the students surveyed mentioned how their

confidence in doing academic work had improved. Someexplained how the new knowledge was improving theirwork performance. A third year LLB student in Arushaexplained:

I am now better placed in the investigation department, asa policeman, as regards criminal and traffic cases as I am wellequipped with the procedural laws as well as other laws.

Others said they found the opportunity to exchangeideas with fellow students particularly useful.

THE LEARNING RESOURCESAccording to Rowntree (1991), open learning support com-prises a learning package and human support. The humanelement is supplied by tutors, other learners, counsellors andothers. The learning package can include most things thatstore information: material in print, audio, video or elec-tronic formats. Rowntree (1994, 9) says that ‘print is used farmore than any other medium in open learning’. This iscertainly true in Tanzania. Although almost all the stu-dents surveyed had a transistor radio, only 25% had accessto a video playback unit. None had a personal computer. Infact some OUT students do have personal computers, butsuch ownership is rare. It is important to note that the tele-density in Tanzania is only 55 lines per 10 000 people, andthat the quality of the lines is poor. This can cause problemsfor Internet access (Alkema and Kaljee, cited in De Boer andWalbeek, 1999).

Module/unit study materialThe most useful resources identified by almost all the studentssurveyed were the study materials provided by OUT. WhenOUT started operating most of the material it provided camefrom the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Material from IndiraGandhi National Open University, India, was also used. Notall the materials originating outside Tanzania proved suitablein the opinion of those senior OUT academics who wereinterviewed. From the beginning OUT was commissioningmaterial from lecturers at the University of Dar es Salaam andfrom other Tanzanian authors with appropriate subject exper-tise. It was also building up the technology and the admin-istrative staff to publish the material.

Most of the students based outside Dar es Salaamhad strong feelings about the need for OUT to distribute thestudy materials in time – by which they mean before acourse starts. One complained that ‘some of the studymaterials were sent to us very late. Calculus 1, for example,reached us in June instead of February 1997.’ Students alsowant copies of study materials kept in an OUT RegionalDirector’s office or in a public library for reference purposes.Some of the BSc students expressed a wish for more detailedinformation in their study materials. Others complainedabout mistakes. A third year BSc student in Morogoroobserved that ‘some books, especially lecture books [studymaterials] which are printed outside the country havemany errors and mistakes, hence they are difficult to under-stand’. Involving local institutions and experts in writingmaterial was seen as one solution to the problem.

LLB students complained that when their programmestarted some study units were not yet available. At the

206 JOURNAL OF LIBRARIANSHIP AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, 32 (4)DECEMBER 2000




time of the survey this was still the case. As a result studentswere compelled to take units which did not particularlyinterest them; sometimes starting with higher level unitswhich makes comprehension more difficult; and waiting forthe materials to be written. This does not provide a con-ducive learning environment, and students are more likelyto get frustrated and give up their studies.

Textbooks, other books and reference materialA respondent to a survey of distance education students inthe United Kingdom stated that:

While the course material provided contained all therequired reading, I feel it is important to supplement thesethrough further reading, especially in area of special inter-est or to clear up uncertainties in the course material. (Citedin Unwin, Stephens and Bolton, 1998, 73)

Valuable though they know their OUT-provided studymaterial to be, Tanzanian students are well aware of theneed to take their reading further. Another East Africanuniversity – Makerere University, Uganda – built up a col-lection of multiple copies of prescribed textbooks to lend toits students (Ikoja-Odongo, 1997). OUT has not done this,and bookshops are few and not well stocked. But to assistits students the university has entered into an agreementwith the Tanzania Library Service (the public library service)to stock recommended textbooks and other reading mate-rials in its service points. The material is kept on separateshelves and made available for reference and borrowing.However, for students who live at a distance from urbancentres travel to the nearest library consumes time andmoney, and when they arrive the material on the shelvesmay be less than adequate. According to a second year BAstudent from Korogwe in Tanga region:

It is difficult here. I am not having textbooks to supplementthe study materials . . . reference materials are not availablein Korogwe, in fact information for OUT studies is not avail-able.

Science students experience similar problems. A sec-ond year BSc student in Moshi, Kilimanjaro region observedthat ‘it is extremely difficult to get necessary books’. Athird year LLB student based in Dar es Salaam complainedabout library provision:

The libraries are not stocked with relevant materials for thestudy of LLB. Most of the books are out of date for the pur-pose of studying for this course.

They have found textbooks, reference materials, andother reading materials to be lacking in bookshops, publiclibraries, and even from the OUT Library in Dar es Salaamitself.

The OUT Collection in Morogoro Regional Libraryhas under a thousand volumes, according to the libraryassistant in charge. There are also a few out-of-date journals.According to the Director of the Morogoro OUT RegionalCentre:

Students receive their study materials pack... But they needreference materials too. Our libraries are not adequate...Law students, for example, have been complaining of lackof materials in the regional library.

The situation in Tanga region is similar. Tanga’sRegional Librarian stated that not many OUT studentscome to use the library because the collection does notmeet their needs. The elementary level of the material, lackof relevance, and the fact that much of it is out of date arethe main reasons. According to the librarian, law and sciencestudents are most affected. Some of these students rated thematerial as useful only for ‘A’ level study, and perhaps forsome first year university work. A third year BSc studentmaintained that he had not been able to get the necessaryreading materials, especially textbooks on physics andmathematics. A second year BSc Education student stated:

There are not enough textbooks... we have to depend on pre-vious students who studied for similar courses... The pub-lic library does not have enough books... I went there fourtimes and I was disappointed.

LLB students who need to make frequent reference tonew legislation, statutes and case laws are severely affected.

Libraries in Tanzania have benefited from the Intra-African Book Support Scheme (Mcharazo and Olden, 1996).The Scheme was set up with donor assistance in 1991, itspurpose being to increase the flow of books published inAfrica to libraries and thus benefit both readers and pub-lishers. Access to material that ought to be particularly rel-evant has been increased. However the amount of materialsupplied depends on the amount of money available.

Human supportSince the students are scattered all over the country OUT issetting up centres where they can get support closer tohome. Regional resource centres are intended to provide:

- information about OUT programmes;- tutoring and counselling services;- teaching and learning facilities, including facilities for

group discussion;- public lectures, workshops, and seminars;- co-ordination with study centres.

The study centres are intended to be closer to a stu-dent’s home base. Their location is decided by studentsand tutors in consultation with the lecturers and subject co-ordinators. Dar es Salaam region has seven such centres.They are located in the National Central Library, in aninstitute of adult education, in a magistrate’s court, in apolice college, and in schools. Their functions are as follows:

- tutoring and counselling services;- provision of physical facilities such as classrooms,

laboratories and libraries.





From time to time field tutors or study supervisors areto meet their students in chosen study centres in eachregion to advise and guide them in their areas of special-ization. BSc students are required to attend practical sessionsat the University of Dar es Salaam or at Sokoine Universityof Agriculture. The science students in this survey saidthat they would like more such sessions.

Establishing regional and study centres requires timeand resources, and it is likely to be a number of yearsbefore a network with the requisite number of regionaldirectors extends to the entire country. Out of the six regionsvisited during the course of this research three had regionalcentres under the control of a director: Dar es Salaam,Morogoro, and Kilimanjaro. The Dar es Salaam regional cen-tre also serves students in the Coast region, whileKilimanjaro looks after Arusha and Tanga. Apart fromcounselling and the dissemination of information aboutthe university programmes by the regional directors, stu-dents were critical about the service provided.

Study centres are more likely to flourish where thereare regional directors. Most of the students who attendactive study centres find their interaction with fellow stu-dents to be helpful. Students attending the Dar es Salaamcentre that specializes in law expressed satisfaction with theadvice they received on project work, with the organizationof seminars and tutorials, with classrooms and library ser-vices and the help they received on how to use the infor-mation resources. BSc students find lack of laboratories tobe a problem.

THE PUBLISHERSBecause of the limited amount of time distance learnersspend in face-to-face contact with tutors, good qualitylearning resource material is vital. The publishing industryhas a crucial role to play. Bgoya (1992, 170) describedTanzania’s publishing industry as ‘very young’. Brickhill(1996, 9) points out that ‘in poor countries poor peoplecannot afford books’. As stated earlier, OUT students are notpoor, but the low income of the average Tanzanian limits theoverall market for books, and this has held back the devel-opment of the industry. Another hindrance until recentlywas the heavy hand of government. In 1966 the TanzaniaPublishing House (TPH) was established as a parastatal inpartnership with the UK firm Macmillan – although thispartnership was dissolved a number of years later due to thefeeling amongst Tanzanians that Macmillan was exploitingthem (Bgoya, 1992). The general verdict on governmentinvolvement in publishing in Africa has been unfavourable(Mutloatse, 1992; Zell, 1995; Altbach, 1996). However TPHhas published various books appropriate for higher edu-cation. Two well-known titles are How Europe underdevelopedAfrica by Walter Rodney and Class struggle in Tanzania by IssaG. Shivji.

The number of publishing firms in the country isunknown, but according to the records of the National

Bibliographic Agency (part of the Tanzania Library Service)more than 200 publishers were issued with InternationalStandard Book Numbers and International Standard SerialNumbers between 1983 and 1997. They can be categorizedas follows:

• State, for example the Ministry of Education, and theInstitute of Curriculum Development.

• Parastatal, for example Tanzania Publishing Houseand the Tanzania Library Service Board.

• Academic, for example Dar es Salaam UniversityPress.

• Religious, for example Ndanda Mission Press andthe National Muslim Council of Tanzania.

• Private, for example Mkuki na Nyota Publishersand Black Star Agencies.

• Foreign, for example Oxford University Press.

For higher education the major institutions are TPH,Dar es Salaam University Press, and the Ministry ofEducation.

OUT has computers, printers, binders and copiers toproduce its own study materials. It has a guide for new writ-ers and arranges seminars to advise on how to write mate-rial with distance learners in mind.

THE LIBRARY SERVICEThe Tanzania Library Service

Tanzania was the East African country to make mostprogress with public library development in the 1960s.Like Ghana and the then Eastern Region of Nigeria,Tanzania had a combination of strong and committed polit-ical and library leadership (Olden, 1995). In the words ofJulius Nyerere, the President, ‘for poor nations a library ser-vice is vital’ (foreword to Kaungamno and Ilomo, 1979).Nyerere’s interest in library development is affirmed by theFounding Director of the East African Literature Bureau(Richards, 1996) and others.

Attempts were made to extend service to rural areas.This move went hand in hand with government pro-grammes such as adult education, as it was felt that new lit-erates would lapse into illiteracy again if not providedwith appropriate reading materials. The national publiclibrary system – the Tanzania Library Service (TLS) – wasregarded as a significant partner in this process, and therewas a commitment to establish a public library in every dis-trict. This was not been realized due to lack of resourcesamongst other reasons. To date there are regions that do notyet have a regional public library.

Failure to provide public libraries in some of theregions and districts has resulted not only in failure to sus-tain literacy, but also in failure to provide facilities andsupport to other members of society such as distance edu-cation students. Students cannot progress with educationwithout the necessary reading materials and facilities. Yet





two valuable services were discontinued due to lack ofmoney: mobile libraries and book box provision for ruralcommunities.

Almost all the public libraries are facing a seriousshortage of reading materials. This is due to lack of resourc-ing by the government. As a result no new books havebeen purchased for some time. Most Tanzania LibraryServices acquisitions come from philanthropic organiza-tions, in particular from Book Aid International in London.The situation is a disappointment to distance educationstudents and others. The fact that the TLS selection policyhas not been updated since the 1960s (long before the estab-lishment of the Open University) does not help either. Evenin these times of economic difficulties a clear selection pol-icy is important to ensure that librarians select donatedbooks that are relevant.

This study found that, apart from Dar es Salaam,where a few tutors took the initiative of bringing studentsinto a public library, the majority never had a familiariza-tion visit. Morogoro regional library, for example, is used bycomparatively few of the OUT students who live in and out-side the town. Distance is an obstacle for those in the ruralareas. Other disincentives are lack of relevant reading mate-rial, library fees, use of other information resources, and insome instances lack of awareness that library service existsfor their benefit.

The recent introduction of a subscription fee by theTanzania Library Service was questioned by some respon-dents. The amount is 3000 shillings, roughly equivalent to£3 sterling, and not a negligible sum by Tanzanian stan-dards. OUT students complain about this because they arealready paying fees to the university. Why, they ask, shouldthey pay to make use of a collection provided by their uni-versity for their use? A second year BSc student inKilimanjaro summed up his feelings as follows:

Why am I not using the public library? They do not haveenough books for the university level. They have irrelevantmaterials – most of them being at a secondary level. Butabove all, charging has totally discouraged me from usingthe public library.

Library staff respond that OUT students are clients justlike any others, and that it would not be possible to ask themto restrict themselves to the OUT Collection, keeping awayfrom the other stock.

Those who do use libraries do so in order to readtheir own material as well as consult what is on the shelves.This is because their homes or offices may not provide themost conducive study environment.

The Open University of Tanzania LibraryOUT’s own small collection is housed in two medium-sized rooms in its headquarters. It contains copies of its ownstudy materials, over 5000 textbooks, and a number ofjournals, some of which are out-dated. Video-cassettes andCD-ROMs are available but there is no equipment on which

to play them. There is one library staff member, an assistantlibrarian, who performs both professional and non-pro-fessional duties. He provides advice and referral services tostudents, and also prepares accession lists which are for-warded to regional centres.

The university purchases textbooks from academicpublishers such as Dar es Salaam University Press, TanzaniaPublishing House, and others within the country and else-where, for example Kenya and India. Donated material isreceived from Book Aid International, Unesco, theCommonwealth of Learning, the International Book Bank,and from individuals. When multiple copies of a title arereceived two are retained in the library in Dar es Salaam andothers distributed to regional centres and OUT collectionsin regional public libraries.

The main users of the library are OUT students, lec-turers, and outside researchers. Most student users comefrom Dar es Salaam and the surrounding areas. BAEducation and BCom students use the library most fre-quently because they find enough material in it for their pro-grammes. BSc and LLB students are the least frequent usersbecause they find the opposite. According to the OUTlibrarian these students use other libraries such as theUniversity of Dar es Salaam library and the Dar es SalaamInstitute of Technology (formerly Dar es Salaam TechnicalCollege). Most students who use the OUT library learnedof it through their lecturers.

Those who live far from Dar es Salaam tend not to usethe headquarters library. According to the librarian these stu-dents are supplied with study materials, and are expectedto supplement them with readings found in public librariesand elsewhere. He appreciates the fact that most of thestudents living in rural areas are seriously disadvantaged.He also criticizes the traditional approach to teaching stillpractised by some lecturers. Their insistence on specificsources does little to encourage students from searching foruseful alternative information. As a result some studentsconsider the library to be of limited use.

The deans expressed reservations about the OUTlibrary: about the fact that it does not have all the requiredreading materials, and that it does not cater for the needs ofall students. The librarian feels that inadequate fundingby the central government is the main source of the prob-lems the library is experiencing.

Other librariesStudents make use of a range of other libraries. For exam-ple in Morogoro region some of the BSc and BA Educationstudents use secondary school and teacher training col-lege libraries for reference material and reading space. BScstudents mention Sokoine University of Agriculture,Morogoro Public Health Nurses Training School, theMinistry of Agriculture Training Institute, and livestocktraining colleges. LLB students, in addition to the regionallibrary, use the Institute of Development Management andthe Co-operative Education Centre. Some also have access





to the private collections of solicitors. While schools and their libraries are useful to newly lit-

erate adult learners, they are not necessarily so to distancelearners, especially to OUT students studying for degrees.This is because many are in a poor state. They lack relevantreading material, reading space, and library personnel. Thematerial in secondary schools is obviously aimed at sec-ondary school pupils. However, some material may still beof value to OUT students who are in the first year of theirprogramme. General encyclopaedias and basic elementarytextbooks can be helpful.

Despite the drawbacks, schools have their uses fordistance learners. These include classroom availability (afterpupils have finished their lessons in the afternoon), thechance to exchange ideas with other distance learners, andalso the opportunity to draw on the expertise of teachers.

Academic and other specialized libraries are poten-tially very helpful. Sokoine University of Agriculture’slibrary collection is extremely useful to science students inMorogoro region, and the university has been chosen byOUT to be one of its centres for science practicals. Anotherrelevant collection in the region is the Institute ofDevelopment Management. In Dar es Salaam itself theUniversity is the biggest academic institution in Tanzania.Its library houses a wide range of materials covering artsand social sciences, science, engineering, education, law, anddevelopment studies. Other relevant libraries include thoseat the Institute of Finance Management and the Dar esSalaam Institute of Technology.

However some OUT students are not aware of thepotential value of using such libraries. Others either donot know where they are, or are uncertain as to whether theywould be allowed to use them. In fact some libraries denyaccess, or allow people in for reference purposes only. Notbeing able to borrow is a frustrating experience for OUTstudents. OUT asks its students to use all the resourcesavailable in the country, but some information services donot welcome them, or give them a limited welcome.

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONSDeveloping countries need the flexibility that distancelearning provides. A number of African universities such asNairobi in Kenya have been providing distance educationin addition to traditional contact programmes for manyyears. Yet African countries, with the exception of SouthAfrica, have been slow to establish open universities. Indeedthe one proposed for Nigeria 20 years ago got nowherefor economic reasons (Omolewa, 1984; Oduaran, 1985;Harry, 1999). The African distance education giant is theUniversity of South Africa (Unisa), provider of programmesfor more than fifty years. It has 124 212 students and 1311academic staff. Its libraries subscribe to 7000 periodicals andcontain 1 500 000 volumes and 300 000 other items. TheUnited Kingdom’s Open University was founded in 1969.It has 155 930 students (plus 213 full-time) and 920 acade-

mic staff. Its libraries subscribe to 2400 periodicals andstock 180 000 books and microforms and 150 000 otheritems. India’s Indira Gandhi National Open University,founded in 1985, is another giant, with 172 548 students and295 academic staff. Its libraries subscribe to 511 periodicalsand hold 67 004 volumes (Commonwealth universities yearbook2000).

The Open University of Tanzania, with under 5000 stu-dents in 1998, is newer and smaller. It did not come intobeing for more than 30 years after Tanzania gained its inde-pendence, although the need for such an institution hadbeen there all that time. The OUT experience proves that itis indeed possible for a less well-off African country toestablish an open university. What is required is the real-ization that such an institution is important and the will-ingness to invest in education. OUT’s vice-chancellor is aformer vice-chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam,a traditional contact institution. He hopes that the experi-ence of ‘an open university in one of the poorest countriesof the world will inspire those in similar circumstancesand urge on those who have already started’ (Mmari, 1999,121). Given that Tanzania’s population is in excess of 30 mil-lion, OUT has a very large potential market. This is in con-trast to countries such as Botswana and Namibia, each ofwhich has less than two million people. The cost-effective-ness of developing distance education programmes forsmall numbers is open to question (Dodds, Nonyongo andGlennie, 1999).

CHANGING ATTITUDESAttitudes need to change. When the first university collegeswere established in Nigeria and elsewhere after World WarII they were looked down upon as second-best by those whoassociated higher education with travelling to Britain tostudy (Yoloye, 1981). For those who entered, it was a ‘ven-ture of faith, for none of us knew for certain what the newinstitution would turn out to be’ (Awe, 1981, 67). The newinstitutions turned out to be of exceptionally high stan-dard. Today in Africa the public needs to appreciate thathigher education does not necessarily mean full-time atten-dance at a traditional university. With the encouragementof OUT the number of employers providing financial helpfor employees who wish to enrol for distance study isincreasing. This indicates that attitudes are indeed chang-ing, and this will continue as awareness of OUT’s role as aprovider of lifelong learning grows.

Other institutions need to appreciate that the resourcesand services they provide for their users are, in the main,paid for out of public money. They have national as well aslocal obligations. Admittedly when resources are scarce – asthey usually are – things can only stretch so far, and edu-cational institutions have a primary obligation to their ownstudents and staff. But the number of OUT students inmost regions is unlikely to overwhelm them.

Most OUT students come from a conventional edu-





cational background. They expect the university to pro-vide them with all their reading just as traditional univer-sities in Africa attempted to do in the past. But moreinitiative and commitment is required when studying at adistance, especially in the developing world where resourcescan be meagre. Adherence to past learning styles only leadsto student frustration and in some instances to a decision notto continue with the programme. A mini-module on how tomake the best use of learning resources must be providedto enable new Open University of Tanzania students toget off to a good start.

CONCLUSIONS ANDRECOMMENDATIONS

Learning resources have a fundamental importance fordistance students. The following conclusions and recom-mendations, made with OUT in mind, should also be ofinterest to planners of distance programmes in other devel-oping countries:

Module/unit study guides and other publicationsStudy materials are the main source of information, andindeed at times the only source used by OUT students.Students experienced problems with some of the guidesacquired by OUT from outside the country; the examplesthey contained were not always relevant. Tanzanian expertsand other experienced writers on Tanzania are likely toproduce material that is most relevant. However mostwould find themselves writing for distance students for thefirst time. In such circumstances qualifications and exper-tise alone are not likely to be enough. Training workshopsare essential.

It is unrealistic to expect that all the study material fora new programme that a student may take over five yearscould be ready before the programme starts. But the mate-rial for the early levels has to be ready and distributed inadvance. Otherwise students become frustrated.

As the number of OUT students increases the marketfor publishers and booksellers will increase also. However,it must be acknowledged that even with this increase thetotal number of students at Tanzania’s universities isunlikely to tempt every publisher. But some publications arelikely to be suitable for further education students also,and to find a market in other African countries and else-where. The expansion of distance education at universitylevel in the Developing World is certain to bring opportu-nities and rewards for publishers.

Human support: regional centresRegional centres are crucial where the majority of studentslive far from a university’s headquarters and postal andtelecommunications links leave much to be desired.Students in regions without a regional director believethemselves to be disadvantaged where tutoring, coun-selling, co-ordination with study centres and other activi-

ties are concerned. Students in regions with directors praisethe counselling services they provide. This is a compli-ment to directors who operate with very limited resourcesand facilities. Regional centres must have whateverresources and facilities are necessary in order to carry outtheir functions effectively.

Information and communications technologyOUT appreciates the importance of information technologyand audio-visual materials, but up to now little has beendone to provide such services for its students. Money is oneof the problems. There is also evidence that even if such ser-vices were provided they would not be fully utilized due tolack of familiarity and limited access on the part of the stu-dents. However, some students own their own comput-ers, and others are using IT facilities provided at theUniversity of Dar es Salaam Library, the British CouncilLibrary, and the Internet cafes.

In the long-term the university should strive to intro-duce IT as another medium through which its studentscan learn. In the short-term the university should encour-age students and headquarters and regional staff to makemore use of the telephone and the fax machine. Lecturersand regional directors can set aside slots in their timetablesduring which they are available to provide advice andguidance over the telephone.

Equipping regional centres with personal computersand printers would be a great help to students. With a lit-tle effort one would have database and CD-ROM access.Now that the university is connected to the World WideWeb, communication between students based in the regionsand staff at the headquarters is possible.

Many students expressed the need to supplementprinted sources with audio-visual ones. The audio-tapes andvideo-cassettes at the headquarters in Dar es Salaam shouldbe reproduced and distributed to the regional centres orregional libraries. At the moment some of the regionallibraries have video-play-back units which are hardly usedbecause of lack of video-tapes.

Radio and television are recommended as mediathrough which to reach a wider audience. OUT could haveits own radio station. Tanzania’s new trade liberalizationpolicies have led to the establishment of privately-run aswell as government radio stations in Dar es Salaam and else-where. According to some radio station owners establish-ing and running a radio station that would operate withina limited geographic area such as Dar es Salaam is notover-expensive. The university needs to think about thispossibility, and if possible, establish its own radio station.This will give OUT students the opportunity to listen to andrecord programmes.

The Open University of Tanzania LibraryNeither the public libraries nor the Open University col-lections they contain are adequate for students, in particu-lar for those based in rural areas. This state of affairs looks





likely to continue for some time, and OUT needs to come upwith a strategy. The Open University library based at head-quarters in Dar es Salaam is a valuable source of informa-tion, but it needs to widen its scope and cater for studentsin the regions. An open university branch library in everyregion would be a suitable long-term aim, but this wouldtake years to realize. In the short-term it is recommendedthat the present headquarters library should become alibrary of referral for all OUT students. In order to realizethis certain pre-conditions are necessary. These includeadequate staffing.

The indexing of individual articles would be of con-siderable value to the library’s users. Those doing the index-ing would need to work closely with lecturers and otherstudy material developers in order to ascertain what wouldbe most useful for students. Acquisition lists should beprepared and distributed to regional centres or to studentsso that they are aware of what is available for them. Thistype of work involves a change of ro le for thelibrarian/information manager. Instead of just supportingthe traditional method of teaching by providing little morethan lecturer-recommended materials he/she would besupporting independent learning through the identificationand provision of all materials of likely relevance. Requestscould be by telephone or letter, or via a regional centre,which could forward the request and pass on the response.The university will need to check the copyright position, andif necessary enter into agreements. The entire exercise willinvolve costs, and it may be necessary to ask students to con-tribute towards the photocopying and postage.

The Tanzania Library ServiceThe Tanzania Library Service is helping to change attitudesto distance learners by stating in its policy documents thatit is its obligation to serve OUT students. Research intothe information needs of both OUT student users and non-users would take the level of service further. At presentwithin the public library service the task of deciding whatis relevant is top-down, with the librarian doing the select-ing. In the case of school, college, and university libraries thepractice is similar, but there the teacher or lecturer isinvolved. This approach has its flaws, and it is recom-mended that all libraries should investigate the needs oftheir communities on a regular basis in order to determinehow best to serve them.

Sturges and Neill (1998) have pointed out that untilrecent times most of Africa was largely an oral society. Thisfactor, together with the limited exposure to books thatOUT students will have had in their background, make itimportant for librarians to demonstrate how useful librariescan be. Arrangements should be made between the TanzaniaLibrary Service and OUT’s regional centres to have an ori-entation programme at the beginning of each new academicyear. Perhaps the best time would be when students cometo the regional centres for face-to-face sessions with someOUT teaching staff members. Library orientation pro-

grammes—linked to a new mini-module on how to makethe best use of learning resources—would inject a sense ofconfidence into Open University students, and increasetheir library use.

Students in rural areas are the ones most seriouslyaffected by lack of reading materials and lack of informationin general. Public libraries could help them a great deal ifthey were to reinstate two services discontinued due tolack of adequate funding. The first is the mobile library ser-vice. A vehicle could be hired to distribute material to rural-based students within a region. To do this as economicallyas possible the vehicles could restrict themselves to reach-ing district headquarters. Students could make their ownarrangements to meet the vehicle there. The second serviceis book box provision for rural communities. An arrange-ment should be made between a village or a group of read-ers and a regional library for the supply of reading materials.OUT students would be willing to pay a small fee as theircontribution. Time periods would need to be agreed byboth sides. Mobile library or book box services every twomonths or so would be a considerable benefit.

Trained, qualified, motivated library staff are essentialfor success. It is recommended that the librarians or libraryassistants at present assigned to look after the OpenUniversity’s collections in public libraries should be used aseducation – and specifically distance education – subject spe-cialists. Tanzania Library Service and OUT need to put onorientation programmes to show these staff how best toserve the students.

The other librariesMuch of what has already been said about public librariesapplies to other libraries also. They suffer from similar prob-lems, although in some instances to a lesser extent. Schoollibrary collections are of limited use, but college, universityand special libraries are generally of value. Despite this,only a minority of the students surveyed used them. Themain reason is that they are not allowed access. The insti-tutions close their doors to anyone who is neither enrolledas a student nor employed by them. They argue that learn-ing resources are scarce, and allowing other users in wouldmake the situation worse for their primary clientele.

It is recommended that OUT enter into agreement withlibraries that are of potential use to its students. A preliminarystep would be to commission a study to identify which col-lections are relevant. Opening up access would ensure greaterutilization of Tanzania’s information resources.

February 2000

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Fulfilling the learning resource requirements of students at the Open University of Tanzania

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