ODL Programme in Nigeria

CHAPTER ONE:

Introduction

Open and Distance Learning (ODL) programme can be considered to be the one of the most significant innovations in Nigeria, in the field of education. The programme is beneficial for those, who are unable to attend full time traditional education, due to the nature of their jobs and other responsibilities. As stated by UNESCO (2002), ODE can be observed as a new approach that fulfils changing demands in education and training. It can be further regarded to be a complementary in some circumstances, while in some other circumstances, it can be seen as the most suitable substitute for face to face method, which is even better than some educational systems. ODE provides educational opportunities to those people who have no access to education, due to their location, work, social status, gender, poor economic conditions, and so on. However, despite all these advantages, there are still lots of challenges prevalent in Nigeria on effective implementation of ODE programme. One of the major problems in proper functioning of ODE programme in Nigeria is poor funding. Educational sector in Nigeria is not adequately funded, due to which ODE programme is not being properly run (Aluede, 2012). Besides, investment in ODE is quite huge due to costly hardware and software and Nigeria, being a developing country, has not been able to provide such facilities for the programme. Similarly, power supply is another obstacle in the path of ODE. The issue of power instability is highly prevalent in Nigeria, due to which the learners often face problem in accessing the ODE programme. Also, lack of skill and knowledge in designing course wares and delivering in electronic format is another challenge in Nigerian Higher Education (Yusuf, 2006). ODE promotes equity in educational opportunities and services along with it provides several quality resources and supports to the learners, thus creating new opportunities for professional development, a better chance for workers and business people for advancing their career. Nevertheless, all these advantages can only be accessed, when the problems related to poor funding, tele density, lack of skills and knowledge, ineffective policies, are solved.

There is great necessity of ODE in Nigeria due to several reasons. For long, the country has been faced with the phenomenon of increasing population (186 million as at 2016), that has led to very high demand for HE (World Bank, 2016). The pressure of students to get admission to conventional universities were increasing by the day as almost one million students want to gain admission into universities yearly through Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) (NOUN, 2014). In addition, the quota system for admission into conventional universities in Nigeria creates a scenario of discrimination against populations seeking for university education in the country (NOUN, 2014). Also, there is massive poverty, where most of the population are living below poverty line in Nigeria and they cannot afford to get education in urban institutions. This has become main hindrance on their access to higher education despite possessing great merit level. Secondly, people who are bounded by family commitments are not able to continue their education though they have strong interest in higher studies. This is due to restricted facility, provided by conventional institution of higher studies. Thirdly, social stigma like early marriage, religious belief and tradition of childhood forbids majority of female population from pursuing higher studies. Furthermore, there are other elements such as physical infirmities, inaccessibility of localities which are also the barriers of getting proper education. Moreover, another issue is the strike by lecturers of conventional universities under Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) which lead to closes all public universities in Nigeria. Finally, inflated tuition fees is another problem, which are highly prevalent in many private universities. All these reasons create huge demand or need for ODE in Nigeria. In response to this, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) has vital role in promoting distance education in the country, as stated by the majority of the stakeholders during the interviews. The study centres are the main place, where the students can contact for learning activities. At present, there are 77 study centres throughout the country. In addition, there are some special study centre among them such as; Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kaduna among others, that provide educational services to focussed groups like prisons, police and military personnel. These study centres are considered to be the mainstay of distance education system of the NOUN (NOUN, 2017a). The research is focused to examine the problems facing the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN)-Kano Study Centre (KSC) in achieving their objectives of increasing access and providing quality Higher Education (HE); exploring the role in which the NOUN-KSC centre play in increasing access to Higher Education in Kano State and nationally; exploring the effectiveness of Quality Assurance Systems (QAS) in tacking the challenges facing ODE (Open and Distance Education); investigating the perceptions of various stakeholders towards ODE regarding quality and effectiveness of ODE programmes; and, exploring how ODE outputs are viewed by the employers in the workplaces in comparison to their counterparts who underwent school through school-based programmes. The research followed a qualitative approach, where data was extracted from existing literature, and via interactions with stakeholders, who included students, staff and administrators within the NOUN, as well as employers within the Nigerian sector. The research holds the advantage over other existing studies, in that, it incorporates the views of all the stakeholders (NOUN staff, students, graduates and employers of that graduates) rather than just focusing on a single group. It was then analysed via the Siedel’s Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA), where codes were developed into themes to answer the research questions and meet research objectives. This section introduces the study topic and is divided into four sections. The first section gives a comprehensive background of the research. It begins with a contextualisation of the research topic, explains the origin of interest within the study topic, analyses past studies and identifies gaps within existing research. It then outlines the approach which I opted to follow. The second section gives a justification of the research, where the strengths and importance of the research are outlined. The third phase then outlines the specific research questions that were investigated in the study. Finally, the chapter concludes by outlining the structure of the whole research paper.

1.1. Background

Distance Education (DE) practices have been exponentially increasing in prominence since the final decades of the 20th century. This was promoted by the massive advancements in technology, coupled with policies fostering the need for continuous learning (Garrison and Arche, 2007). Despite the widespread application of this mode of education, there have been a number of significant challenges facing the administration of this mode of education given the shift in terminologies, technologies, infrastructure, audiences and new players within the education sector. In this regard, this section provides a contextual background of some of the main concepts within ODE before contextualising the research topic at hand. Although distance education (DE) has become a normal part of learning in the 21st century, studies still indicate that there are significant conceptual confusions within the definitions of the concept. It has been referred to as Distance Learning (DL), Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and Open and Distance Education (ODE). Biao (2012), while investigating the development of ODE within sub-Saharan Africa, offers interesting distinctions among the aforementioned concepts that will be utilised within the rest of this paper. The author asserted that DE “is a process whereby an individual or institution packages information in a learnable way with the view to helping another individual or group of individuals to learn at a distance” (p. 31). Furthermore, Biao (2012) labels DL as “an educational enterprise during which, a facilitator of learning who is usually separated from the learner by spatial or mental distance, gathers, collates and presents information in a learnable form to one or a group of learners who have accepted the responsibility to learn” (p. 31). In his view, DL differs from DE because of its emphasis on learning; the learner in DL is left on his own devices to understand the information. However, this paper utilised the terms DE and DL interchangeably. The term ODE is emanated from the concept of DE. The prefix “open” was added to DL because of globalisation –which promoted the internationalisation of education in HE institutions. Criticisms of the formal school system – which was seen as rather costly in terms of resource wastage and low student capacity; and, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade – which declared education as a sellable commodity (Biao, 2012). In the light of the above, it is clear that, a plethora of definitions exists for ODL and ODE. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) (2002, p. 7) defined ODE as “Methodologies that centre on inaugurating access to education and training delivery, acquitting learners from the limitations of time and place, and presenting flexible learning opportunities to persons and groups of learners.” The mode of learning integrates the concepts of lifelong learning, learner-centeredness and flexibility in learning, mitigation of access barriers, learner support, and recognition of credit of prior erudition (Council on Higher Education, 2009, p. 15). From definitions above, ODE provides broad learning opportunities that increase access to education in a flexible manner in terms of distance and time of study. Distance education in Africa is mainly attributed to the presence of colonial rule in the 19th and 20th centuries. As stated by Ogunleye (2013), colonial regimes introduced the element of formal education within their African colonies as they sought to advance their colonial agendas. The post-colonial period saw former colonies advance DE in a process that proved to be arduous due to myriad challenges along the way. According to the report by Commonwealth of Learning (2000) most African authors asserted that, modern distance education was made possible within the continent via the continuous support of international organisations such as the Commonwealth of Learning, the International Extension College in London, the Ford Foundation, and the United Nations, through programmes that allowed nations to create policies, provide staff, institute collaborative frameworks, upgrade technology, develop staff, improve knowledge management and provide student support systems in the areas of continuing and professional, non-formal, basic and post-basic as well as higher education in the member countries (Commonwealth of Learning, 2000). Consequently, several reputable distance education facilities developed with the best being South Africa’s African Virtual University (AVU) established in 1997 (Msweli, 2012). In the following century, the uptake and improvement of distance learning in Africa rose exponentially as countries sought to deal with issues regarding access to higher education given the limited opportunities available in conventional learning institutions as well as serving the needs of individuals who sought flexibility in learning programmes. According to Imam (2003) educational system in Nigeria has passed through two major phases, one is the colonial and other is the post-independence eras. Before the British conquest and successive formation of colonial government, most of the areas in western and northern Nigeria constituted kingdoms, empires and chiefdoms while south eastern and central areas were full of small chiefdoms. Moreover, Imam (2003) has stressed that most of the northern parts in Nigeria were deeply embedded in Islam both in religious practices as well as in educational policy. While each ethnic community in the southern parts used to have its own conventional form of education which was formed on culture and tradition. Fafunwa (2004) argued that, the informal curriculum consists of development of child’s physical ability, nature, intellectual ability along with teaching respect for elders, providing particular vocational training and importance of cultural heritage. Later in 1842, the arrival of Christian missionaries on the southern parts of Nigeria introduced western education. As per the missionaries, the objectives of giving such education were to support the learners in reading bible in English, training local school teachers.

However, it is the British policy, which confined the missionaries’ activities in predominant Muslim northern territory, thus restricting the spread of Christianity and western education. As a result, there arose significant educational gap between southern and northern parts of Nigeria. Imam (2003), added that the provision of grants to missions and voluntary agencies’ schools resulted into exclusion of Quranic schools due to their unusual curriculum. The colonial government was in need of important personnel from among the communities, so the government took responsibility of providing western education in the northern region of Nigeria. In that arrangement, three types of educational systems such as Quranic, conventional and western co-existed. This set up continued till 1944 which indicated the arrival of globalisation after Second World War that concurred with the democratic changes and national liberty from colonialism. From that period, the educational policy in Nigeria has been formed by the search on national development in terms of socio-economic and political thoughts. The colonial period where “correspondence colleges in the United Kingdom - Pitmans Institute, Wolsey Hall, and Rapid Result College” (Ogunleye, 2013, p. 53) - administered intermediate to advanced training to bright locals within the country within the 50s and 60s of the 20th century (Owoeye, 2004). Expansionary studies in the post-colonial period saw first generation universities in Nigeria begun to offer part-time distance education programmes within Nigeria. The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) - a dedicated university for open and distance learning education - was established in 1983, and started offering ODE (Owoeye, 2004); however, challenges in postal services, personnel to run the programmes, high budget allocations and quality challenges in teaching and administration of exams among others forced the closure of the facility in 1984 (Jimoh, 2013, p. 4). The events forced the amalgamation NOUN with the University of Abuja. The challenges experienced also happened in other institutions happening in Nigeria in what Jimoh (2013) and Ogbobu (2013) attributed to a lack of favourable policies to promote the practice within the country. More specifically, the ODE programmes in place were ill-designed and did not sufficiently prepare their graduates with the necessary knowledge and skills to meet the needs of the job market. Additionally, the African continent was collectively suffering from the primary challenge of lack of educational facilities (Msweli, 2012). This scenario continued within the Nigerian ODE sector until the beginning of the 21st century, where the National Universities Commission (NUC)- The agency accorded the role of authorising institutions of HE as well as the programmes they offer in Nigeria - reformulated polices that would establish ODE as a supporting framework to the conventional school-based higher education system. NOUN was reinstated in October 2002, with the mission to “provide functional, cost-effective, flexible learning which adds life-long value to education for all who seek knowledge” (Ogunleye, 2013). Since then, the institution advanced and progressed to be the leading centre in the provision of higher education via printed instructional materials, audio-visual transmissions and electronic conveyance of study materials via the internet. NOUN has been operating for at least 15 years and runs about 77 centres across the country. It proudly reports that, a total of 60 programmes have been fully accredited by NUC, which reflects the excellence with which NOUN implements its academic mandate (NOUN, 2017). However, the institution is still facing numerous challenges in its operations; these are evident in the studies analysed below. To begin with, most authors investigating the state of ODE in Nigeria have confirmed the existence of technological challenges. Jimoh (2013), when appraising ODE in Nigeria acknowledged that, many Nigerians live in poverty, hence “the cost of computers and other ICT resources are far beyond their reach. Ikegulu and Susan (2013) acknowledged that, Nigeria still has poor connectivity with very high regional costs of accessing the internet in West Africa; “Few students that are privileged to have a PC/Laptop are not connected to the internet as this do attract extra cost which they cannot afford” (p. 2). The struggle of students is evident as students have to access the web through cyber cafes that are typically slow; “Most students in Nigeria go to the cybercafé but because there are people of diverse intension on the net at the same time, and the bandwidth problem, a multimedia interactive cannot be done” (Ajadi, et al., 2008, p. 63). Earlier studies also showed the existence of the same problems in terms of access to hardware and software to be utilised in the provision of education via online methods (Iromantu, 2004). Hoosen & Buscher (2012, p. 48) acknowledged the existence of the problems within the developing countries asserting, that ODE, as a technologically driven activity, cannot flourish without the existence of the enabling technology. Yusuf (2006) also asserted that, widening access to higher education cannot be possible without the necessary technology. From the views of the aforementioned authors, the problem is pervasive in Nigeria and has affected the proper delivery of ODE across numerous institutions across the continent. Secondly, scholars within Nigeria have also faulted the poor-funding in hindering the success of ODE in Nigeria. Commonwealth of Learning (COL) (2001) stated that “Lack of resources in developing countries is obvious and becomes more acute as demographic trends increase the need to expand educational provision” (p. 18). Moreover, Owoeye (2004) mentioned that, the problem is deep rooted since the 20th century, where the funds provided to promote ODE within the country do not match the demand of the populous nation. The closure of the ODE facilities in the late 20th century was as a result of this challenge. Isuwa (2015) stated that, the educational sectors in Nigeria have been underfunded thereby affecting the provision of teaching and learning facilities for the last 25 years. The funding challenges in ODE programmes were further conceptualised by a report by the National Universities Commission (2005), which stated that, “30% of the state-owned universities are starved of good funding to pay staff allowances and buy essential equipment that would help in the running of the universities.” Ekundayo & Ajayi (2009), while conducting a study regarding the effective management of ODE within Nigeria also noted the same problem, stating “All the resources required for education production process are in short supply. Lecture halls, laboratories, students’ hostels, library space, books and journals and office spaces are all seriously inadequate” (p. 344). Moreover, Obioha & Ndindi (2013) asserted that “It is only when enough funding is released to the administrators that they can do a reasonable work” (p.316). Igwe (2012, p.2) also stated that “The financial sustainability of OER initiatives is a key issue. Many initiatives are sponsored by private foundations, public funding or paid by the institutions themselves.” The NOUN news Bulleting (2014) asserted that, only 67.7% (N337, 000,000 out of N497, 800,000) of the budgeted funds released in the year 2015. This situation depicts the seriousness of the funding challenges facing the ODE.

Third, studies reviewed have revealed several weaknesses in the existing polices of promoting HE via ODE in Nigeria. Aluede (2012), when investigating the problems facing access to higher education in Nigeria asserted that, Nigeria had been suffering from a lack of clear policies regarding the administration and operationalization of ODE facilities within the country. The author reiterated that, in some cases, the government was concerned by widening access to education to the point that quality issues became a secondary issue. Additionally, the initial policies in Nigeria’s ODE were intended to offer ODE as an alternative to conventional courses but lacked proper guiding tenets to ensure that, the skills and knowledge provided were at par with international standards. The British Council (2014) reiterated on the strengthening of the supporting frameworks and polices to ensure that Quality Assurance (QA). Ojo and Olakulehin (2006), explored the perceptions of ODE students in Nigeria, and noted that, QA practices differed among various institutions of HE. ODE institutions have embedded QA into the activities, with the NOUN specifically assigning the task to the Course Materials Development Unit (CMDU), which is responsible for ascertaining that course and resources materials are accessible to the various academic units; and, organising course writing workshops within and outside the institution for ensuring quality in all course materials (NOUN, 2014). However, most stakeholders perceive that, the NUC is not doing enough in its role to promote quality in education. Yusuf (2006) also acknowledged that, administrative incompetency in policy in HE as a reason for declining standards of ODE; more specifically, the challenge manifests in the lack of consistency in the policy development, reforms and implementation. Ogunkule & Adekola (2013) asserted that, although the government is encouraging the development of, HE institutions to cater for the growing demand, it has not prioritised on redirecting the institutions to reorganise their programmes in a specific way that will be relevant for the Nigerian economy. Fourth, Nigerian ODE has continuous suffering institutional infrastructure and workforce challenges. A study by Awe (2012) reported that, students were faced by challenges in tuition facilities, ICT facilities, poor management structures, and shortage of staff. The author went ahead to label the three factors as the key barriers towards proper instruction of ODE courses. In an earlier study, Borishade (2007) also acknowledged the existence of staffing challenges and poor management structures to accommodate students. In his explanation, the researcher attributed the existence of the challenges to the employment of temporary lecturers, non-availability of accommodation for students during the programme, and the communities’ high costs in the provision of accommodation for students. Obioha & Ndindi (2013, p. 315) stated “All the centres used for ODE whether established by public or private institution are operating in either hired structure or hosted by an already established institution.” Moreover, the researcher asserted that, poor management structures within universities led to limited time schedules for ODE programmes, which do not allow the professors and students to successfully complete the course work. Onwe (2013) further faulted universities for not increasing staff despite the surges in staff-student ratio due to increased enrolment into ODE programmes. Consequently, the high demand for infrastructural facilities increased the amount of strain on the limited human and non-human resources. Yusuf (2006) further blamed the Nigerian ODE for insistence on accommodating large unmanageable numbers of students at the expense of quality. The author reported complaints form staff working in ODE facilities regarding the role overload and the lack of proper systems that complicated the offering of ODE within the country. Additionally, it was noted that, students complained of not receiving results on time while lecture and examination timetables were not strictly adhered. Although the purpose of ODE in Nigeria is to widen the access to higher education, where the challenge outlined above stipulates that the institutions within the country are constrained by the available resources. Finally, Nigeria faces major challenges of lack of recognition and lack of acceptability of ODE programmes due to negative perceptions and quality challenges that has been termed as a serious issue within the African country. Many authors have found out that, the stakeholders perceive ODE as somehow inferior to conventional education. Concerns within the administration of NOUN have risen with the vice chancellor of NOUN (2014), who expressed concern regarding the reluctance to adopt new technologies in education in a world, that is changing towards one and that is more technologically oriented. The administrator further stated that “even the people in academia” were yet to be accustomed with the importance of ODE programmes, let alone the citizens in the country he had witnessed. This statement indicates perhaps informed concern or at least an existing gap in communication because even the people from academic backgrounds have reservations about the quality of the ODE programmes. According to Awe (2012), it is only when society embraces distance education wholeheartedly that the certificate, issued by such institutions, will have recognition it deserves. According to Derrick (2003) there is a limited research-based literature to guide stakeholders on the quality of ODE programmes compared to their face-to-face counterparts. Quality is a multivariate concept that amalgamates all processes and activities in an institution to ensure that they are exceptional, fit for purpose, made to perfection, have value for money, and are transformative (Ogunleye, 2013). Education without quality is more dangerous than a lack of education itself (Asiyai, 2013). According to DailySchoolNews (2017) identified that, the massive increase of academic programmes in Nigerian ODE universities is an issue of concern to stakeholders, including the government. Additionally, Ayo, Odukoya, & Azeta (2014) stated that, the NUC has seemingly lagged in providing the necessary measures to ensure that ODE programmes are up to standard. In a study conducted by the British Council (2014), employers also expressed their discontent with graduates of ODE citing stressful experiences when working with them. Ibojola (2015) stated that, most of stakeholders in Nigerian education have continued to state a decline in the quality of the university education both in the process and product. The resulting costs are beyond belief; most often, graduates are forced by settings to work under run-down, reserved, and perilous conditions in the informal economy. Worse still, the British Council (2014) asserted that, very high rates of unemployment result hence numerous socio-economic problems within the country. The topic is regarded as one of the most pressing issues and has emerged as one of the main concerns for contemporary researchers in Nigeria.

The challenges facing Nigeria are further worsened by its context as a developing country (Commonwealth of Learning, 2001). The country is currently facing intense pressure from its intense population explosion, combined with the fragility in security presented by various insurgent groups such as Biafara agitators in the eastern part and Boko Haram from the northern part of the country that have led to the use of numerous funds in sectors that were not budgeted (Obioha & Ndidi, 2013). Additionally, advancements in formal education have seen a gap in the human resource facilities required to offer training within the university context (Ayo, et al., 2014). The summary above shows that, though there has been a little research on specific aspects of ODE and QAS from some narrow perspectives. However, it is not particularly informative about the challenges, confronting ODE in increasing access to higher education or the role quality assurance systems can play in that context and the responsiveness of ODE stakeholders in the country. For example, More recently Okoye, (2015) and Samson (2015) both reported that, there are still existing challenges, that need to be addressed especially in the partial acceptability and recognition, and perceptions amongst the stakeholders as to whether the programme can offer the same quality as conventional system of education (CSE) or not. In addition, Ibojola (2015, p. 6), commenting on higher education in general wrote “most stakeholders in Nigerian education have continued to express a decline in the quality of Nigerian university education both in the print and electronic media”. This shows there is a concern about quality in higher education institutions in the country, not only in ODE provision.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The establishment of ODE in Nigeria is to take care of the huge population those who cannot manage to attend the full-time formal education series due to the nature of their responsibilities or their inability to gain admission into conventional institutions (Federal Ministry of Education, 2003). In fact, ODE programme plays a crucial role in providing equal educational opportunities to learners irrespective of the place and time. Also, the resources in ODE programme are wide in range with enhance the quality, but there are several challenges associated with the proper implementation of the programme. There is lack of consistency in the ODE programme and the support of all stakeholders together with sponsorship of government is not sufficient. Similarly, another problem is that of electricity. Many rural areas in Nigeria have no electricity at all while urban areas face epileptic power supply. Since ODE is not possible without communication and technological tools, many Nigerian learners have no access to educational opportunities through ODE.

1.4 Justification of the Study

Nigerian distance education, in common with the majority of developing countries, is facing a number of challenges as observed by different scholars. Many authors have given comprehensive accounts of some of the challenges affecting the operation of ODE providers in the country. This shows a concern about the operation of distance education in the country in terms of technology, poor-funding, weak policies, institutional infrastructure and workforce challenges as well distrust of ODE qualifications. There are questions why some organisations would embrace such certification and others have some reservation about the quality of certificates. I can argue that, the stakeholders’ perceptions play a role in low acceptability and recognition of the programme and graduates amongst the public and organisations that adopt ODE certification and those having some hesitations. Therefore, this study focuses on challenges facing ODE as perceived by stakeholders, and the state of QAS of ODE in Kano Study Centre for the following reasons. First, Darojat (2013) argued that, stakeholders’ perception is one of the most important component in every educational programme. Therefore, the insights can prove imperative in yielding novel ideas on how to improve QAS within the country. Secondly, from the perspective of education, ‘quality’ has been placed high on the agenda of educational leaders, policy makers, and practitioners, and is in line with consumers' ever increasing demand for quality education” (Belawati & Zuhairi 2007, p.3). In this regard, the overall objectives of this research are to examine the challenges facing distance education, primarily NOUN Kano Study Centre in Nigeria, in achieving their objectives; analyse the role that distance education provider, NOUN Kano Study Centre have had in increasing access to HE in Kano State, Nigeria; explore how the Nigerian quality assurance system has responded to the challenges of ODE in increasing access to higher education within Kano State in the country; To investigate stakeholders' perceptions (ODE staff and employers of labour) of quality and effectiveness of ODE programmes and its graduates in Kano state, Nigeria; examine how ODE graduates are perceived by employers and by peers in their workplaces in Kano state, Nigeria.

1.5 Purpose of the Study

Okebukola (2013) argued that, there is distrust about ODE qualifications which has led to the inferior status of ODE graduates and their certificates in eyes of some employers in Nigeria. The vice-chancellor of NOUN had also acknowledged the aforementioned challenges. He had argued that, one of the great challenges of ODE programme were low recognition and acceptability, “even the people in academia” are yet to recognise the importance of ODE programme, let alone the public in the country he had observed. He also called upon his colleagues from academic background to ensure that, they looked at and studied clearly and appreciated the art of ODE and understood that the new technology would provide equal opportunity in increasing access to higher education globally (NOUN, 2014, p. 5). This statement indicates perhaps informed concern or at least an existing gap in communication, since he indicated that, even those from academic backgrounds had reservations about the quality of the ODE programmes. While, the goal of Nigeria’s National Policy on Education, has clearly stated ODE, in particular, National Open University of Nigeria, was established to; “provide more access to quality education and equity to educational opportunities, and to meet the special needs of employers and employee” (Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) (2013, p. 32). The above-mentioned statements motivated me to explore the views and perceptions of ODE stakeholders (NOUN staff, students, graduates and the employers) of NOUN Kano Study Centre which is among the most famous study centre in the country.

1.6. Specific Research objectives

The study is designed to achieve the following objectives:

To examine the challenges facing the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN)-Kano Study Centre (KSC) in achieving their objectives of increasing access and providing quality HE

To analyse the role that the NOUN-KSC has in increasing access to HE in Kano state and nationally

To explore how the Nigerian quality assurance system (QAS) has responded to the challenges of ODE in increasing access to HE within Kano State in the country

To investigate the stakeholders' perceptions (ODE staff, students, graduates and employers of graduates) of the quality and effectiveness of ODE programmes, as well as that of its graduates in Kano state, Nigeria

To examine how ODE graduates are perceived by the employers compare to their counterparts-conventional graduates in their workplaces in Kano State, Nigeria

The objectives can be achieved by exploring the main research questions:

1.7. Specific Research Questions

To what extent, have the providers of HE and the quality assurance system (QAS) in HE within Nigeria, been able to respond to the challenges of increasing access to higher education through ODE programmes, in particular in Kano state?

To what extent, do Nigerian ODE providers respond to the perceived needs and demands of their stakeholders, particularly in Kano state?

What has been the particular impact of increasing access on the perception of the quality of graduates from ODE programmes among key stakeholders, and their employment destinations, in particular in Kano state?

1.8 Significance of the study

This research study can be helpful in identifying and analysing different challenges or problems related to open and distance education that are prevalent in Nigerian Higher Education. This study further provides better insight on the role of NOUN in addressing such challenges and increasing access to higher education in Kano state and the nation at large. Likewise, various literature on this context influence the government, NOUN and other stakeholders to acknowledge the impacts of these challenges on Nigerian educational sector. This study is beneficial not only for Kano state but also for improving the educational system all over the country. Furthermore, this research study will be useful for other researchers too who intend to conduct research on similar topics or issues related to HE in the country.

1.9. Delimitations of the Study

The study was delimited by the selection of only one major ODE institution provider in Nigeria, NOUN Kano Study Centre. Other ODE provider institutions in the state were not involved in this study. The study was also defined to four programmes in the institution (School of Arts and Social Sciences, School of Education, School of Health Sciences, School of Management Sciences). Considering the diverse challenges affecting the ODE programme as well as the complexity of its recognition by the public in the country, this study focuses on the challenges facing the KSC in achieving their objectives of increasing access to HE and how QAS is responding to that challenges by investigating the stakeholders perceptions’ about the programme in Kano state.

1.10. Structure of the thesis

The study focuses on ODE in the context of Nigeria. This involves providing an in-depth literature review regarding the topic; designing a methodology to carry out a study of situation in the field and conducting the field study to gather data; and analysing and evaluating the collected data to draw an effective conclusion, so that informed decisions could be made. The above activities were carried out in four main stages as shown in the diagram 1. More specifically, the first stage of the study involves general desk research which includes reviewing secondary data from different perspectives on challenges of ODE in increasing access to HIM, and the role that quality assurance systems play in this context. The section further reviews the documentary evidence on the perceptions of the students and the staff of ODE providers, and the external stakeholders including employers and government agencies and incorporated a wide range of data from other settings in Africa, and developed countries. The section provides the general synopsis on research topic and helps in the process of data collection. More specifically, it is guided by several questions which includes; what definitions’ scholars given to the terms; Open and Distance Education (ODE) and Open and Distance Learning (ODL), and what are the theories behind the concept? What does a ‘good’ QAS in ODE look like (looking at the alternatives from different contexts)?; what does the current system in operation in Nigeria look like?; how and in what ways could a quality assurance ‘best practice’ model be applied in the Nigerian context? This sections formed the second chapter of the dissertation. The second stage of the research is involved in conducting pilot study and main data collection- fieldwork. The stage begun by designing a research methodology that the researcher would follow to obtain the data on the research topic. The methodology section entailed an account of the rationale used to select the study procedures and the justification of the methods used to identify, select, and analyse information obtained. Generally, the researcher was addressed two main questions: How was the data collected or generated? And, how was it analysed? The research employed a qualitative approach that utilised semi-structured interviews to collect appropriate data from a selected sample of stakeholders within NOUN-KSC. This section formed the third chapter of the paper. The next stage of fieldwork involved utilising the methodology identified to gather information from the participants in order to answer the research questions. The data collection method used here is the semi-structured interviews. The collected data was then analysed via Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) where resulting themes were identified. The results and analysis of the findings formed the fourth chapter of the paper. The final stage involves the drawing of conclusions. In this stage, the themes identified from the literature were then related to existing literature to meet the research aims and objectives, as well as answer the research questions of the study. Recommendations were then made from the implications of the conclusions from the study.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

This chapter provides background information on the challenges affecting the operations of Open and Distance Education (ODE) providers in increasing access to Higher Education (HE) for the population in principally, the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Kano Study Centre (KSC). It begins by exploring the concepts of Open and Distance Education (ODE) and Open and Distance Learning (ODL), outlining the histories of the phenomena and how they have evolved within the last few decades. Additionally, it will offer the range of definitions given to the terms. Thereafter, it provides several theories of distance education to explain the various perspectives held towards education in the world. The chapter then narrows in on distance education in Africa in order to gain a general overview of the systems of education in place in the sector of ODE. In this regard, the researcher ensures a solid background before focusing on ODL in Nigeria; this involves an investigation of its structure, strengths, and challenges. Afterwards, the chapter delves into the topic of quality assurance in higher education. It explores several meanings put forward to describe the term ‘quality’ and elaborates on how the definitions of ‘quality’ affected the nature of ‘quality assurance’ (QA) in higher education. The section then deals with the status of quality assurance in higher education ‘ODL’ in Nigeria and its role in transforming higher education in the country. The review utilises a myriad of sources that range from peer-reviewed journals to government publications. It provides a detailed exploration of existing literature and academic evidence about distance learning. The literature review was conducted after a systematic search and identification of relevant literary materials from online academic databases. The literature search was based on a predetermined search strategy aimed at identifying and gathering relevant evidence to enable an effective review of the literature. The search was conducted on specific electronic databases such as Google Scholar, EBSCO and Proquest. Ideally, the online databases were collected because they make the literature search process relatively simpler compared to books in a physical library. Besides, these databases were selected due to their relevance and abundance with literature in education and pedagogy. The search process was facilitated with a variety of search terms such as quality assurance, distance learning, education, pedagogy, and higher education. The search terms were helpful because they enhanced the specificity and relevance of the search process. Ultimately, the researcher identified a total of 15 journal articles for review. The researcher then performed independent data extraction from the selected journal articles. The data extraction involved the identification and recording of specific information such as the name of the author, year of publication, sample size, research objectives, methodology and study’s main findings.

2.2 The concept of HE, DL, DE, ODL and ODE

Over the past 20 years, the form of higher education has been transformed; there has been tremendous increase in the number of the students, funding concerns have changed, and student organization has undergone diversification. Based on the research paper by Heard & Saline (2008), the present knowledge era has empowered the knowledge transfer for providing contribution towards growth and success of the business. With the rise in globalisation, the competition for the best students has been increased within higher education institutions in both national and international level thus pressurising the institutions for ensuring quality teaching. The international rankings on the basis of quality teaching are likely to be put forward hence, making the quality initiatives more attractive. Furthermore, there is large number of students studying at different universities and getting international scholarships. There are chances that these students might make comparison on the teaching quality provide by several institutions. Higher education has huge contribution on economic development of any nation and the level of contribution can be measured by the help of production function or with simple regression equation. As shown by the research, the use of Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) and Higher Educational Attainment (HEA) as higher education variables makes positive impact on the educational development level. According to Anderson (2016), it is the level of higher education which determines the level of technological development in any economy. Mainly the countries having high enrolment ratios in higher education have attained high level in technology and they are the leaders in technological aspect. Likewise, the countries with low enrolment ratios i.e. below 10% are demoted in technological field while the countries like Hong Kong and Singapore which have medium level of enrolment ratios i.e. about 20% are potential leaders in technology. However, not everyone agree that, higher education and economic growth are companions to each other. There are significant numbers of studies which state that economic impacts of universities on the societies be it a direct or indirect have always been overrated. The concept of distance learning (DL) has become embraced as a normal part of education in the 21st century. Almost all countries are encountering the task of growing access to all its principles which include refining quality and guaranteeing equity in HE (International Council for Open and Distance Education, 2014). Some authors have labelled it as Open and Distance Learning (ODL) rather than Open and Distance Education (ODE). For instance, Biao (2012) asserts that “Distance Education” (DE) sets information in comprehensible ways with the ultimate view of aiding another person or group of individuals in learning at a distance. In this regard, it utilises all the tools that may be available to pass information and aids the learners to implement the knowledge gained. It “employs all available media, methods and techniques to enable learners access needed information at a distance; distance education equally assists the learner to apply whatever may have been learnt” (Biao, 2012, p. 31). Stella & Gangnam (2004, p. 142) asserted that “Distance Education programmes mostly are delivered through technological devices which include the use of internet, computers among others.” These developmental technologies influenced numerous HE institutions to intensify their programmes to online courses. On the other hand, “Distance Learning” (DL) is a procedure of education, which puts into consideration the learning aspect of education. “The facilitator of the learning process is separated from the learner by a mental or spatial distance, and his/her role involves collecting, collating and giving information in a form that is learnable to students who have decided to learn” (Biao, 2012, p. 31). Therefore, DL is a field that operates in the strictest terms of DE; DL promotes holistic learning more that than DE (Biao, 2012). In the past two decades, scientists have failed to achieve consensus over the best definitions of distance learning and open and distance education. According to Biao (2012, p. 30), “the concept ‘Distance Learning’ emerged from the idea of ‘Distance Education’ which came from ‘Correspondence Education’ which itself arose from ‘Non-formal Education". Holmberg (2008, p. 9) distance education is “characterised by teaching and learning being brought about by media: in principle students and their teachers do not meet face to face.” The author, further argued that “one or more media are used for their interaction and for communicating subject matter, for example the printed and written word, audio and video recordings, telephone conversations, computer communication to mediated teaching and learning” (p. 9). In this definition, the author particularly stresses the use of media aids, such as audio and visual materials, to facilitate the learning process. Therefore, the author saw the practice as mediated teaching.

In this review, the terms (ODL and ODE) will be used interchangeably. Msweli (2012) argued that ODE is a phenomenon that emanated from the internationalisation of education; due to this characteristic, it has received varied interpretations, understandings, and applications from its various stakeholders. According to Biao (2012, p. 33), the prefix ‘open’ was only attached to ‘Distance Education’ in the early 21st century. This was due towards three important advances: Globalisation (internationalisation), disparagements contradicting the formal school system, and GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade). Firstly, most authors adopt an internationalisation approach towards open and distance education (Saba, 2003; Msweli, 2012; Biao, 2012). Msweli (2012) provided an in-depth analysis of how the tenets of internationalisation have forged our understanding of distance education in the 21st century. She defines internationalisation of a higher education institution (HEI) as “the extent to which an organisation is strategically aligned to operate within an intercultural and international sphere in its academic activities” (Msweli, 2012, p. 104). Secondly, Biao asserts that arguments against formal education, regarding costs of maintenance, the capacity of students and wastages may have led to the development of “open” DE. Finally, “open” can be viewed regarding General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) with their roots in 1947. In these binding agreements, nations agreed that education would be a sellable commodity (Biao, 2012). This heavily contributed to the advancement of ODE. Further definitions of ODL exist. Mitchell & O’Rourke (2009, p. 110) stated that ODL is perceived as a structure that meets different educational needs for students through the design of courses, learner support, and administrative procedures through the “bridging geographical and social distance. Furthermore, Ayo, et. al., (2014, p. 63) base their arguments on the fact that ODL relies on “the separation of teacher and learner in space and time.” When the views of these authors are amalgamated, it becomes evident that ODL is a structure of learning that entwines support for students, instructional design, and curriculum creation among other education activities to meet student needs (Msweli, 2012). Moreover, most authors, with their literature published in recent years, have acknowledged the role of internet-based technologies in providing the groundwork for online learning processes (Ajadi, et al., 2008). Initially, distance learning was hampered by severe limitations in connectivity in remote regions. The progress and ease of communication worldwide has facilitated and made distance education more sustainable than ever before (Berge, et al., 2002). In this regard, nations such as Nigeria have considerably embraced the mode of learning and integrated it into its mainstream systems. More authors have summarised various meanings of ODL presented by renowned researchers over the last two decades (Biao, 2012; Msweli, 2012; Harvey & Knight, 1996; Van den & Schlusman, 1989; Jeffries, et al., 1990). These are summarized in table 1 below.

From the definitions above, it is evident that, there exists no single statement to describe ODL as a means of providing equality in education opportunities when required by individuals, at different locations and different time zones. A myriad of definitions have been availed to describe the practice in an ever-developing world. The bottom line remains in the role of ODL as a concept that has led to the increase in the number of people accessing quality education regardless of their situations or needs as long as the necessary facilities are available. Moreover, when well implemented, ODL is flexible and allows ease in facilitation and learning to the institution, lecturers, and students. According to Biao (2012, p. 33), the prefix ‘open’ was only attached to ‘Distance Education’ in the early 21st century. This was due towards three important advances: Globalisation (internationalisation), disparagements contradicting the formal school system, and GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade). Firstly, most authors adopt an internationalisation approach towards open and distance education (Saba, 2003; Msweli, 2012; Biao, 2012). Msweli (2012) provided an in-depth analysis of how the tenets of internationalisation have forged our understanding of distance education in the 21st century. She defines internationalisation of a higher education institution (HEI) as “the extent to which an organization is strategically aligned to operate within an intercultural and international sphere in its academic activities” (Msweli, 2012, p. 104). Secondly, Biao asserts that arguments against formal education, regarding costs of maintenance, the capacity of students and wastages may have led to the development of “open” DE. This is well exemplified by Van den and Schlusmans (1989), who define ODL as “a learning system characterised by the following several societal expectations and others” (see figure 2 above). Finally, “open” can be viewed regarding General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) with their roots in 1947. In these binding agreements, nations agreed that education would be a sellable commodity (Biao, 2012). This heavily contributed to the advancement of ODE. From the definitions above, it is evident that, there exists no single statement to describe ODL is a means of providing equality in education opportunities when required by individuals, at different locations and different time zones. It is a concept that has led to the increase in the number of people accessing quality education regardless of their situations or needs. Moreover, its flexibility allows ease in facilitation and learning to the institution, lecturers, and students.

2.3 Theories of Distance Education

Theories provide individuals with comprehensible elucidations of various complex phenomena and practices and can aid in developing viewpoints that promote contextual generalizability. Additionally, theories provide multiple views into an issue hence limit biases that may be present in some philosophies (Saba, 2003). According to Alzaghoul (2013), DL is a sophisticated practice that had to be explored theoretically to aid in creating a proper understanding of the various processes and actions involved. The intricacy of the distance learning is accentuated by the fact that the learning process is cyclical. Furthermore, the learning process is affected by a superfluity of factors in the learning environment and individual personal experiences; in this regard, educators face an uphill task in designing an efficient environment for learners. Theories regarding distance education can be divided into classic and contemporary theories of education. Traditional theories include the behaviourism, cognitivist, and constructivism theories; these three separate concepts were intensively utilised in the 19th and 20th centuries (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). Modern theories include the Transactional Distance Theory, Student Attrition Theory and the Connectivism theory. They are relatively new in comparison to the three classic theories of distance education. The two classes of theories are further explored below.

2.3.1 Classic Theories of Education

Classical theories have played a crucial role in how we perceive education in the modern era. Ertmer & Newbie (1993) asserted that, the three classic theories have been a foundation for strategic reasoning and have influenced the current instructional design to unimaginable levels. The differences in the learning philosophies of behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism arose from two initial misunderstandings on knowledge-empiricism and rationalism in which researchers failed to achieve consensus (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).

Behaviourism

The behaviourist approach is based on the idea that external factors have a more significant influence than the personal characteristics of the learner. According to Ertmer & Newby (1993,p. 7), “the student is considered as responsive to conditions in the environment as opposed to taking an active role in discerning the environment.” Deubel (2003) asserts that “the primary tenet of behaviourism is that there is an anticipated and consistent link between an impetus and the response it produces” (Deubel, 2003, p. 65). Predictable behaviour allows designers to “identify subskills students must master that lead to a learned response, and then select stimuli and presentation strategies that build the subskills” (Deubel, 2003, p. 65). Therefore, the behaviourist theory accords environmental factors the greater weight regarding learning efficacy and proposes the use of aids that influence the organisation of stimuli and consequences in a learner’s environment. The advent of behaviourism theories was primarily in the mid-20th century with the development of instructional design (ID) (Crawford, 2009). During the 1950s, behaviourism was utilised in the formulation of audio-visual learning aids that were congruent to the learning methodologies encapsulated in the behaviourism approach. Currently, some elements of the theory are still used in distance education. Crawford (2009) stated that, DE includes mastery learning and Computer-Assisted Instruction; the approaches incorporate the development of outcomes that are measurable and observable for ease in student assessment especially in the early stages. Moreover, the curriculum is “chunked into smaller instructional steps that manageable steps can then be repeated with on-going monitoring of student learning” (Weegar & Pacis, 2012, p. 6). Therefore, the behaviourism theory still plays an important part in facilitating modern education. In this study, we draw from the works of behaviourism theorists to make an argument that student’s ability to succeed in DL can be influenced by the environment learn within which they learn, and how they respond to that environment. The behaviorists’ emphasis on student’s behavior and how predictable it is especially useful to the analysis of how designers of DL curriculum can select presentation strategies of the curriculum that enhance effective learning among students taking the distance learning. To this end, the theory’s conceptualization of learning as a predictable behavior is of value in informing how distance learning can easily be manipulated and presented in different ways to ensure effective learner outcomes.

Cognitivism

Cognitivism arose as a result of an increased amount of research pointing towards the relevance complex cognitive and mental processes instead of plain observable behaviour (Crawford, 2009). In this regard “a cognitivist views the learning process as an internal and active mental process, which develops within a learner, increased mental capacity and skills in order to learn better” (McLeod, 2003, p. 38). Researchers began focusing on the complex mechanisms involved in knowledge acquisition, organisation, storage, and retrieval in the human mind. The behaviourism approach soon lost favour as scientists were more concerned with what students know and how they knew what they know (Ertmer & Newby, 1993). Consequently, researchers designed instructional methods that stimulated learners to utilise proper learning schemes. These included student involvement in the erudition process, the arrangement of information to advance peak performance as well as designing appropriate environments that facilitate student comprehension. From the analysis above, it is evident that the cognitivist and behaviourists both aim at proper and efficient knowledge transfer to students through the main strategies of simplification and standardisation (Ertmer & Newby, 1993). However, behaviourists emphasise on the external influences while the cognitivists focus on the internal processes in the individual. Cognitive theories oppose that environmental influences and teaching mechanisms only cannot offer complete justification for all the knowledge that comes from an instructional state. In distance education, cognitivists must base instructions on the learners’ cognitive schema for efficiency (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). Moreover, the philosophy roots for sequencing of information to facilitate optimal knowledge delivery. The main strength of the cognitivism approach lies in the fact that it is suitable for higher learning (McLeod, 2003, p. 39). It is an instructional design that has the potential to have a larger impact on the learner since it is linked to an individual’s mental capacity (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). For these reasons, designing programmes using cognitive approaches is always time- consuming and costly (Deubel, 2003). On the contrary, its main weakness is that the mode of learning is not suitable at lower levels of learning where essential knowledge does not exist (McLeod, 2003). Moreover, its use of pre-determined goals limits the learning scope (McLeod, 2003). Here we draw from the of cognitivist theorists to make an argument that DL involves an active and mental process that can yield positive results if delivered in a standardized and simplified manner, rather than complex knowledge acquisition techniques. The theorists’ emphasis on efficient and simplified knowledge transfer techniques is useful to the analysis of whether curriculum developers can achieve more positive learner outcome if they focus on efficient ways of knowledge delivery rather than the environment in which the curriculum is delivered. Therefore, the theory’s conceptualization of education is all about how it is delivered and not where it is delivered is generative in grasping how DL students can achieve similar learning outcomes with their non-distance learning counterparts regardless of the environment from which they are receiving the education. It is also here that the cognitivist theorists’ attention to basing instructions on the learner’s schema for efficiency is of value for informing how instructional design can have a major impact on learner outcomes due to its links with the learner’s mental capacity.

Constructivism

The theory of constructivism starkly contrasts the similar views expressed by behaviourists and cognitivists. More specifically, constructivists deviated from the objectivistic philosophical assumptions held by the two preceding generations of theorists that primarily considered the aim of teaching as to integrate the world’s structure into the learner’s mind (McLeod, 2003). Instead, constructivists viewed learning as generating/constructing meaning from experience. Ertmer & Newby (1993) asserted that Constructivists believe that knowledge materialises in circumstances within which it is relevant. “Knowledge cannot be directly passed on from learner to learner, but must be constructed individually by each learner” (McLeod, 2003, p. 40). Therefore, any assessment in terms of learning comes after an evaluation of the actual learning experience. In distance education, constructivists state that instructional designers must incorporate stimulating experiences in the learning environment to which allow students to capture and synthesise knowledge in their own. According to Crawford (2009), distance-learning programmes should enable the collaboration between teachers and learners and encourage vital discourse to facilitate individual understanding. In the 20th century, instructors advanced the understanding of students through language mediation and later through computer-meditated communication (CMC) which is a chief tenet of ODL (Chen, et al., 2011). CMC has received major attention from scholars all over the globe. In a recent study by Chen et al. (2011) on the efficacy of CMC, it was concluded that the method allowed intensity in expression due to enhanced freedom of the expression of views and lack of social pressure, as well as enhancement of effective and reflective communication in comparison to face to face communication (Chen, et al., 2011). Moreover, a constructivist approach facilitates creativity in students since there exists no individual solution to a problem. However, the heterogeneous nature of interpretations from students complicates the efficiency of teacher instruction (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). Additionally, it is not easy to attain dominance in a class containing persons who synthesise and interpret laws differently; “imagine the chaos and litigation that would arise if every attorney decided to interpret laws and practices in their own unique way with no recourse from the courts?” (McLeod, 2003, p. 42) Therefore, although it is a suitable theory in evaluation and promotes the continuous cycle of learning, it falls short in the lack of standard interpretations by individual learners. The constructivist theory is useful in making an argument that DL can be most effective if it is delivered with specific reference to the learner’s experience and circumstances and that evaluating the learner’s practical experiences is key to ensuring a successful DL. The theorists’ emphasis on the learner’s experience is especially useful in the analysis of the importance of incorporating learner experience as part of DL so that students can easily capture and synthesize the knowledge. Therefore, the theorists’ conceptualization of learning as a function of experience and individual understanding is of value in informing how distance learners who already have some experience in their fields of study may achieve as better performance as their non-experienced counterparts.

2.3.2 Contemporary Theories of Education

The last three decades have seen an enormous transition in educational systems as the world adopts modern trends in learning. Current theories of education stem from extensive research from recent years; therefore, they consist of several ideas that have received widespread attention from experts and would be considered as possible explanations towards complex phenomena. Keegan (1986) saw the bright future of DE and pointed out the lack of literature necessary to advance the field under a set of tenets for sustainable progress. In this regard, the researcher set out in exploring the then-new field of DE and developed three questions for researchers to consider before developing theories of education. The first question drawn up by the author asked if distance learning was an educational activity. In his explanation, Keegan cited the increased formalisation of education. This was depicted by the business-like characteristics rather than those present in traditional systems. Secondly, the researcher asserted that theorists had to question if DE was a form of conventional education. In his research on the question, Keegan postulated that DE was a distinct form of education because it was not characterised by interpersonal communication despite being based on education theory regarding institutionalised learning. Therefore, the addition of virtual elements in learning constituted a unique field of learning that required distinct theoretical attention. Finally, the researcher asked potential theorists to consider if DE was indeed possible or was just a mere contradiction in terms. In this question, Keegan pointed out that if education entails intersubjectivity – a mutual involvement between the instructor and student; then it is a contradiction in terms. The researcher suggested while DE was not possible, DL was possible. Later, Keegan (1995) classified theories of distance education into three: theories of independence and autonomy; theories of industrialisation of teaching; and, methods of interaction and communication. The ideas explored further in this study will fall in either of the above categories.

Transactional Distance Theory

Moore’s transactional distance theory arose from the pressing need to devise a new mode of understanding the changing arena of education, as it became more formalised (Crawford, 2009). Moreover, his efforts sought to address the literature gap that existed when the shift from traditional to distance education (DE) was occurring to meet the challenges posed by the need to process and obtain vast amounts of data within the shortest time possible. Moore (1993) noted the challenge that traditional theorists faced in coming up with frameworks for education and embarked on a quest to develop suitable tenets for DE. In this case, the theory has been categorised as one of independence and autonomy (Simonson, et al., 1999). According to Moore (1993), the transactional distance theory emanated in the 1970s as researchers embarked on a proper definition of distance education. The author (p. 22) defined DE as “the universe of teacher-learner relationships that exists when learners and instructors are separated by space and/or by time” In the theory, DE is viewed as the transaction; additionally, it may be defined as an interaction between the environment, the human beings, and behavioural patterns within a particular context (Boyd & Apps, 1980). In this view, the author asserted that, DE recognises the distance related to the perception and understanding of the learners in addition to the commonly acknowledged geographical distance. Gorsky & Caspi (2005, p. 1) asserted that the “transactional distance theory assumes that the most profound impact on distance education is pedagogy and not the physical or temporal distance that separates instructor and learner.” It is a pedagogical concept that defines the relationship between teachers and learners separated by time or space and established on the essential elements that include the level of self-motivation of the student, the nature of the interaction between instructors and students and the structure of educational programmes (Moore, 1993). The theory of transactional distance holds several vital viewpoints. To begin with, the model perceives communication and psychological space between teachers and students as heterogeneous (Moore & Kearsley, 1996). In other words, transactional distance is viewed as a continuous rather than discrete variable thus present in all types of educational programmes whether face-to-face or online education. However, the transactional distance is dependent upon three variables: dialogue, structure of the educational curriculum and autonomy of the learner. The first variable – dialogue entails knowledge and information exchange between the instructor and the student. Moore (1996) highlighted communication as the chief factor in dialogue. Secondly, the structure of the educational programme as a variable is described as the level to which the elements of a course (objectives, relevant themes, means of presentation, assessment) adapt to meet the learners’ individual needs. Finally, the third variable – autonomy, points to a student’s hegemony over his learning processes and activities. Since the three elements above are continuous variables, different institutions and programmes have different levels of transactional distance. Mbwesa (2014) states that students with high levels of one of the mentioned variables and lower levels in others still have high transactional distance. For instance, if a highly autonomous learner lacks in dialogue and is in a relatively unstructured educational system, then there is higher transactional distance (Gorsky & Caspi, 2005). Moreover, other authors such as Saba and Shearer (1994) detected the presence of a counter relation among the structure, dialogue and transactional distance. Moore and Kearsley (1996) further advanced the transactional theory by stating that effective instruction in DL environments depends on the degree to which the tutors and institutions can deliver suitable echelons of structure in addition to regular and quality of teacher-learner discourse with regards to the learners’ autonomy. Within the next two decades, more researchers continued to add valuable literature to the field; most studies were predominantly concerned with proof of the theory. According to an analysis by Kassandrinou et al. (2014), most studies pointed to the existence of a positive correlation between structure, dialogue, and transactional distance. Furthermore, scientists were able to map additional variables such as transactional control and student persistence of Deschenes. In this regard, it is safe to say that, the theory has been an interesting subject of research in the past decade and has been integrated into multiple dimensions of ODE. Due to its holistic overview of the educational landscape, numerous researchers have acknowledged the theory’s application to ODL. According to Ustati & Hassan (2013), institutions should invest in creating proper educational structures and dialogue to suit less autonomous students. Mbwesa (2014) acknowledged that, for effective learning to occur, there is the need to overcome transactional distance. However, many HE institutions in Africa have not managed to minimize transactional distance (Mbwesa, 2014). There often the constraint of limited resources that limits the range of instructional methods to students who are distributed over wide geographical areas. Moreover, higher learning institutions are faced with the challenge of conditioning teachers to instruct individuals in traditional and face-to-face learning (Mbwesa, 2014). Additionally, the theory has been used to highlight the problems of quality in HE institutions mainly offering Dual Systems (Convectional education and ODE) in the dimensions of dialogue, structure of the educational programme and autonomy of the learner. Against this backdrop, transaction theory can facilitate the argument that learners do not have to be physically present in a classroom to achieve their learning objectives. But rather, there can be successful learning between the learner and the instructor is they establish a transactional relationship whereby the learner develops some essential elements of learning such as self-motivation and where there are a clear structure and program of instructions. The transactional theorists’ emphasis on heterogeneous communication and psychological space between the learner and the instructor is useful in the analysis of how DL can effectively be coordinated and facilitated to result in desired outcomes. However, to this end, the conceptualization of transactional theory is of value in informing how both the instructor and the learner must work as a team to ensure positive achievements in DE. It is here also that the transactional theorists’ attention to the nature of the interaction between the student and the instructor is of value for informing the need for proper coordination between the instructor and the student.

Equivalency Theory

Equivalency theory, developed in the late 20th century asserted that DE should be based on the notion of equivalency in the students’ learning experiences (Simonson, et al., 1999). In the 1990s, researchers such as Simonson et al. (1995) and Keegan (1995) who recognised the effects of the new developments in telecommunication technologies noted that virtually connecting the instructor and the learners created a virtual classroom. In this regard, the theory was primarily aimed at developing literature on virtual classrooms. The author reiterated the need to clarify if virtual education was a subset of education or an independent field on its own. Furthermore, there was the need to standardise education offered in conventional and virtual classrooms. According to Simonson et al. (1999), the equivalency model is based on the definition which labels distance education as “formal, institutionally-based instructive undertakings where the student and educator are detached from one another, and where dual telecommunication structures are used to synchronously and asynchronously link them for the distribution of data-based, video, voice and instruction”. In this regard, ODL programmes and institutions should put into consideration the various differences present between traditional learning and DE programmes and should not expect similar learning strategies to work on learners in both contexts. Regarding the equivalency theory, instructional designers should develop suitable processes and procedures for effective learning among different types of students to increase the quality of their learning experience and boost their performance. Although the theory was developed in a period, where DE was emerging, it has been significantly in the last two decades along the lines of contemporary and dominant shared telecommunications. The present study will also draw on the work of equivalency theory to make an argument that telecommunications technology plays an effective role in facilitating DE. The theorists’ emphasis on the creation of virtual classrooms whereby the learner and the instructor are virtually connected through telecommunication is especially useful to the analysis of t similarities and differences between distance education and conventional education in terms of formality and modes of delivery. To this end, the equivalency theorists’ conceptualization of DE as and institutionally-based educational undertakings where the student and the instructor operate remotely but maintain a dual communication is generative in grasping the important nature of communication tools and equipment in determining the quality of DE. It is here also that the equivalency theory is important in exploring the type and nature of communication tools and equipment that can facilitate quality and effective distance learning.

2.3.3 Summary on Theories of Education

The dynamic nature of global education has complicated the credibility of individual theories of DE. Theorists have advanced multiple explanations to describe DE in the contexts that they feel are most suitable. The development of DE saw the shift of focus away from traditional theories of education as scientists started viewing distance learning as a separate field of learning. They are more effective since they explain the influence of technological advancements on the landscape of higher learning. However, this does not mean an absolute abandonment of the classical theories. An in-depth analysis has showed that, contemporary theories are still grounded in elements of traditional pedagogies. In a milieu dominated by constant changes in politics, economics, and technology and compounding research on learning approaches, it is evident that new opinions will continue emerging. The new concepts will affect variables related to education which include quality and student satisfaction. The focus of this research is on the challenge that is posed in the context of quality of education in Open and Distance Education (ODE) courses. Distance education presents a new and challenging field in education, as it is different from the traditional models of education. The conceptual framework of the present study reflects the concepts from the literature review, which illustrates how those concepts support the framework to establish evidence in supporting the need for the research question that will be investigated. Amongst the modern theories, the ones that have found much acceptance are Transactional Distance Theory, Student Attrition Theory and the Connectivism theory. This research is done within the theoretical framework provided by the Transactional Distance theory and Equivalency theory. Transactional Distance theory has relevance to ODE in a way that suits the purposes of this study. This study explores the challenges faced in providing ODE in Nigeria and the responses to these challenges. As such, the notions of quality in education, and other related issues are the integral part of this study. Transactional Distance theory is able to provide a middle approach between two extremes of behaviourist and cognitive theories of learning and humanists and constructivists theories of learning (Moore, 2013). The behaviourists and cognitive theories are applied to learning programmes that are highly structured and quasi-industrial; on the other hand, the constructivist theory is applied to programmes that see a relatively higher degree of dialogue between the learners with a supportive tutor (Moore, 2013). Transactional Distance theory is able to imbibe all degrees of structure, dialogue and autonomy that is seen in distance learning programmes. Transactional theory can provide a theoretical framework within which the quality and structure of the ODE courses in Nigeria can be assessed. Apart from that, the challenges to ODE and the responses to these challenges can be assessed. Mbwesa (2014) has noted that there is a need to overcome transactional distance in HE institutions in Africa and that many institutions have not managed to minimize transactional distance. The specific challenges in this respect is that of limited resources, challenge of conditioning teachers to instruct individuals in traditional and face-to-face learning, and problems of quality in HE institutions offering Dual Systems (Mbwesa, 2014). Equivalency theory stresses on the need to design online courses and programmes that do not imitate classroom teaching and learning, because identical learning or instructional situations for all students cannot be provided (Simonson, Smaldino, & Zvacek, 2014). Rather, Equivalency theory framework will provide that there should be equivalency in instruction which can be maintained even if the instructional design varies from one student to the other, or from one group of students to the others (Simonson, Smaldino, & Zvacek, 2014). The utility of the Equivalency theory for designing a theoretical framework for this study is that the Equivalency theory sees distance education as formal and institutionally based education, and approaches the needs of the students within this sector of education through interactive telecommunication systems that are used to connect learners, resources and instructors (Simonson, Smaldino, & Zvacek, 2014). The theoretical approach of Equivalency is based on the need to provide equivalent learning to those who are in different environments and not necessarily situated in traditional classroom learning system. The theory focuses on quality assurance to the students of distance learning at a level similar to traditional classroom teaching. The instructor has the duty to design the programme and learning events in a way that is able to reach the needs of the students irrespective of their learning environments (Anderson, 2016). The Equivalency theory is premised on the assumption that apart from the interactions between student-student, student-content, and student-teacher, there are three other possible interactions in context of distance learning, these being, teacher-content, teacher-teacher, and content-content (Anderson, 2016). This means that, if there is a high quality level of any one type of interaction, it is possible to produce a high quality learning experience (Anderson, 2016). There are studies that have used Equivalency theory to test the quality levels of online programmes (Miyazoe & Anderson, 2015; Street, Gilliland, McNeil, & Royal, 2015). Put in the context of the present study, the Equivalency theory can provide a framework for exploring whether the high quality of ODE programmes are achieved in Nigeria.

ODL and Technology

Various scholars have weighed in on ODL, a majority discussing the role of technology and how it can be maximised to enhance effective learning. Here, we review literature authored and co-authored by globally renowned authors on open and distance learning such as Professor Allison Littlejohn form University of Glasgow and Professor Agnes Kukulska-Hulme from Open University. In one piece of academic work, Littlejohn and colleagues explored how the contexts of learning has changed in terms of citizenship, social life, knowledge and nature of work and technology, as well as how the higher education sector has responded to the challenges that accompany those changes with regards to the taught and assessed learning capabilities, as well as how such capabilities can be supported. Under the topic “learning literacies for the digital age” Professor Allison Littlejohn and colleagues present a variety of evidence on the use of technology to facilitate ODL, and support their literature with other sources (Beetham et al, 2012). Based on the reviewed evidence, it emerges that when the right learning conditions are provided to ODL students, they can become more self-aware, evaluative, critical and capable of using technologies to achieve their learning objective. Besides, according to Beetham et al, (2012), learners can also develop their own wider and effective strategies of learning when they are provided with the right conditions, and this may occur when learners’ are also developed by providing them with authentic and digitally mediated contexts, and assisting them to manage conflicts emerging between different practice contexts. Selected findings of professor Allison Littlejohn and colleagues reveal that learning institutions fail to integrate learning and digital literacies in their strategies because they lack the ownership of those strategies at the institutional level (Beetham et al, 2012). Thus, according to Beetham et al, (2012), digital and learning literacies can be integrated in in the institutions’ learning strategies where the strategies give a direct attention to digital-age learning, integrates innovation as part of the learning program designs and assigns clear responsibilities to other strategies such as Quality, ICT, Employability, Leaning Resources and e-Learning. Thus, the literacy champion in ODEL institutions should have the capabilities of acting on both the academic and digital area of institutional education provision as well as working with the curriculum teams (Beetham et al, 2012). While enhancing learning and digital literacies within ODL institutions, Beetham et al, (2012) argues that institutions must anticipate for an uncertain future, especially the uncertainties caused factors such as the increase in contract-based self-employment that has contributed to a loss of confidence in formal educational qualifications (Beetham et al, 2012). Hence, according to Allison Littlejohn and colleagues Beetham et al, (2012), institutions, especially those focused on ODL, must be flexible and be ready to respond quickly to the demand for new digital capabilities by learners. The study by Beetham et al, (2012) found that practitioners maintained good practice in the provision of ICT, information literacy and academic literacy skills to their respective students. The study found that the staffs established their own forums, frameworks and cultures for professional practice sharing. Furthermore, the authors found that in most cases, the frameworks focused on the learners as individuals with their own needs and approaches to learning. However, the researchers identified a systematic problem whereby staffs could work in isolation from each other, as well as in isolation from academic staffs too. Nonetheless, the authors conclude that the when providing student’s digital and learning literacies, the staffs should assess and support the students whenever they engage in academic tasks, same way as they need to be equipped with tools and habits such as peer group support and reflection to facilitate their learning strategies. From time immemorial, librarians have been regarded for working with academic departments and offering support for literacies. However, a major issue is that whenever librarians promote and enhance the digital information literacy, they are perceived as having solved the digital learning problem (Beetham et al, 2012). However, the study by Allison Littlejohn and colleagues (Beetham et al, 2012) found that librarians provide very little support for digital literacy, including important aspects of reading different digital content and creative products of digital media. The study also found that librarians rarely communicate r share information as part of digital literacy or for the sake of communication itself. Yet, according to Beetham et al, (2012), learners require both of these as well as other digital abilities such as digital reputation and identity management capabilities, immersive and virtual world navigation, digitally assisted personal reflections and evaluation of learning experiences; to be successful. Apart from digital information literacy, globally renowned scholars on ODL have explored the use of technology in higher education and how it can be used as a tool for instruction in the higher education sector. Specifically Professor Agnes Kukulska-Hulme from Open University, under the topic “How should the higher education workforce adapt t advancements in technology fr teaching and learning” created extensive literature that are worth exploring. First, Professor Agnes Kukulska-Hulme argues that digital instructional skills are important in facilitating both traditional learning and ODL (Kukulska-Hulme, 2012). Next, the author presents an argument that universities and other higher learning institutions should adopt new external avenues that have an impact of the practice of teaching such as the technological development in mobile-based social media. Similar remarks are made by Beetham et al (2012), who asserts that social media has become popular tools of interaction in the society that have developed into de facto educational resources, especially because they are not only capable of providing online learning platforms but also offline resources that are downloadable and usable offline – at the learners’ convenience. Similarly, Kukulska-Hulme (2012) argues that the widespread use of social media platforms implies that the mobile networks and the resources they allow access to, are important part of learner’s daily lives that cannot be ignored. In the current study, therefore, it would be interesting to identify any use of social media platforms as mediums of learning by EDEL students. Professor Agnes Kukulska-Hulme further goes ahead to challenge higher education institutions to adopt innovative ways of enhancing their faculties and departments, especially in the wake of economic hardships that put pressure on learners to adopt cheaper leaning resources. Hence, drawing for other pieces of literature, Professor Agnes Kukulska-Hulme argues that higher learning institutions are faced with the challenge of identifying and implementing cost effective learning solutions capable of engaging faculty members to address the problem of maintaining a constant commitment to their professional development with respect to teaching and learning. According to Mclean et al (2008), a failure of faculty administrators do not make an effort in developing their own faculties, the teaching staff will not find the urge to direct their efforts towards the entire faculty’s success. This perspective implies that academic staff may not engage in professional development if it fails to provide them with personal benefit. However, the key issue that is of concern to Professor Agnes Kukulska-Hulme is focus. The author argues that whereas the main reason for faculty development should be to make teachers aware of the students’ needs and align their teaching practice to such needs, the needs of students in higher education may be a bit remote form that of faculties (Mclean et al 2008). To address this stalemate, academic staff can focus on social, and work-related personal technologies as a starting point for addressing the attitudinal barrier. As part of his arguments for faculty’s involvement in distance learning, Powell (2010) uses an analogy of putting faculty members in the position of ODEL students by providing an online workshop to teach them some skills on online learning. According to Professor Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, a similar model can be adopted for enhancing mobile learning. In fact, an earlier study by Fisher et al (2006) fund little research on how teachers can learn with digital technology, and abundant research on how they use technologies to teach or learn with technologies. However, Professor Agnes Kukulska-Hulme argues that the use of technologies to lean should not only focus on the experience of using them but also using them for long-term professional and personal development. Thus, the literature by Professor Agnes Kukulska-Hulme argues that when technologies are used to facilitate the learning process, it is also important to teach the users on how to use the technologies and how they can be used in teaching and learning. This argument is especially significant in evaluating how ODL institutions in Nigeria adopt technology for learning, and whether the users of these technologies have the basic skills to effectively use them for learning purposes.

Professor Agnes Kukulska-Hulme also gives attention to another important aspect of ODEL, namely mobile learning. In the topic of “An overview of mobile assisted language learning: From content delivery to supported collaboration and interaction,” Professor Agnes Kukulska-Hulme and Lesley Shield reviewed a series of publications focusing on how technological mobile devices can be used to support collaborative learning and enhance social contact. Furthermore, the authors explore the role of mobile learning in facilitating asynchronous and synchronous interaction within the context of ODL. Particularly, Kukulska-Hulme & Shield (2008) weigh in on the debate whether mobile learning can facilitate learners to access educational (especially for language learning materials) content anywhere and anytime. First, the authors observe how most literature materials have described content related mobile learning material as those that are delivered through websites of SMS. Secondly, they complain that most content related mobile learning devices do not enhance learner communication or interaction. Still on the subject of mobile assisted language learning, Kukulska-Hulme & Shield (2008) argue that researchers have still not achieved a full exploitation of portability and mobility when designing mobile assisted language learning activities, despite the fact that it is these features that justify the use of such mobile devices. In fact, according to Levy & Kennedy (2005), most researchers have ignored the capabilities of mobile learning devices to assist learning anywhere anytime. For example, as observed by Levy & Kennedy (2005), most of the learning SMS were sent to learners at specific days and times as opposed to giving learners the ability of accessing the content as and when they needed it. Some scholars have however made a case for low cost and less technical devices to support mobile assisted language learning. However, there is still a paucity of evidence on their efficacy and effectiveness in supporting mobile learning (Kukulska-Hulme & Shield, 2008). However, existing literature report the existence of mobile learning models where the mobile devices are used together with web-based tools to develop outcomes that can be shared by an audience not within their peer groups (Kukulska-Hulme & Shield, 2008). Nonetheless, an underlying observation within these pieces of literature is that mobile devices are important tools for distance learning because they introduce a new dimension in the learning process by allowing students to create, identify with, and share educational content. Studies exploring the design of mobile learning devices tend to evaluate the devices’ capability of facilitating education anywhere and anytime as part of a design approach. While some devices have been reported not to give learners an opportunity to interact, there is a paradigm shift towards giving the learners an opportunity to choose what to learn, where they want to learn and when they want to learn. In the present study, it would be interesting to identify the use of mobile learning devices and how effective they are in enhancing ODL in Nigeria. The study will evaluate whether the ODEL system in Nigeria adopts and adheres to progressive mobile learning devices that give the learners an opportunity to determine when, where and what they want to learn.

Distance learning in the World

Globally, the first DL program was advertised in 1728, when the Boston Gazette advertised the availability of weekly mailed lessons from “The teacher of the new method of Short Hand.” However, according to Kaplan et al. (2016), the first distance education with a modern sense of education was adopted in the 1840s by Sir Isaac Pitman who mailed transcribes texts on postcards and received transcriptions from his students for revision. Ideally, Pitman relied on the element of student feedback to develop his system of education (Honeyman & Miller, 1993). In 1840, Pitman’s system of distance learning received a boost when uniform postage rates were introduced in the UK. Pitman’s early beginnings were extremely successful, especially with the formation of the Phonographic Correspondence Society to formally establish the courses. Consequently, the Phonographic Society led to the formation of Sir Isaac Pitman Colleges across England (Tabor, 2007). Several other societies emerged globally, including the US’ Society to Encourage Studies at Home, which was formed in 1873. In 1858, the University of London became the first to offer distance learning courses when the External Program was established. According to Vaughan (2010), the justification for this innovation was the institution was non-denominational, and due to the prevailing religious rivalry at that time, there was an issue with the godless learning institution. In fact, the rivalry escalated to which institutions had the power to offer degrees and which ones did not (Holmberg, 2005). Fast forward to the 1960s, there was an influx of open universities, with the first one being formed under the leadership and supervision of the then British Prime Minister Harold Wilson (Moore et al., 2005). Afterwards, the model of open education was considered one of the most effective ways of accessing higher standard education, triggering the then UK’s minister of State for Education (Jennie Lee) to form an Open University committee for planning, consisting of television broadcasters, educationalists and university vice-chancellors. Ideally, according to Tabor (2007), the conceptualization and adoption of Open University marked the beginning of a correspondent education program, which later became an alternative form of learning t the traditional education. As a formal education institution, Open University has been at the forefront of developing new techniques for enhancing distance education. For instance, in 1971, Open University admitted a total of 25,000 students, being the first distance learning institution to admit what was considered ‘high number” of admissions (Moore et al., 2005). The adoption of DE was not only significantly displayed in the case of UK’s Open University, but also in other countries in Europe and the Americas. For instance, in 1970, Canada’s first Open University, Athabasca University, was opened based on similar systems of operations as that of the UK (Tabor, 2007). In fact, according to Holmberg (2005), the creation of Athabasca University inspired the formation of Spain’s National University of Distance Education (Moore et al., 2005), as well as the formation of Germany’s FernUniversitat in Hagen (Three Decades, 2010). For then, a variety of open global universities and higher learning institutions have emerged and adopted various education delivery technologies. Whereas some of the institutions require students to attend learning sessions at some local study centres, other open universities have grown to be international universities with more than 100,000 students (Littlejohn & Hood, 2017). The usefulness of ODL in conducting large-scale campaigns (e.g. HIC/AIDS awareness) is important in the context of continuous training and education. In fact, Vaughan (2010) observes that ODL has equally been useful in no-formal education at community levels and are increasingly gaining popularity. ODL programs offered to special groups such as women and the youth have achieved significant participation, and have enabled the reach of special groups who lack the opportunity to participate in such programs (Tabor, 2007). According to Kaplan et al. (2016), ODL allows the participants to lend themselves in understanding complex issues which require input from a variety of disciplines. Therefore distance education now seems to play two roles. On the one hand, a variety of single-mode open universities have admitted large numbers of students, while on the other hand, various traditional universities and higher learning institutions have begun to deliver their programs through distance learning modes. The exponentially growing technology has contributed to the trend of increased adoption of distance education mode. According to Vaughan (2010), distance learning can potentially generate new patterns of learning and teaching. Evidence by Robinson et al. (2012) reveals that distance learning has contributed to tremendous innovation in mainstream education and may have more impact outside the confines of education itself. Hence, in future, distance learning will be a significant component of future education and training systems. Considering that it is already experiencing high acceptance in mainstream education, it will become a fundamental part of mainstream education in the near future and beyond. In the present study, we explore the literature on various issues regarding distance learning systems and how they can be used to address various challenges in the education system.

The Modes of ODL

Asynchronous mode of ODL

Existing literature has identified two modes in which DE can be delivered, namely asynchronous and synchronous modes. According to Kaplan et al. (2016), the asynchronous mode of delivering DE is thought to be a bit complex because they are considered as an essential element for the correct delivery of education. With this view, Vaughan (2010) postulates that asynchronous modes of DE require the installation and programming of highly customised curriculum based on the learners’ special needs. Hence, in this mode of DE, the learner needs to consider all the educational matters as extremely delicate, making the database compilation quite complex (Tabor, 2007). Furthermore, in the asynchronous mode of DE, the instructors and students might experience quite a few issues with regards to data transfer and management. All the discussions asynchronously held discussions are stored in a special database that keeps each participant logged in (Tabor, 2007). Robinson et al. (2012) also observe that while developing an effective asynchronous mode, the structure of the database should carefully be designed so that all participants’ raw information is held with integrity.

Synchronous Mode of ODL

The issues involved in the synchronous mode of DE are completely different from those in asynchronous modes. Ideally, according to Robinson et al. (2012), the components of synchronous modes are stuck together, and users may experience logging issues. Besides, according to Tabor (2007), the system developers must provide participants with logging and file transfer communication capabilities. The logging capabilities have to be explicit, especially in the case of what concerns the communicating members. The system also requires other capabilities such as meeting scheduling, instructor’s updatable announcements, and workflow meetings.

2.5 Distance Learning in Africa

The landscape of distance learning in Africa is quickly developing. Ogunleye (2013, p. 53) states that at the beginning of the 21st century, “more than 140 public and private institutions provided tertiary distance education services”. This number has been progressively developing as elements of information and telecommunication technology receive high usage. The University of South Africa pioneered the element of distance education in the continent in the mid-20th century and became among the leading institutions in the continent (Msweli, 2012). Other countries within Africa, such as Kenya, Cameroon, and Botswana, were also documented to offer distance learning in the early 60’s while still under colonial rule (Ogunleye, 2013). After the post-colonial period, most African countries adopted the element of the DE. Nevertheless, the level of use of distance learning in Africa, mostly comprised of developing countries, does not surpass that of Western and European countries with developed economies (Jimoh, 2013). African authors assert that the development of distance education in Africa was particularly boosted by the creation of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) in 1987. This association was conceptualised by the heads of the Commonwealth to explore technology and insights on ODE by availing the necessary factual know-how, training, and pilot testing of facilities for their citizens. Nnazor (2005) reveals that COL aided in the development of staff, training, creation of policies, knowledge management, collaborative frameworks, technological assistance and application of student support systems in the areas of continuing and professional, non-formal, basic and post-basic as well as higher education in the member countries (Ogunleye, 2013). Ogunleye (2013) labels the development of the African Virtual University (AVU) in 1997 as one of the best models of distance education in Africa before the 21st century. It utilised technological modes of delivery to amplify the accessibility of educational services at affordable costs, created lasting partnerships with other institutions and offered quality education in the Sub-Saharan part of Africa. Currently, the adoption of technology for ODL in Africa has been overwhelming. Msweli (2012) asserts that the dependence on education for sustainable growth and development in Africa has been the main driver. Additionally, authors have attributed it to the shift from inefficient traditional education systems to contemporary ones that allow for increased access to HE. “The ever-continuing growth in Nigeria’s population, the attendant escalating demand for education at all levels, the difficulty of re-sourcing education through the traditional means of face-to-face classroom bound mode, and the compelling need to provide education for all (EFA) irrespective of environmental, social or cultural circumstances have meant that the country must of necessity find the appropriate and cost effective means to respond adequately to the huge unmet demand for education” (Adu, et al., 2013, p. 204) There has been an exponential increase in higher learning institutions in the region, a trend that has raised numerous concerns concerning quality assurance and the employability of the graduates produced from the systems. However, due to the heterogeneity of the countries’ administrations and operations, it is not possible to make accurate generalised assumptions about the continent as a whole.

2.6 Distance Learning in Nigeria

Nigeria is a Western Africa country with one of the highest populations in the world; with over 180 million individuals as at July 2015 (Central Intelligence Agency, 2016). In a review of the literature, there is consensus on the advent of DE in Nigeria that it emanated from correspondence education which labels by James C. Taylor, (2001, p. 2) as a first generation of ODE. According to him “distance education operations have evolved through four generations: first, the Correspondence Model based on print technology; second, the Multimedia Model based on print, audio and video technologies; third, the Tele-learning Model, based on applications of telecommunications technologies to provide opportunities for synchronous communication; and fourth, the Flexible Learning Model based on online delivery via the Internet” (p. 2). Ayo (2014, p. 63) states that “the history of Distance Education in Nigeria dates back to 1887 with the practice of correspondence education as a means of preparing candidates for the General Certificate in Education, a pre-requisite for the London Matriculation Examination”. Jimoh (2013) asserts that distance learning in the country began in its colonial time when colonialists from the United Kingdom used correspondence colleges back in their country to provide a series of intermediate to advanced training to bright locals. This occurred during the period between the 1950’s and the 1960’s with the Pitmans Institute, Wolsey Hall, and Rapid Result College being some of the first correspondence institutions to offer distance learning (Ogunleye, 2013). In the 70s, the University of Ibadan began offering correspondence erudition and part-time programmes. An offering of the same programmes by the National Open University of Nigeria then followed. In addition, other institutions such as ABU Zaria, UNILAG among others also offered distance programmes (Yusuf, 2006, Awe 2012). Many authors have also mentioned the National Teachers Institute (NTI) Kaduna, established in the 1970s, as DL institution purposely developed to upgrade teachers’ qualification in the country. “NTI was founded in 1976 by the Nigerian Federal Government to produce qualified teachers needed to meet the requirements of the then Universal Primary Education (UPE)” (Ojo & Olakulehin, 2006, P. 3). In the 80s, a few colleges and universities in the country introduced sandwich programmes that catered for needs of adult education across the spectrum. Moreover, they encouraged literacy in women who were often discriminated (Jimoh, 2013). Despite the early introduction ODL in Nigeria (1983), it only came into use in 2001 (Jimoh, 2013). After the opening of the National Open University in 1983, it was closed in the following year following inefficiencies in postal services, derisory qualified manpower to run study centres, extraordinary budgets of infrastructural amenities and high prospects of examination misconducts amongst learners and educators (Ogunleye, 2013). In this event, it was merged with the University of Abuja. The next decade presented an era of failed distance educational programmes in the country which were identified and closed by the country’s chief regulatory body, the National Universities Commission (NUC); the closures were primarily attributed to several of issues (Jimoh, 2013). Ogbugu (2013) agreed with Jimoh (2013) stated that policy matters in the country were full to blame in Nigeria’s lag in higher education in the few years before the 21st century. In her study to explore policy issues in higher education in the country, the researcher highlighted that there were problems in matching the educational programmes to the needs of the Nigerian job market. The challenge was augmented by a shortage of staff as well as the lack of facilities to create a quality learning environment (Ogbogu Christiana, 2013). The challenges were not limited to Nigeria; a myriad of other Africa countries, which include Zimbabwe (Musingafi, et al., 2015, p. 59); Kenya (Mayeku & Florence, 2011, p. 362); and South Africa (Msweli, 2012, p. 99), have seen a fair share of policy challenges. On the first day of October 2002, the Obasanjo regime reinstated the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), a dedicated university for open and distance learning education for man citizens who could not get the chance to study the familiar face to face study. There were also about 6 or more Dual Mode Universities approved by NUC to provide ODE (Ogunleye, 2013). According to Ogunleye (2013), the university’s mission was to provide functional, cost-effective, flexible learning which adds life-long value to education for all who seek knowledge (NOUN, 2014). This was accomplished through the printed instructional materials, audio-visual means and electronic transmission of materials. As at 2013, NOUN had established major learning centres in each of Nigeria’s geopolitical zones (Jimoh, 2013).

2.6.1 Challenges Facing ODE in Nigeria

Since the integration of distance learning in Africa, there have been numerous contributions concerning the topic. The higher education sector in Nigeria as one of the most functional in Africa has received increased interest from the growing number of elite citizens and expatriates of the country (Adepoju & Akinola, 2007). As mentioned earlier, differences in legal, economic, and political structures within nations in the African continent have highlighted the need to individually study each country’s problem contextually. Challenges towards access of HE should be considered since “it is becoming increasingly limiting for anyone to function in modern society without a good measure of education” (Nnazor, 2005, p. 532). Quality assurance, the focus of this paper, constitutes the primary challenge (Ogunleye, 2013; Biao, 2012). In the course of the literature review, it is noted that a majority of authors express their concern about the student’s ability to study on their own and if the learning is delivered in a meaningful and interactive manner. The concern is felt internationally; according to the Quality Assurance Agency of the UK, the need for institutions to meet the set standards is imperative for all stakeholders. In this sense, researchers in Nigeria have proposed numerous methods of tackling quality assurance; however, their efforts are limited by the lack of consensus among themselves and the international community (Asiyai, 2013). According to a British Council report on Africa’s job crisis, there is a lack of robust research and evidence on which to base policies (British Council, 2014). This includes information such as numerical information involving to higher education admission, quality and outcomes, and contextual data from surveys or censuses (British Council, 2014). Secondly, there exists a high rate of graduate unemployment in the country. “It is widely recognised that long-term economic growth can only be achieved through investment in a highly skilled workforce. In the context of the knowledge economy, higher education has become particularly critical in this regard” (British Council, 2014, p. 2). As at 2014, there was a graduate unemployment rate of 23.1 percent in Nigeria for those holding bachelors’ degrees (British Council, 2014). The challenge is not limited to Nigeria. On average, a Kenyan university graduate takes up to five years to secure a job (British Council, 2014). The British Council labels this as a huge source of disappointment to the learning institutions, sponsors, and students themselves. Universities fail to address the skills gap in an efficient manner, while the employment sector lacks knowledge on the experience, qualifications, and values that graduates possess (British Council, 2014; Pitan & Adedeji, 2012). Nigeria, as a developing country gas faced numerous challenges in articulating progressive policies in the sector of open and distance learning. Ogbogu (2013) conducted a study focusing on policy issues and their role in ensuring sustainability in higher education systems and institutions The author narrated that the dominant challenges comprise mounting student numbers without a proportionate proliferation in funding, poor management of institutions and programmes, sexual inequality as well as poor teaching and research amenities (Christiana, 2013). These have affected the progress of many ODL programmes. “Many have reverted to traditional face-to-face teaching. These practices have serious limitations in the realisation of the ODE core objective of meeting the learning needs of all categories of people irrespective of their location per time” (Ayo, et al., 2014, p. 67). Ayo’s and Ogbobu’s research is consistent with findings by Jimoh (2013), who performed an in-depth analysis of the problems of Open Distance Learning in Nigeria. Jimoh found out that the main problems facing distance-learning education in Nigeria included inadequate funding, power supply, lack of skills in designing course materials, poverty and poor ICT penetration, internet connectivity, low tele-density and school curriculum. Other authors have categorised the challenges faced by ODL students into various forms. Research in the late 20th century carried out by Cross (1981) identified three types of challenges which included institutional, situational and dispositional challenges. From the author’s perspectives, the institutional challenges constituted the lack of proper instruction and logistics in the educational system. Situational challenges are comprised of those responsibilities at home or work that hinder study time for a student in his/her term of erudition. Dispositional challenges are the hurdles that are intrinsic and relate to the student’s feelings and attitudes towards various feelings (Cross, 1981). With time, more ways of looking at the challenges in education systems were devised. Bhalalusesa (1998) fostered the use of a method that grouped learners’ challenges into individual-related, institutional and instructional challenges. Individual -related challenges emanate from a host of factors that include the variations in online students and their individual characteristics. Even in traditional learning, the learning rates and work-rate is not analogous. Dynamics such as age variations and attitudes among a host of other factors are bound to vary at a personal level. Musingafi et al (2015), using the student attrition theory as their framework, investigated several elements affecting individual academic persistence in ODL contexts in Zimbabwe. In his findings, the author identified challenges in the use of new technology as the dominant problem with most of the population having not prior computer knowledge and access. The findings can be extrapolated to Nigeria; most authors in the country have constantly highlighted the gaps in technological advancement in rural Nigeria (Biao, 2012). ICT is the cornerstone of the success of ODL and is not an optional part of the success of ODL programmes (Ajadi, et al., 2008). Individual challenges also include financial burdens faced by students due to the host of responsibilities faced by adult ODL students as well as weak financial assistance programmes in ODL institutions. Moreover, students have often dissented the home environment as a favourable learning environment.

Institutional related challenges are those that emanate from a lack of fit in the variables of the teaching environment (Adu, et al., 2013). The institution acts as the disposal centre for knowledge and forms one of the most important inputs in open and distance learning. To begin with, the increasing number of ODL students in Nigeria’s very high population has led to an overuse of facilities with few resources allocated to the sector. Colleges have experienced delays in the dispatch of study materials, access to school services, poor feedback on critical inquiries and poor student support (Awe, 2012). The inefficiencies in the system have in the past forced students to spend additional funds in order to complete their modules. More specifically, Musingafi et al. (2015) state that delayed study materials may affect learners academically, psychologically, and financially (Msweli, 2012). This has wider implication in the quality of education of the students. According to a study by Asiyai (2015), inadequate funding in institutions makes the learning environment inhabitable. Additionally, it is the main reason why HE institutions are unable to afford build infrastructure, resources and remain debtless in their operations. Elimination of institutional challenges can be instituted by proper policy measures which focus on the delivery of the value promised. Despite the reluctance of the Nigerian government, some efforts to reconstitute solid funding strategies are currently underway (Asiyai, 2013). Instructional challenges for students include the barriers to effective learning in the erudition process. Musingafi et al. (2015) cited that a majority of students in ODL settings in the African context are faced with the problems of ineffective feedback, lack of support from instructors, lack of clear outlines, and poor course planning among other problems. “Instructional related challenges were established as ineffective and delayed feedback of students’ assignments and examinations results, lost scripts and unrecorded grades. These instructional related challenges contributed negatively to students’ learning because students would find it difficult to move on to new content” (Musingafi, et al., 2015, p. 65). As documented by the British Council (2013), the lack of favourable instructional facilities and unqualified lecturers in ODL in Africa has been a major concern for prospective employers. Teachers are the main asset in any education facility because they facilitate the transfer of knowledge from generation to generation. In a country plagued with low socio-economic development and in less-developed region, it is essential to foster education for positive social change (Asiyai, 2013). In some universities, shortages in instructors have led to delays in accreditation of major cases thus causing losses for stakeholders in the long-run. Even from a layman’s point of view, reluctance in institutional instructions is a significant barrier in promoting hardship in the ODL process. Curriculum designs in Nigerian institutions promote the loss of materials such as scripts through ineffective postal services and lead to the discomfort and frustration of many students in the system (Ibijola, 2015). Additionally, ODL programmes are not ideal for all programmes. Courses that require additional practical experiences such laboratory practice cost create additional costs for students and have become a major point of concern (Musingafi, et al., 2015). Problems facing students in school can further be classified as epistemological, situational, cultural-related, social, technical, pedagogical, psychological and philosophical challenges (Musingafi, et al., 2015). However, most authors have adopted the approach which includes individual, instructional and institutional challenges for the ease in which it integrates with contemporary theories of education. Additionally, simple categorisation allows for the generalisation of data and austerity in analysis of information, especially in developing countries. Nevertheless, it is important to the impact of contextual challenges such as cultural roles in the society. From a feminist perspective, cultural roles of women are a challenge to female students as they advance their education in institutions of higher learning (Adu, et al., 2013, p. 206). Although the challenge is lesser in ODL than residential settings, it can still be accounted for as a problem faced by students in HE institutions. Policy changes remain at the heart of change in the country’s intricate educational system. In the years, scientists have researched about the suitability of systems in Nigeria. Christiana (2013), as one of these researchers, asserts that although the state of ODE in Nigeria is fairly good, there are severe policy issues that mainly result from less research in the area. “Policy issues in the administration of higher educational institutions in Nigeria are embedded in the National policy on Education” (Christiana, 2013, p. 32). Poor policy implementation has been a major impediment not only for ODE but conventional school-based education. In a study by Asiyai (2013), poor policy is a major factor in the abysmal performance in quality among graduates of HE after graduation. Although there may be mechanisms to curb underhand practices such as cheating, factors such as misuse of public office, underfunding by the national government and teaching ineffectiveness become an issue of great concern. The wide range of subjective interpretations of challenges facing ODE from numerous authors make it rather difficult to offer a standardised list of problems in Nigeria’s ODE system. Despite this limitation, the concept of open and distance learning in the contemporary society cannot be downplayed. It aims at increasing the accessibility, equity, and affordability of education. Huge gaps in the literature about the ODL in Africa have created a challenge in designing policy procedures that will ensure sustainability of the sector in the coming years. However, there are active efforts by researchers to perform studies aiming at designing viable methods to address the challenges facing the industry of higher education in Nigeria.

2.6.2 Efforts made by HE and QAS providers to overcome the challenges in higher education

Since there are many challenges which are to be faced by Nigerians while accessing higher education, distance education has emerged as one of the best solution measures. Jegede (2003) argued that the birth of distance education in Nigeria is the result of Nigerians struggle to achieve qualification through higher education for social and occupational movement. A broad history of ODE in Nigeria dates back to the correspondence education which has been used as a medium of preparing candidates for the General Certificate in Education, a requirement for the London Matriculation Examination. Igwe (2012) stated that, Nigerians were the first international students to appear in the University of London Matriculation Examinations through correspondence and without any formal connections with the educational institution. The University of Lagos constitutes a properly defined programme which fairly resembles a distance education unit. Its Correspondence and Open Studies Unit (COSU) has been formed so that the university could provide course and other materials to large number of learners which was not possible through regular classroom based method. But even though the university is determined to offer both on-campus and off-campus programme to the wide range of learners, the university has not been efficient enough to provide benefits of evening course to the large number of learners. Only a few proportions of the learners have been benefitted from the evening course offered by the university. In response to the challenges prevalent in traditional classroom based education system, the National Institute of Teachers (NIT) has been established in 1976 as a single mode experiment with distance learning in Nigeria (Oguntimehin, 2010). This is the effort made by the Nigerian Government for using distance education medium in order to upgrade and improve the quality of the teachers in Nigeria. NIT is considered to be the first independent institution focusing solely on distance education to improve unqualified teachers in Nigeria and over the period of eight years, the institute contributed a lot for the growth of the teachers (Ojo & Olakulehin 2006). Similarly, the establishment of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in 2002 is considered as a landmark development in ODE system. This university provides higher education to large number of learners who were compelled to leave their study in midway due to other family commitments and financial problems. NOUN offers around 101 undergraduate, diploma, post graduate and sub-degree certificate programmes through Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Management Science, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Education and it has two special centers. Since its establishment, NOUN has been playing significant role for increasing access to HE and promoting distance education in Nigeria (NOUN, 2017).

2.7 Quality Assurance in Higher Education

Globalization had a critical impact on various social and cultural aspects of the 21st century. There have been advancements in interactions between societies and culture via communication technology that has fostered their mobility (Hamdatu, Siddiek & Al-Alyan., 2013; Nicholson, 2011). This interaction has resulted in a very competitive global environment that established various standards to ensure quality. Henard & Leprince-Ringuet (2008) also highlighted that quality in HE is continuously facing the challenges of augmented geographical and social diversity, demand in currency value and morphing technological landscape (Henard & Leprince-Ringuet, 2008). HE has also been labelled “as a rite of passage in the contemporary society” (Arsovski, 2007, p. 49). Moreover, advanced human capital has become a vital component in economic development (Sadler, 2012, p. 201). In this regard, it is imperative to have an ingrained understanding of the concept. Moreover, stakeholders must be aware of the various practices and issues that compromise standards (Jimoh, 2013, p. 1). In this section of the research proposal, the researcher will provide definitions the several terms relating to quality and give a review of its role in conventional and open distance education.

2.7.1 Defining Quality

Quality is an overarching theme that has received numerous analyses and definitions from experts across multiple fields. In most descriptions, authors have related quality to some unique characteristics (Nicholson, 2011). To begin with, Harvey & Knight (1996) asserted that, quality in educational literature was defined by a set of five meanings. The first views quality as exceptional, which interprets quality as something having very high standards. Secondly, quality is perceived as fitness for purpose; this labels the quality of a service of product on the degree to which it serves its intended need. Thirdly, quality is portrayed as perfection. This implies that processes should not be defective and adhere to quality culture. Fourth, quality is perceived as value for money. This is regarded as the return on expenditure investment, usually linked to responsibility. Finally, quality is viewed as transformation. In this regard, quality is defined as a procedure of qualitative change with the main aim of adding value to learners and giving them empowerment (Harvey & Knight, 1996; Nicholson, 2011). The final meaning accepts the quality is a critical factor in higher education. Moreover, Bogue (1998) aligned another definition, which takes three viewpoints of quality collective of institutions of higher education. Firstly, quality is often limited in supply; this means that not all institutions have the same quality ranking (Bogue, 1998). Secondly, quality is within mission; it alludes with Harvey & Knight’s (1996) ‘fitness for purpose’. It is uncommon to find higher learning institutions without quality in their mission statements. Finally, quality common to institutions is value added in nature (Bogue, 1998). The definition implies that quality applies to the results often displayed regarding the students’ personal development and knowledge as well as the staff’s pedagogical and scholarly abilities. Ogunleye (2013, p. 49) quotes Uvah (2005), who described quality as a multidimensional concept that encompasses all activities and functions of a higher learning institution that include, equipment, teaching, programme design, scholarship, students, buildings, facilities, services to the community and the academic environment. This definition labels quality as a concept that is on various factors such as the visions, goals, staff expertise, admission standards, learning environment, as well as employability (Ogunleye, 2013). A comparison of the definitions above reveals three respective meanings: quality as exceptional (limited supply), quality as fitness for a purpose (within the mission) and quality as transformation (value-added) (Nicholson, 2011). The definitions are given by Harvey & Knight (1996) and Bogue (1998), do not deviate significantly from the earlier proposed meanings in the field of total quality management in business that described quality as excellence. However, they were affected by the advent of performance oriented and result- based methodologies that focused on the identity of skills and aptitudes gained in higher education systems (Woodhouse, 2013). Ogunleye’s definition reveals and integrated function that involves numerous processes to meet specific criteria. Although scholars came up with some different working definitions regarding quality, they never came to an agreement about an all-encompassing meaning. Many argued that the definitions do not suit the educational contexts since they were borrowed from industry and business (Bogue, 1998; Silman, et al., 2012). Nicholson (2011) argued that a single perspective of quality ought not to be illustrative of the diverse views held by stakeholders. The author illustrates further by saying that while students are likely to interpret quality by fitness for purpose, faculty members are likely to judge quality regarding the skills and aptitudes, productivity, courses offered and publications among a myriad of indicators (Nicholson, 2011). In this regard, scholars suggested that the only viable definition of quality would be a conglomeration of the meanings already put forward, thus rebuffing the possibility of a single definition of the concept (Harvey & Knight, 1996; Bogue, 1998). Therefore, this viewpoint of quality in education has remained relatively unchanged over the last two decades. Although ‘fitness for purpose’ is viewed as the most viable definition of quality, numerous higher learning institutions have integrated the concept as a multi-dimensional notion with a variety of connotations. The ISO defines quality as “a three-part process: monitoring the acceptability of the scheduled quality procedures in relation to the established objectives, the conformity of the actual quality activities with the plans, and the effectiveness of the activities in achieving the stated objectives” (International Standards Office (ISO), 2009, p. 2). The lack of access to quality education, especially in higher learning institutions, has been a major cause of concern Jimoh (2013, p. 1) cites the serious struggles facing Nigeria as it tries to meet the needs of millions of its populations in need of quality education. Some of the stakeholders in Nigeria have expressed their trepidation about a seeming dwindling in the quality of HE system, both in the education procedure and the graduates (Ibijola, 2014). According to a report by the British Council (2014, p. 3), employers in Africa have criticised the low level of applicability of skills taught in higher learning institutions. As online education takes prominence, experts are worried that the concerned institutional administrators have not enforced measures to ensure quality (Pitan & Adedeji, 2012, p. 94). Moreover, According to Ibojola (2015) asserts that some of the stakeholders in Nigeria have voiced their apprehension about a perceived weakening in the quality of higher education system, both in the process and the students/graduates.

Nigeria, in common with the majority of developing countries is facing all these challenges and barriers to ODE. These issues are not limited to Nigeria but they seem to be the experience of most of the ODE providers in African countries. However, most writers have used the words challenges and barriers synonymously; although barriers have more negative connotations while challenges can be perceived as an opportunities to excel. Owoeye (2004) in his research observed that there was a lack of credible policy of Quality Assurance Systems (QAS) in ODE institutions in Nigeria. This is part of a concern about the programmes. Additionally, Ojo & Olakulehin (2006) have shown that distance education has been negatively associated with many issues; therefore, it has been viewed as of low quality and poor standard. Yusuf (2006) observed that in Nigeria basic ICT infrastructures are inadequate. Awe (2012) reported that, students in ODE providers have identified inadequate ICT facilities and ICT support staff as barriers to distance learning. Okebukola (2009) observed ODE delivery suffering from “erratic power supply, poor reading culture among the youths, teaching of practical subjects not feasible, inadequacy of trained tendencies to run the system, perception of the public of inferior status of ODE certificates. The British Council (2014), which constituted one of the most recent evaluators of the African ODL in HE instructions, asserted that the quality of education acted as a hindrance towards the full actualisation of Africa’s economy. Its claims have been backed by international organisations such as the UNESCO, which identifies education and literacy as the route towards economic success. Apparently, although most African nations have toiled to provide a superfluity of learning opportunities, they have not done enough to ensure that ODL institutions meet their originally intended purposes.

2.7.2 Quality Assurance

Quality assurance (QA) is a function of quality with some varying definitions. These varying meanings occur from the different nature of the meanings presented for the term ‘quality’ (Woodhouse, 2013, p. 4). Authors adopting various meanings of the phrase have come up with a variety of definitions to describe QA. According to Woodhouse (2013, p. 4), quality assurance is a function, which indicates the actions, attitudes policies, and procedures that are vital to ensure that quality is maintained and enhanced. This definition by Woodhouse depicts his understanding of quality as ‘fitness for purpose’. The author further asserts that quality assurance is intended to ensure improvement and accountability. Ogunleye (2013, p. 50) labels quality assurance as a systematic review of the procedures of an institution to see if standards are being met, maintained and enhanced, Although shallow, the definition gives an overview of the process and depicts an element of ensuring consistency in the process. With these views in mind, scholars achieved consensus that quality lays in between the internal and external processes of an organisation (Nicholson, 2011, p. 4). Therefore, quality assurance is regarded as a philosophy that guides the relationship between the external requests for augmented accountability as well as the organisation’s internal efforts to address the calls. In literature related to quality assurance, it is not rare to see the expressions ‘quality,' ‘accountability,' and ‘assessment,' used interchangeably (Nicholson, 2011). According to Woodhouse (2013, p. 4), the terms are not synonymous, and all carry different meanings. The author defines accountability as a process that requires metrics or quality measures that may also be referred to as inputs and outputs. The processes of assessment, audit and accreditation are used to collect data to give the substantiation of accountability in the higher education context. Assessment refers to the measurement of quality outputs. As mentioned earlier, it is related closely to audit; an activity that focuses on the viability of the intended quality measures, checks the conformity of intended procedures to the established aims, and verifies the value of various activities in accomplishing set objectives (Woodhouse, 2013, p. 4). Accreditation delineates if a programme or institution meets the set standards of quality through an analysis of several components that include the institution’s processes, resources, and mission (Allais, 2009, p. 9). Orthodoxly, “accreditation denotes the process or outcome of evaluating whether something, for example, an institution or programme, qualifies for a certain status” (Woodhouse, 2013, p. 2).

2.7.2.1 Approaches to Quality Assurance

Over the years, governments have strived to ensure quality in education institutions. In the late 80s, the US government pioneered quality assurance and control methods due to concerns about declining levels of educational standards (Dill, 2007). As a result of these declining standards, several studies to shape education policy were carried out. After that, the outcomes of the studies were reinforced in the majority of the States, and other nations outside the US followed (Woodhouse, 2013, p. 4). Although the systems in place differed significantly, they followed a set of standard quality assurance approaches, which were administered either by professional bodies, states or by the market (Todorut, 2013, p. 1106; Dill, 2007, p. 2). With time, the approaches became more rooted in audit, assessment, and accreditation to maintain quality in higher education. Woodhouse (2013) outlined some common approaches to quality assurance in higher education that incorporate the three components mentioned above. These include external quality monitoring /Review (EQM/EQR), Assessment-and-Outcomes Movement, Total Quality Management (TQM) as well as accountability and performance indicator reports (Woodhouse, 2013, p. 5). The three are the most utilized approaches to quality assurance and are a critical part of this literature review.

External Quality Monitoring (EQM)

External Quality Monitoring (EQM) is a vital component of higher education systems in The United States, Asia, Europe, and Canada (Nicholson, 2011, p. 10). It is also known as delegated accountability and often paired with the measurement of outcomes in ensuring quality. According to Arsovski (2007, p. 49), initiatives in streamlining the philosophy of quality in higher education, begun in the 80s and 90s. In the following years, individuals and agencies outside higher education institutions embarked on carrying out quality-related evaluations, such as accreditation at programme and institute levels, assessment of qualities in research and teaching, review of institutional processes as well as regulation of standards (Arsovski, 2007, p. 51). Woodhouse (2011, p. 4 & 5) states that the increased attention to QA since the beginning of the 21st century has mostly been directive of governments due to various reasons. National regimes have the role of ensuring that institutions offer proper service to the society in doing their roles to the expectations of their main stakeholders (Allais, 2009, p. 15). Governments have launched External Quality Agencies (EQAs) that ensure that institutions of higher education are responsible for their quality. In this regard, they foster the development of internal and external QA (IQA and EQA) units and systems (Woodhouse, 2013). IQA systems help personnel to scrutinise and enhance their processes. However, researchers have disagreed upon the relationship between IQA and EQA (Woodhouse, 2013, p. 5). In practice, the standard levels of the IQA should be higher than those of the EQA; otherwise, a situation where IQA and EQA standards are too close could translate to an unhelpful and bureaucratic initiative (Woodhouse, 2013, p. 5).

The Assessment-and-Outcomes Movement

The Assessment-and-Outcomes Movement advocated for the establishment of evidence-based performance systems and focus on value addition. Ewell (2009, p. 5) asserts that the movement began in the US during the 1980s and is still in existence today. It was kick-started by an amalgamation of efforts in curriculum reforms that advocated for powerful pedagogies, curricular lucidity, and aptitude about various learner experiences and outcomes. Moreover, the movement was motivated by the US’ decisions to institute some measures and evaluations to determine the return on investment. The movement created the rift between the use of assessment for internal improvement and accountability, a discourse that continues to dominate contemporary higher education, especially faculty members. Nevertheless, the tension has significantly reduced as stakeholders gradually embrace assessment as a normal part of quality assurance in higher learning institutions.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

The concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) emanated in the middle 20th century in the quality revolution. It is based on continuous quality improvement that was based on intense research in the field of achieving the optimal production levels, efficiency in production and the best methods to ensure effective carrying out of industrial job processes (Besterfield, et al., 2011). In the 80s and 90s, TQM processes were then adopted by other service institutions such as the education, healthcare, banking and administrative sectors. Total quality management involves models based on education, involve the tenets of teamwork, enhanced leadership, focus on client needs, the involvement of employees, continuous improvement, and preparation (Todorut, 2013, p. 1105). In the pedagogy, the TQM process has received several definitions. Todorut (2013, p. 1105) quotes Stanciu (2003) in his definition of TQM as the “means of management of all the components of an organisation, which range from processes to methodologies, and all personnel involved in the improvement or damage of a service or product” (Todorut, 2013, p. 1106). In'airat & Al-Kassem (2014, p. 296) also quote Stanciu’s definition of TQM; asserting that its main objective is to create an environment in which all resources are utilized expertly to avail the level of quality that an organisation requires in the 21st century. The masters of TQM; Deming, Crosby, and Juran; gave various meanings of TQM (In'airat & Al-Kassem, 2014, p. 297) (Figure 1).

Numerous authors cite the complexity surrounding the integration of TQM strategies institutions. To begin with, Todorut (2013) cites the intricacy involved in conforming organisational culture to fit towards the elements of TQM. Conservative cultures tend to reject unique approaches (Todorut, 2013, p. 1107). Therefore, the first step towards integrating TQM in universities is the elimination of cultural barriers. Moreover, antagonists have aimed towards the interference of TQM on academic freedoms, administrative control and less risky approaches that confine variety and the progression of management in opposition to positive changes in management, progressive culture, dynamic standards, fulfilled student outcomes and improved scheduling. Nevertheless, perspectives regarding TQM vary across the various stakeholders in the sector of higher education. In this regard, there exists no standard method to ascertain that some stakeholders have asserted hegemony over others.

2.7.3 Need for Quality Assurance in Higher Education

So far, the review has focused on defining the elements of quality and quality assurance. It is vital to note down the necessity of ensuring quality in higher education. Although it may seem like an obvious topic, there are numerous theoretical and practical underpinnings that foster quality in higher education. Therefore, this section will explore some of the main reasons why higher education institutions should worry about quality in education. Firstly, there has been burgeoning competition among schools. Sudha (2013, p. 124) attributed the trend to globalisation, which has different definitions in different fields. However, globalisation can be summarized as economic, political, sociocultural, and technological changes at a global scale. It is an intricate process that has had far-reaching consequences in the operations of various entities; including educational institutions. Globalisation, characterized by improved communication technology, has opened up borders hence increased the demand for education among students worldwide (Msweli, 2012). “Campus-based universities in many countries cannot cope with the numbers hoping to attend to gain qualifications for their employment or are needed for the economic development of the country; and many potential students in all sectors are not able to attend a campus/school regularly, because they are employed, carers, girls or women (in some cultures), have difficulties with access (e.g. some disabled students) or are otherwise unavailable for conventional term times” (Gaskell & Mills, 2014, pp. 196,197). In this new regime, funds are highly significant for institutions to run flawlessly. Therefore, educational institutions have sought to increase their quality to gain competitive advantage. Secondly, educational institutions need to achieve customer satisfaction. Harvey & Knight (1998) among authors mainly stress this in their definition of quality as “fitness for purpose.' Bogue (1996) also describe this as ‘within mission.” In TQM, customer satisfaction is achieved when all resources are utilized expertly to avail the level of quality that an organisation requires in the 21st century (Todorut, 2013, p. 1105). Educational institutions are conscious now more than ever in an era where customers are aware of their rights and aim at maximising the value of the resources they spend on educational services (Sudha, 2013, p. 124). They are calling for ‘quality’ in teaching processes and skill impartment so that the learning outcomes can be useful in meeting the market needs. Thirdly, higher education institutions have standards to maintain (Sudha, 2013, p. 124). The maintenance of standards is best exemplified in the approaches to quality assurance. Higher learning institutions adhere to a set of internal and external standards that must be maintained. The dynamism of the modern environment presents the need to set new standards continuously to maintain competitive advantage (Woodhouse, 2013, p. 6). Most of these shifts in standards are progressive in nature hence lead to an improvement in quality in the institution’s processes. Fourth, quality must be maintained for accountability. Educational institutions are accountable to stakeholders of organizations who have an interest in the activities of the learning system. More specifically, the larger burden of accountability emanates from the individuals who have invested in the school (public or private). There is the need to ensure that all the modules of an organisation, which range from processes to methodologies, and all personnel involved in the improvement of a service or product do so efficiently and effectively (Todorut, 2013, p. 1107). In this case, quality is utilized as a monitoring mechanism (Sadler, 2012, p. 204); this where outputs of the process are compared with the investments or inputs to see if there is a positive return on investment. Fifthly, higher education institutions need quality to improve motivation and morale. In organisational theory, the expectancy theory hypothesises that an individual will act in a particular way for the purpose that they are concerned and to select a defined conduct over other arrangements due to what they presume the significance of that nominated behaviour will be (Huczynski & Buchanan, 2013, p. 298). In the equity theory, personnel put forth an extent of exertion they consider openly congruent to the rewards being received. When an equipoise is achieved between inputs and outputs, it is held that staffs will be more gratified and fervent to work toward greater heights of throughput (Huczynski & Buchanan, 2013, p. 289). Quality systems function to boost the systems in place and foster cooperation between various departments towards approving of each other’s service purview, and providing satisfaction to customers thus increasing employee’s motivation (Sudha, 2013, p. 124). Finally, higher learning institutions embrace quality to improve institutional status, prestige, image, visibility, and credibility. Scholars have identified that organisations who strive towards continuously improving their quality are in a better position than those that check periodically (Mayeku & Florence, 2011, p. 368). According to Sudha (2013, p. 1), continuous improvement in quality brings credibility to the schools as well as the faculty members thus leading to brand value, status, and practice. Also, institutions with quality have the audacity to ask for support from stakeholders, which include government grants and donations from agencies. They also have the potential to attract the best students as well as employers in various fields.

2.7.4 Quality Assurance in Nigerian Higher Education

The National Universities Commission (NUC) is the national government agency that is charged with the role of accreditation of higher learning institutions as well as programmes offered in Nigeria (Ibijola, 2014, p. 648). Moreover, it ensures that institutions of HE, be it private, state or federal, maintain the stipulated rules and regulations. A number of other professional agencies that analyse and accredit the curriculum content of some academic programmes, aid the NUC. These include institutions such as the Council for Registration of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) – that oversees expert contents of Engineering programmes, Council of Legal Education (CLE) - that evaluates and authorizes the contents of Law programmes, and the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council (NMD) – that evaluates and certifies the professional contents of medical programme (Ibijola, 2014, p. 684). Over the years, several renowned authors have researched quality insurance of higher education in Nigeria and found that it specifically relies on a number of variables (Asiyai, 2013; Adepoju & Akinola, 2007). These variables include the availability of adequate infrastructure, structures, and resources; research and publications assessment; accreditation; visitation; impact assessment; and, minimum academic standard. Additionally, Adepoju & Akinola (2007) suggested that quality assurance also applies to the screening of students who are accepted into higher learning institutions by checking their certificates and validating of they have indeed met the requirements. Quality education in the Nigerian HE is defined as one that is suitable and tailored to meet the needs of the society. Asiyai (2012) extended the above by citing Ndiomu (1989) who argued that quality education is one that is conformant to the ideals of health, development, and survival in an intricate and gradually interconnected world. Therefore, quality assurance in Nigeria ensures that the money paid for the service is worth the input of lecturers, facilities, and assessment procedures that indicate the results of the erudition process. In the Nigerian context, accreditation is viewed as the main component of quality assurance in HE. Most authors from Nigeria use the simple definition by Woodhouse, terming accreditation as a Yes or No decision. Ibojola (2014, p. 684) quotes Fadokun who asserted that accreditation in Nigerian universities has three aims. These include: - (1) ensuring the availability of the Minimum Academic Standard (MAS); (2) to guarantee stakeholders such as employers and the general society that the graduates doing certain programmes are proficient in their specialties, and; (3) to confirm to the international community that the standards in the Nigerian higher education system are high and graduates are well qualified. The author also further investigated the relationship between NUC’s regulatory roles and the quality of educational inputs into Nigerian higher education (Ibijola, 2015). In the following years, individuals and agencies outside higher education institutions embarked on carrying out quality-related evaluations, such as accreditation at programme and institute levels, assessment of qualities in research and teaching, review of institutional processes as well as regulation of standards (Arsovski, 2007, p. 51). Over the last decade, many stakeholders – especially employers have perceived the QA functions of the NUC as very lacking. Many studies have shown that perception of the lower status of ODE graduates and lack of recognition of their certificates by some organisations are amongst the biggest challenges of ODE in Nigeria (Ojo & Olakulehin, 2006, p. 1) NOUN, 2012; Awe, 2012; Samson, 2015; Okoye, 2015). Ojo & Olakulehin (2006) conducted a study to investigate the perceptions of Nigerian students in ODL. In their study, they noted that the society was now accepting open and distance education, but struggled inherently with digital learning. Moreover, students saw the programmes as easier avenues regarding cheating, as there is no direct supervision as compared to conventional studies. These, in addition to the challenges mentioned earlier (Ogunleye, 2013, p. 59; Biao, 2012, p. 32), presents a situation where Nigeria has adopted the QA procedures from the UK, and integrated them into its education system (Ogunleye, 2013, p. 58). However, Ogunleye (2013, p. 56) cites the contextual complexity of this move to ensure quality in higher learning institutions. The author quotes from the Commonwealth of Learning, mentioning that quality of open and distance learning differs from one institution to another, provisional to the primacies, assets, size, and the number of students, which it aims to serve. Regarding the above, Nigerian higher is guided by a set of policies and procedures picked from various developed nations, especially the UK. The lack of standards tailored for its unique system has had a widespread impact on ODL in Nigeria, as well as the graduates and their employers. (British Council, 2014, p. 7). Moreover, the development of standard procedures in ODL is a very demanding task that requires cooperation between various agencies. This has not yet been achieved in Nigerian education due to the tendency of institutions to fail to be ready and willing to adapt, change, and innovate (Ogunleye, 2013, p. 61).

2.7.5 Impact of ODE programmes on the perception of quality graduates among key stakeholders

Open and Distance Education is most relevant in such circumstances where access to education is limited by different factors. The level of educational development is very poor in Nigeria due to various reasons: For long, the country has been faced with the phenomenon of increasing population (186 million as at 2016) that has led to very high demand for HE (World Bank, 2016). Available conventional learning HE institutions reportedly admit a very small portion of prospective students, leaving masses unattended to and unable to access higher education- “The proportion of candidates admitted in HE institutions from 2008 to 2012 ranges from 11.3% to 14.9%” (Offorma & Obiefuna, 2013, p. 7). This indicates very low access to higher education. The Economic Confidential (2017, p. 1) reported that “the pressure of students to get admission to conventional universities were increasing by the day as almost one million students want to gain admission into universities yearly through Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB)”. Additionally, there is issue related to cultural belief, gender inequality, poor financial status of the people, insufficient resources provided by the educational institutions, quota system of admission in to Federal Universities, conservative thinking of the people, and so on. So ODE programme is considered to be the most appropriate education system to overcome these challenges prevalent in traditional class room method. Since ODE programmes have wide coverage and large number of learners seeking university education but unable to attend institution are interested in such programmes, the programmes should assure high quality resources and materials to the learners. Since 1990s the institutions, stakeholders and scholars have been more attentive on the quality assurance concerns in ODE in higher education. Due to this many institutions have started revising their courses and strategic visions to ensure quality of these ODE programmes. According to Ogunleye (2013), several reports have been published upon the implementation of ideas or best practices for quality assurance in ODL. The quality of ODE programmes differs from one institution to another in terms of resources, main concern, size and student body to which the institution intends to serve. Koul (2006) argued that major focus is to be given to the learning design element of ODE programme and in this context, he has identified three dimensions including ten components which contribute in maintain quality of ODE. Some core components are course materials, instructional design, teaching learning practices, assessment practices, research and capacity building, learner support services and so on. The structure of open and distance learning provides the learners with greater flexibility and they can choose time, place and pace of learning as per their convenience. The conventional face to face teaching-learning method might not be able to fulfil educational needs of all learners in Nigeria. Duffy et al. (2002), performed a comparative study on the educational attainment of classroom based students and distance learning students under a same module. From the study it has been found that the performance of distance learning students was substantially higher than that of classroom based students. This finding shows the high potential of the ODE programmes on the quality of the learners. Distance education has many advantages; among them the most significant one is fulfilling the educational needs of large population of students who cannot afford to attend higher education institution despite being qualified. Thus, with the help of ODE programmes, Nigeria is able to produce large number of highly qualified people who play crucial role in sustainable development of the country and eliminating existing social stigma from the state. Nigeria is a least developed country not only economically but also socially. Though there are significant numbers of female population in the country, they are not allowed to attend educational institutions due to cultural and societal beliefs. Still some of the people in Nigerian hold different perceptions towards women and this is one of the major reasons behind the country lagging behind other countries. In such state, ODE can be helpful for those female populations who want to study but are not allowed to do so. With the help of ODE programmes, women in Nigeria can also have equal access to education and it is universal fact that women education is one main prerequisite for country’s development. So, they can also contribute for sustainable development of the nation. Though there are many ODE centers presently operating in Nigeria, there is still need for standard ODE. Based on the research paper by Odukoya et al. (2014), activities in some ODE centers reveal some deficiencies in terms of Information and Communication Technology based facilities. Many ODE centers in Nigeria are still lacking e-learning platforms and using correspondence method. These centers are found to be making students travel long distances to the host institutions during weekends of holidays in order to deliver conventional face to face lectures. This situation needs to be addressed on time with implementation of ICT facilities so that ODE programmes will be effective to meet academic needs of large population of Nigeria thus producing more qualified graduates for economic and social development.

Conclusion

In recent years, African nations have integrated education as a key strategy towards economic and social attainment. Nigeria, as the most populous country on the continent, has not been left behind in the move to increase access to higher education. Through ODE, the nation has managed to meet the increasing demand for HE in the country. However, the process has been plagued by a plethora of challenges that have affected the optimal operation of ODE programmes in the nation. Through a review of literature about the concepts of DE, DL, ODE, ODL, quality and QA, this section establishes the burgeoning need to offer amicable and sustainable solutions to mend Nigeria’s ODE system. The journey towards the concept of ODE has not been easy. In the analysis above, the major differences between viewpoints of several theories of ODL are elucidated. Each framework postulates divergent ideas that have been used to expand the literature about DE. With the emergence of new technologies, researchers developed wider theories to accommodate their perspectives on various issues. ODE in Nigeria is a relatively new system has not yet developed fully to accommodate standardised codes and standards. Moreover, the subjective descriptions and interpretations of various concepts of quality at an international level have majorly influenced the current state of QA systems in Nigeria. The challenge is further augmented by factors instructional, institutional and individual-related problems that hinder the advancement of ODE in Nigeria. The stakeholders in Nigeria’s ODL system have various perceptions towards the current state of ODE in the nation. From the review above, it is evident that the system is far from ideal. The perceptions of the lower status of ODE graduates and lack of recognition of their certificates by some organisation are amongst the biggest challenges of ODE in Nigeria. With the increasing rate of globalisation, ODE is an inevitable progression in education that must be encouraged. Therefore, there is the need to improve the state of HE in Nigeria through increased research to identify the means to improve ODE to establish its credibility among stakeholders.

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

This chapter tends to outline research design and methodology which has been used for present study. In this section, the methods and procedures employed for research design to conduct study has been discussed. In general, the plan, structure, and scheme are considered to support the process of research along with answering of questions raised. Therefore, it is vital that reliable and precise methods are devised for ensuring that the generated information will produce dependable, predictive and tenable results. This section commences with philosophical position and tends to move towards methodological considerations. The methodological approaches have been selected by considering the direction and objectives of the research study. An appropriate research philosophy has been selected for governing the way researcher advances the research study. Then, it discusses research approaches of deductive and inductive that supports to decide use of the theories. In the present study, the researcher has used qualitative methods for data collection. Within qualitative methods, semi-structured interviews have been used to collect primary data from the targeted group of the participants. Furthermore, this section discusses the approaches of sampling alongside appropriate instruments selected for collecting data to attain research objectives and to establish reliability and validity of this research study. Further, in this chapter, for ensuring the trustworthiness and confidentiality of the participants, ethical considerations have been stated at towards the end of the chapter, research limitations faced during the study have been stated.

3.1 Research Philosophy

According to Saunders et al (2015), research philosophy refers to the beliefs of the researcher associated with collecting data, effectively analysing and applying them during the preparation of research. Basically, there are two types of philosophy which are mostly used in conducting research study: positivism and interpretivism (Walliman, 2015). The notion of a positivism research philosophy is adopted in research study for assumption that the reality is explicable as well as unwavering from a person’s objective perspective. Positivism could be compared to the scientific experiment. This research philosophy studies and observes variables under controlled situations and predicts outcomes accordingly. On the other hand, interpretivism research philosophy refers to the subjective interpretation of the reality in which the researcher undertakes the research within natural environment and identifies the factors that are disregarded by the scientists (Kumar, 2014). Likewise, this philosophy believes that scientific knowledge can be taken for the interpretation and it helps researchers in boosting the knowledge regarding the research content. Besides positivism and interpretivism, there is another paradigm which guides researchers to carry out research studies i.e. realism. Realism believes that existence of objects plus happenings are not dependent on mind and thus exists in isolation (White & McBurney, 2012). This notion is based on the notion that aspects of the reality are aligned ontologically with the conceptual values and ideas. Pragmatism is another paradigm which supports intuitive approach to the research as well as scientific study and hence is deliberated to be the pertinent philosophy of research (Paul, 2005). In the present study, the researcher has used an interpretivism philosophy to assess the opinions and perceptions of relevant stakeholders on challenges facing open and distance learning in Nigerian Higher Education, and its quality and acceptability in Kano State. The aim of the current study was to explore the challenges and responses of ODL among various stakeholders in Nigeria’s Kano State. Therefore, it intends to identify the true perspectives of the education stakeholders who experience the challenges. With this regard, the interpretivist research philosophy was deemed the most appropriate as it allows for an understanding of a phenomenon from the perspective of the people experiencing it. This philosophy states that individuals have their own perception and believes; they cannot be considered simply as puppets acting as per external social forces (Saunders et al., 2015). Different individuals observe and comprehend the same reality in diverse ways thus providing various facets of the same situation. Hence, this philosophy has enabled the researcher to conduct qualitative research on the challenges facing Open and Distance Education in Nigerian Higher Education by assessing particular individuals’ own views and opinions. Also, the data and information collected by using this approach are authentic and trustworthy thus increasing the validity of the collected information. As proposed, by Creswell & Clark (2011) qualitative research explores human or social problems with the researcher looking into the opinions, perceptions and views of the participant in their natural setting.

3.2 Research Approach

The research approach is the method for analysing as well as evaluating the research with the aim of meeting the objectives which are highlighted in the initial part of the research. Generally, there are two research approaches that are adopted by the researcher namely, inductive and deductive approaches (Cassell, 2015). The inductive research approach provides direction for generating the new theory from the investigation of the collected data and information, and is focused on moving from specific facts to the general concept. By undertaking the inductive approach in the research, the researcher can have access to defining new theory which appears at the time of preparing research (Bryman, 2015). This approach commences with an open mind and largely depends upon the experiences and observations. It doesn’t begin with the testing of theories rather new theory is developed. According to Thomas (2003, p.83), the inductive approach is a process in “which data are coded without integrating them into existing coding structure or into logical presumptions of the researcher”. On the other hand, the deductive research approach commences with the testing of theories and hypotheses and then tends to narrow down. Mainly, this approach is related to quantitative research and scientific investigation. The deductive approach begins with the comprehension of theory which governs the research study and continues forward with the designation of the hypothesis so that the conclusion could be drawn from the general observation (Saunders et al., 2015). Here, the researcher has used the inductive research approach. There are several theoretical underpinnings that support the use of inductive research method in the current study. First, the inductive method, similar to interpretive research philosophy, is generally qualitative in nature so that it allows for an exploration of a phenomenon from the perspective of people experiencing it. It mainly entails a continuous contact with the participants through interviews and observations (Bryman, 2015). The main aim of the current research was to explore the challenges experienced by education stakeholders in ODL within Kano State, and how they respond to those challenges. This forms the basis of adopting qualitative approaches such as the inductive research approach. According to Paul (2005), inductive research approach provides an opportunity for the researcher to develop a less structured approach, thereby enabling an effective comprehension of the phenomenon under study alongside the underlying research questions.

3.3 Research Design

On the basis of the type of study, method of data collection and research questions, research is designed. The research design is a comprehensive strategy that incorporates different elements of the research in the logical and objective way for achieving the research objectives (Thomas, 2013). Basically, research design is of three different types like analytical, exploratory and explanatory. Analytical research helps the researcher to explore the subject matter in-depth and generate additional information on a research topic. Findings of the research are explored and described in detail for expanding knowledge of subject matter. Exploratory research design deals with research that is conducted on the basis of theoretical ideas or hypothesis (Walliman, 2015). New and unexplored problems are identified and derived at with the help of exploratory research. Exploratory research is useful for conducting the research on the completely new topic or research on the familiar topic from different angles. Research conducted with the use of this research purpose mostly relies on secondary data. Explanatory research helps to understand the cause and effect with an attempt to connect the ideas. It helps in understanding mechanism of things coming together and interacting with one another (Paul, 2005). In this research study, the researcher uses exploratory research design since there has not been much research on the present subject matter. This research design was particularly selected because it would help in developing better and efficient understanding the challenges experienced by education stakeholders with regards to ODE and how they cope with these challenges. By using this research design, the researcher has been able to accumulate preliminary information that helps in describing challenges on open and distance education in Nigerian Higher Education.

3.4 Research Method

Within research, methods are those tools used for collecting the data in order to address research objectives and to test the hypothesis. There are generally two types of research methods; they are Qualitative research and Quantitative research methods (Creswell & Clark, 2011). The qualitative method is that method which is exploratory, and the data are gathered and evaluated by providing the explanation along with logic. The researcher makes an application of opinions, reasons as well as gives emphasis to qualitative data as well as information that can be evaluated via assembling detailed analysis of the variables of related subject matter. The quantitative research method is the use of the structured patterns for seeking the opinion of the individual in order to analyse in statistical approach (Saunders et al., 2015). This method is the basis for data collection that helps in collecting the data which are quantifiable with the usage of the analysing tools as well as techniques. Generally, its reliability greatly depends upon the large numbers, and it is related to positivism philosophy (Moules, 2015). For getting a clear image of a specific field of the research, quantitative research is employed for measuring topic of interest. When applying this method, the researcher can, for example, collect data from using survey methods, and analyse and evaluate them by using computational mathematical techniques. In the present study, the research has used qualitative research method for data collection. Qualitative research methods were specifically chosen for this particular study due to its convenience enabling the collection data for achieving the research aim. Particularly, it is only through qualitative research methods that the researcher could apply an interpretive research philosophy together with an inductive research approach. As mentioned earlier, the researcher’s main intention was to highlight the challenges experienced by Kano State education stakeholders in delivering ODE. Therefore, the researcher was interested in gathering the opinions and perspectives from the participants explaining these experiences. Therefore, a qualitative research method would allow for the use of appropriate data collection techniques such as interviews that could help with obtaining the participant’s opinions. In addition, Moriarty (2011) sees, qualitative research as a method which focuses at providing an in-depth understanding of the social world by different people through studying their social and material circumstances, and share their experiences, views, and other related information needed in the research. Therefore, the most common method in qualitative research is interview method which has been used in this study. Interviews are not restricted to specific questions only so the researcher can change or modify the questions in real time. Qualitative research provides such information based on human experience which is more convincing while compared to information provided by quantitative research method (Trochim et al., 2015). By using this method, detailed information has been collected from the relevant stakeholders- NOUN staff, student learners, graduates as well as employers within Kano state on the challenges facing open and distance education in Nigerian Higher Education. Along with interview method, document analysis has also been used in this study.

3.4.2 Semi-structured interview method

Semi-structured interviews are more appropriate in generating meaning and understanding the views of the relevant stakeholders within their context (Irvine et al., 2013). According to Admiraal & Wubbels (2005) the interactive nature of semi-structured interviews and discussion allows for deeper responses which can provide insights into people’s actions, attitudes, motives and perceptions. Moreover, Boyce and Neale (2006) suggested that “if the potential participants may not be included (particular place) or comfortable talking openly in a group, or when the researcher want to distinguish individual (as opposed to group) opinions about the programme” (p. 3). In this situation, interview is more appropriate in collecting their information. Irvine et al. (2013) further highlighted the benefit of semi-structured interviews as, it help in providing comprehensive information in qualitative research, than what is available through other data collection methods. Such interviews also provide a more relaxed atmosphere in which to gather available information—participants may feel happier having a discussion with the interviewer about the apprehension as opposed to filling out a survey questionnaire. Similarly, interviews offer valuable information for programmes, particularly when complementing other methods of data collection (2013). Additionally, interviews bring the researcher much closer to the participants in exploring their views, opinions and experiences about the particular subject matter, programme or situation. This view have been supported by many scholars, for instance White (2004) suggests that interviews allow the researcher to accommodate the participant’s background, develop and personalise interactions, develop feedback, address participants’ concerns, offer support, etc. The participants have the advantage to ask questions and the researcher also has the advantage and opportunity to respond as soon as possible and modify subsequent questions (FHI, 2011). Furthermore, interviews provide contexts where participants can ask for clarification, elaborate on ideas, and explain perspectives in their own words, the interviewer can use questioning to lead or manipulate interviewee responses as evidenced, by (Creswell & Clark, 2011).

3.4.3 Justification for using semi-structured interview method

Interview method has retained its popularity despite the availability of other popular data collection means like an online and mobile survey. The researcher has chosen interview method in this research study since there is less chance of confusion and misinterpretation in this method. Any issues arising during the course of the interview can be clarified immediately which makes the subject matter more clearly to the participants to provide valid answers (Walliman, 2015). By using this method, the researcher is able to have control over the interview and keep the interviewee focused on track for successful completion of data collection. Also, the researcher is able to capture behaviours and emotions of the interviewees along with their body language hence determining their enthusiasm and level of discomfort with the questions. Semi-structured interviews also allowed for further probing to enable the gathering of in-depth information from the participants. In doing so, the researcher asked questions and followed up with additional questions based on the interviewee’s answers. Through probing, participants could clearly explain their responses for easier understanding by the interviewee.

3.5 Document Analysis

Document analysis is one of the most popular qualitative evaluation methods. Documents often disclose what people do or did in the past, and what they value, can help to identify important matters and how these relate to the current situation (Owen, 2013). Document analysis and review of programme files can also be an important area of qualitative evaluation. According to Prior (2008, p. 25) “document analysis is the study of the written text and proceeds into account the document’s physical condition, the script or printing used of the state of the items in which an event occurred or a person lived”. He further stated that there are no traditional procedures for combining multiple methods in data collection in qualitative research, a lot of imaginative opportunities are open to the qualitative researchers. This view has been supported by Creswell & Clark (2011) who, argued that the use of multiple techniques in qualitative research is appropriate in order to gathered a meaningful data and capture the diverse opinions of the participants in a single research. Despite the fact that, there is no clear way to descript the different means of communication and writing in adopting any qualitative approach. When documents are to be used for purpose of appraisal, the researcher needs to collaborate with programme staff and appeal their support on how to get access to such information and report it in the research document (Prior, 2008). However, decisions about the processes and methods used to produce the data in a qualitative study are prepared as part of the structure of the research design (Irvine et al. 2013). Hence, in this study the researcher has emphasised in searching written policy documents, and a paper related to quality assurance system in higher education sector and generates details information connected to the research objectives of the study. Moreover, the researcher used document data analysis to explore how Nigerian quality assurance system is responding to the challenges of ODE in increasing access to higher education in the country. The use of documents data analysis was help to provide meaningful data within a timeframe of the study and answered part of the research questions. It also, helped the researcher to understand the NUC’s role in achieving the quality assurance in ODE institutions by reviewing their annual reports and other related documents.

3.6 Purpose of the study

The main reason behind carrying out this research study is to discover the opinions of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN); Kano Study Centre (KSC); and the relevant stakeholders-NOUN staff, student learners, graduates and employers, on the challenges facing distance education providers, primarily the NOUN Kano Study Centre in achieving their objectives, and analyse the role that the institution have had in increasing access to HE in Kano State, and the level of quality and acceptability of the programme, and their graduates. This research also aimed to examine the efficacy of NOUN KSC in addressing the perceived needs and demands of its stakeholders, especially in Kano state. The purpose of the study have been achieved through the stated research questions in chapter. There are several topics which the researcher has searched upon through this research study. Some of them are open and distance education, distance learning in Nigeria, challenges facing ODE in Nigeria, quality assurance in Nigerian higher education, and so on. All these topics are a breakdown of the research topic which the researcher has selected. Throughout the research study, the preliminary focus of the researcher was to get answers to these topics since these topics help in answering research questions and reaching to intended aims and objectives of the research project.

3.7 Procedures for Data Collection

One of the most important parts of any research study is data collection. Data collection can be defined as the process of collecting or gathering required data and information on the targeted topic for answering research questions and assessing the results (Bryman, 2015). In this study, the researcher has gathered needed primary data and information from the participants who are the major stakeholders, i.e. NOUN staff, student learners, graduates and employers. Primary data is first-hand data which are collected for current research purpose (Hox & Boeije, 2005). There are several methods to collect primary data such as interviews, questionnaires, group discussions, case studies, scientific experiments and so on. Here, I have used semi-structured interview method and document analysis. For semi-structured interview, I designed few interview questions to be asked to the participants of the study. Then, I contacted participants in order to collect required answers from them. While interviewing the participants, special consideration was given to their change in tone, phrase focused on them and implications made. Any type of confusion that arose during the interview was cleared instantly so as to collect accurate answers. The main study began from the first week of February 2017 to 20th April 2017. Firstly, I re-contacted NOUN KSC and met with the Chairman of the alumni association for getting an introductory letter which provided research application. After receiving written approval, I interacted with the Students’ Counsellor of the Centre and communicated with staff and students. I also met a group of students outside the examination hall, collected phone numbers of relevant participants and scheduled time for the interviews. Similarly, I met graduates and some employers by contacting their top management and informed them about the research. I was provided with one office and e-library to conduct the interviews in a secured place and record with an audio phone- Samsung (S7 Edge). The interview durations were different for a different group of stakeholders; the duration for NOUN staff was 45-60 minutes, students 30-45 minutes, graduates and employers 30-40 minutes. The interviews were conducted in both English, and Hausa languages and I translated interviews taken in Hausa languages into the English language. The interviews had been really fruitful, and the participants expressed their strongest views and arguments regarding ODE programme in Kano state and in the whole country.

3.8 Sampling Technique

The NOUN student sample included 16 individuals, a sample of four students (undergraduates/postgraduates) through random sampling from the four programmes mentioned earlier. Similarly, NOUN graduates constituted 16 samples from four aforementioned programmes selected via snowball sampling. The sample of NOUN staff included a total of 11 participants, 4 coordinators- one from each academic programmes chosen in this research, Centre Director, Head of QA Unit, Student Counsellor, and 3 top management at the NOUN Headquarters Abuja. Likewise, 10 employers have been included in this study to capture the range of usual employment destinations. Below are the details;

Therefore, I have chosen the sample of these employers in line with the four NOUN programmes selected in NOUN KSC, as it would be relatively straightforward to contact and enlist their support and participation in the study. Here I used different sampling techniques to select participants based on their types. For instance, I used simple random sampling to select four participants (2 undergraduates and 2 postgraduates) from each selected programmes. The ODE graduates were selected by using snowball sampling because the researcher would find it difficult to access more graduates. Therefore, snowball sampling was deemed appropriate especially considering assertions by Family Health Institution (2011) that “Snowball sampling is often used to find and recruit “hidden populations,” that is, groups not easily accessible to researchers through other sampling strategies” (p. 6). Additionally, ODE staff and employers were selected using purposive sampling technique. This method is one of the most common used in recruiting participants, usually from the sample sizes within which it is not possible for the researcher to select all the whole population (FHI, 2011). Nevertheless, it is important to note that the participants were selected from four courses including School of Arts and Social Sciences, School of Education, School of Health Sciences, School of Management Sciences. The selection of studies from these courses was justified by the fact that they were the only on-going ODE course at the time of the study.

Below is the outline that presents number of respondents, and data collection method that the researcher has used in achieving each research objective.

3.9 Pilot Study

In the present study, I carried out pilot study before conducting the main research study. A pilot study is a small scale study which is conducted prior to the main study in order to determine the feasibility of the research procedures and make necessary changes (Heale & Twycross, 2015). The questions of the interview should be simple and clear so that the stakeholders can provide appropriate answers. If the questions are complex, then it is difficult to provide required answers. Also, the method of research should be effective to reach predefined goals so; I conducted a pilot study to test whether the questions of the interview are clear enough to provide accurate answers or not along with to test the efficiency of the adopted method. Also, the pilot study determines the feasibility of the main research project in terms of time and resources and estimate duration as well as required resources for the actual research study. Additionally, pilot study facilitates to identify the best method for carrying out research and make necessary amendments (Walliman, 2015). In this research study, a pilot study was performed in October 2016 and January 2017 on each person among the four groups of stakeholders in such setting convenient to both researcher and the participants. The participants were contacted and interviewed on the research topic. Firstly, the NOUN KSC was contacted and informed about the research process and categories of participants who were to be interviewed. The Students’ Counsellor advised me to contact the Centre Director and to introduce myself as a researcher and the research purpose. Meanwhile, the Centre Director permitted me to conduct the pilot study. In this way, I was able to interview the participants as scheduled. In the pilot study, the conventional method of data analysis, i.e. Siedel’s method of Qualitative Data Analysis was used in which information collected from interviews and were recorded into separate documents and analysed thoroughly. During the pilot study, I have found out that there was a large number of graduates and students in the programme from the School of Social Sciences which would facilitate in obtaining better access to stakeholders and receive useful information. So, I decided to add this programme in the main study though, earlier only School of Health Sciences, School of Education, and School of Management Sciences were planned to give emphasis. Likewise, from the pilot study, I have also realised that some of the interview questions and probes required some changes so the interview questions and probes were adjusted and reformulated accordingly. Furthermore, I identified that some additional questions were to be added to be asked to NOUN staff for getting significant information and subsequently some questions were added. I also, realised that is necessary to contact the top management at the NOUN Headquarters Abuja for further clarifications of some useful information revealed by the participants during the pilot study. Therefore, I included the Vice Chancellor, Head of QAS and the Registrar among the participants in the main study. The researcher recollects that NOUN has not much to do with engineering, medicine and pharmacy so, I excluded employers from those fields since these practical courses were not featured within NOUN’s catalogue.

3.10 Data Analysis Technique

An effective analysis of research study is an essential aspect of the research as the presentation, and data evaluation is to be presented proficiently. Data analysis is the systematic process of applying tools and techniques to describe, illustrate and assess data for deriving required information, drawing conclusions and facilitating decision making process (Matthews & Ross, 2010). There are two types of data analysis technique: qualitative data analysis and quantitative data analysis. In qualitative data analysis, the researcher identifies the common patterns and critically analyses them so as to obtain research aims and objectives. The collected data are systematically analysed, similar comments are grouped together then interpreted, and finally, the appropriate conclusion is drawn. While on the other hand in quantitative data analysis, the numbers and figures are critically analysed and interpreted by the use of various statistical techniques (Hall & Roussel, 2016). In the present study, I have used qualitative data analysis approach. Under this approach, I also use thematic analysis to analyse the data collected from interview method. Under this technique, the researcher has identified common patterns, put similar comments together, interpret and analyse data to derive a valid conclusion. For that few key themes on the basis of collected data and information with respect to the challenges facing open and distance education in Nigerian Higher Education were developed. Such themes are often abstract concepts within the data which are discovered by the researcher before, during and after the analysis. Then the findings have been presented and discussed in a thematic order. The thematic analysis was conducted through a systematic process. The first step was to familiarise with the data by reading and identifying some of the most important sections of the data. All the recorded data was professionally transcribed. The second process of transcribing was coding. This process involved highlighting important sections of the transcribed data (i.e. sentences and phrases) and labelling to small groups of codes. Also, the coding process involved the identification of key words that could help in answering research questions. All the data was organized into groups of codes to allow a condensed overview of the responses and categorise tem into themes that answers the underlying research questions. After coding, the next step was to generate the themes. Particularly, themes were generated by identifying patterns within the codes and combining them into themes. The themes were later reviewed to ensure they were accurate and useful in responding to the research questions. The process of reviewing the themes entails comparing each theme with respective data sets to ensure nothing is missing, and to ascertain that the themes exactly represent the underlying data. After conducting an overview of the themes and having a final list of all the themes the themes were defined and named according to how they correspond to beach research question. All the themes were given simple and precise names for easier understanding.

3.11 Validity and Reliability

Throughout the planning as well as preparation of the research study on the challenges facing open and distance education in Nigerian Higher Education, it was imperative for making the study valuable, consistent and reliable. Also, it was necessary for the researcher to utilise the genuine sources of information and data because the work of this research is based on using the qualitative methods, so the researcher has attempted to assemble from the sources that are valid as well as reliable (Attwell & Hughes, 2010). The liableness and quality additionally guarantee responsibility. In the same way, the reliability has assisted in the exploration of the work which accounts for using the data as well as information in respect to the challenges facing open and distance education in Nigerian Higher Education. Correspondingly, the dependability of the resources form the secondary sources evaluated and affirmed by the canvasser, whilst assessing the sources of information gathering. Hence, use of this method has assisted the research work to hold validity and made the study reliable by keeping up accuracy (Bricki & Green, 2007).

3.12 Use of Thematic Analysis in Data Analysis

Data analysis in this study was basically guided by the Siedel’s (1998) noticing, collecting and thinking model used to explain base of qualitative data analysis. Generally, the method presents the idea that researchers in QDA should scan the data for codes and develop notions from them. According to Newman (2012), during qualitative data analysis basic working ideas are developed. The process called conceptualization occurs during analysis process in which logical theoretical explanations are formed through organizing data and primary ideas. After that new definitions or concepts are formed. To be precise, so I adopted thematic analysis as the main method of QDA to analyze data accumulated. The strategy of thematic analysis was first adopted in the pilot study from which it was observed to be supportive in identifying new information and transforming trends while compared to those identified earlier in the part of literature review. Hence, thematic analysis was approved for the main study in analyzing accumulated data. Thematic analysis is such qualitative data analysis technique that is regarded as being a central qualitative analysis method and uses inductive and iterative strategy. Braun & Clarke’s, (2006, p. 7), have described “thematic analysis is a method for identifying, analysing, and reporting patterns (themes) within data. It minimally organises and describes your data set in (rich) detail”. According to them, a good thematic analysis needs to make sure that the interpretations of the data are consistent with the theoretical framework. Based on the research paper by Ibrahim (2012) the thematic analysis process is more applicable for data analysis when the researcher intends to collect information for ascertaining link between variables and for making comparison between various evidence sets which are applicable to diverse circumstances in the same study. In this method, themes or patterns are detected from within the data, analysed and then reported. Themes can be defined as incorporating features which captured some extent of similarities within the data by extracting meaning from it. While extracting such meaning or similarities, certain patterned responses or meanings are illustrated within the accumulated data. A number of researchers have suggested when the use of thematic analysis is applicable. For example, Ibrahim (2012, p. 39), argues that that the technique is “more appropriate for analysing the data when the research’s aim is to extract information to determine the relationship between variables and to compare different sets of evidence that pertain to different situations in same study”. Other researchers have made similar suggestions, and also point out that thematic analysis has the following advantages: Flexibility; relatively easy and quick method to learn, and do; Accessible to researchers little or no experience of qualitative research; result are generally accessible to educate public; useful method for working within participatory paradigm, with participants as collaborators; can usefully summarize key features of a large body of data, and/or offer a ‘thick description’ of data set; can generate unanticipated insights; allows for social as well as psychological interpretation of data; can be useful for producing qualitative analysis suited to informing policy development (Braun & Clarke’s, 2006, p. 37). Following, the above advantages the present study adopts this thematic analysis since it facilitates organisation and interpretation of data with immaculate exactness and this method not only defines the data but also interprets various aspects of the research topic. Data analysis part has been started by observing and identifying themes of meanings and issues across the dataset that are related to the research topic. While collecting data, such analysis can be performed. The analysis ends after the content and importance of the themes identified within the data are reported. Such themes are often abstract ideas which are discovered by the research before, during and after the analysis. Thematic analysis is carried out through continuous analysis of the transcribed data set and extracted coding across the data together with evaluation of collected data. Thematic analysis can be performed either manually or by using software (simple or advanced specialised software). Through its theoretical freedom, thematic analysis provides a flexible and useful research tool, which can potentially provide a rich and detailed, yet complex account of data (Braun & Clarke’s, (2006, p. 5). Here, simple word processing tool was used for interpreting and writing down the texts due to researcher’s lack of specialised skills. However, the researcher also searched upon several methods to make coding along with process of thematic analysis easy as well as systematic as in thematic analysis, one cannot fully rely upon the software to provide necessary codes in generating themes. The methods to data collection and analysis constituted two processes such as writing about the data and coding data into themes. Further, the writing and documentation of themes comprised preparing descriptive summaries of the responses collected from the respondents in relation to interpretive approach. After that the data had been analytically interpreted by the use of contextual themes of the research explored in the literature review section. In response to this, I applied six step process developed by Newman (2012) for systematizing data analysis process. The six steps includes 1) initial coding, 2) revising initial codes, 3) developing an initial list of categories/themes, 4) modifying the categories Via interviews, I found different themes for each research objective. , 5) identifying subcategories from the main themes, and 6) translating the categories to concepts. These steps also associate with previous process developed by Braun & Clarke’s (2006) that was used in thematic analysis in psychology. All these resources have been used as reference materials for performing thematic analysis through MS Word.

3.13 Application of Theoretical Concepts in Analysis Process

As previously mentioned the process of data analysis was conducted by using MS Word and the process started as soon as all the transcripts were noted down and verified for any kind of grammatical mistakes. Based on the earlier stated theory, the following processes were performed:

Initial coding: While reading the text, I identified several words or statements that pointed towards interesting things, for which I wrote some comments on the paper to mark them as initial codes.

Revising initial codes: I read through initial codes per transcript to exclude redundancies and clarify terms. This made the codes more consistent.

Developing initial list of categories: In the process I identified the related codes and grouped them into categories. Different colors available on the MS Word highlighter tool were used to mark the categories.

Modifying the categories: I further examined whether or not the prevailing categories of data could be integrated. Such elements which could be combined were integrated thus reducing the bulk data.

Revisiting categories: It is a final process for modifying the identified categories and confirming uniformity present therein. I copied and organized the categories together into a different word documents for final process of recording such documents as concepts.

Translating categories to concepts: Lastly, I transformed well-developed categories that depicted the research question into themes. While doing so, I reorganised, rewrote and reconsidered the categories in an attempt to develop more creative concepts with respect to the perceptions of the stakeholders (Lichman, 2012).

With detailed analysis of information collected

3.14 The Role of the Researcher

There are different types of roles that the researcher has to play. Such roles have been classified and described as follows:

Monitoring and reducing bias: Bias is a major source of error and there are more chances of occurring bias in qualitative research than quantitative. This can affect the overall research outcomes and valid conclusion cannot be obtained. So, the researcher should monitor each decision and interpretation given on the data and try to minimize any bias.

Developing competency in methods: Qualitative research requires more specialised skills and competency in those skills to perform research study more effectively. Different activities within the study entail competency such as conducting interviews, selecting relevant journals, articles, data handling, analysing and interpreting data, and so on.

Gathering and analysing data: The most essential ingredient in any research study is data since without data we cannot move our research study ahead. The researchers are highly responsible to collect data which are relevant to the subject matter. Also, the researcher has to analyse accumulated data to extract useful information from them. There are several techniques to data collection and analysis so; the researcher needs to be very careful while selecting the most appropriate techniques to achieve research objectives.

Reporting the findings: After data collection and analysis, the next step is presenting the findings of the study. The efforts made to collect and analyse data all go waste if the findings cannot be presented to the concerned people in an effective manner. The findings can be reported in written form or in the form of oral presentation but whatever mode is used, the presentation should be effectual to facilitate decision making.

3.15 Ethical Considerations

Ethics is considered as the self-regulating factors which help in limiting the research work within the given framework (Saunders et al., 2015). The moral and ethics of the research enabled researchers to be on the right track and follow the determined ethics. During the implication of ethics in the research, it emphasises the researcher for effectively holding the reliability as well as validity (Gary, 2012). The ethical standards and ethical manner have been taken into consideration so as to conduct the research study. I has obtained the approval from the university as I was fully aware that no research work involving human participations or data collection begins unless it have been approved by the responsible institution. Therefore the study have been fully granted and ethically approved by the College of Social Sciences Ethics Committee of the University of Glasgow. The interview method has been conducted with the full consent of the participants, and no one was forced to participate in the interview. The participants have been asked to answer independently without any external pressures, and their answers which were collected in the form of audio record have been reported anonymously thus ensuring their confidentiality. The participants have been assured that their decision regarding participation or non-participation will not affect their studies or employability and they were free to withdraw at any time and not answerable as well. Similarly, the participants have been well informed about the major contribution of their participation to knowledge and to the wider community of Kano State and beyond. Also, it has been mentioned in advance that the findings of the study will be published in several articles, publications, conference papers and also in PhD thesis. I have clearly stated that once I got my PhD award, the information provided by the participants will be deleted and computer/audio record will also be wiped. Special attention has been provided on confidentiality of the participants, they have been given an ID number and any information that contains their name and address has been removed. I was also, made sure that this research study does not involve any sensitive topics or vulnerable groups. Also, the personal safety of the participants have been ensured, and several processes have been adopted to minimise any possible distress causing to them. In addition to this, the following principles of ethics have been considered; objectivity, honesty, confidentiality, openness, integrity along with respect for the intellectual property. The study tends to strive for the honesty in every communication. Also, the researcher ensured that the collected data for this research study aren’t misinterpreted, falsified or fabricated. The present study respected the intellectual property as well through referencing alongside acknowledging all the authors whose materials and works were included as secondary sources in this research study.

3.16 Research Limitations

In spite of using above mentioned methodological approaches, there are some limitations in this research study which can affect the research outcomes. Since the main purpose of this research is to explore the opinions of National Open University of Nigeria Kano Study Centre; and the relevant stakeholders - NOUN staff, student order learners, graduates and employers, on the quality and effectiveness of ODE programme offered in NOUN KSC and the quality level of their graduates, I collected necessary information by conducting interview of the relevant stakeholders. Though, I faced a challenge in the tasking nature of the process of transcription, translation and theme identification that constituted repeated scanning of the interview answers for a holistic analysis, and has less familiarity with the computer-aided methods. Meanwhile, I interviewed more than 40 participants, there was a problem associated with transcription. Mbukusa (2014) argued that, if the size of data was too large and became difficult to transcribe the usefulness of the information would be reduce. In to tackle this issue, I had to hire native Hausa speaking person who understood and well acquainted with both Hausa and English languages for transcribing some of the interviews. Likewise, there were some issues regarding poor audio recordings. This led towards misunderstanding and misinterpretation of meanings of the participants’ ideas, and I was unable to capture some of their ideas fully. Similarly, there were time and resources constraints associated with this research study. Though I spent six month for both pilot and main study, the number of participants were very large in this study due to which I had to face some issues regarding time management. However, I have made great efforts to generate valid and accurate results so as to fulfil the research aims and objectives and complete this research study successfully. In addition, I used snowball technique to gather data from the graduates which might lead towards bias (Wilmot, 2005). Moreover, the Director of the Centre instructed the registrar to introduce me to the staff in the institutions so, this leaves the probability that the participants might provide information as per the instruction given by the Director. There are also chances that some students might hide certain information in a fear that their answers create major impact on their studies. Therefore, the researcher has no real way of understanding if the participant is lying in providing the information (Bryman, 2012). These are some limitations that are associated with this research study.

Chapter Four: FINDINGS

4.1 Overview

This chapter presents the results and findings of qualitative data interviews which have been collected from key open and distance education (ODE) stakeholders in Kano State. With detailed analysis of information collected via interviews, a total of twelve themes emerged within the five research objectives of the study. I identified four themes from Objective 1, and two themes from each of objectives 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. The chapter conclude with brief details of the data gathered from key NOUN stakeholders in Kano State.

4.2 Mode of Operation of NOUN

The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is the largest distance learning institution in West Africa, re-established in 2002. Since then, the university has progressed to be the leading institution in providing higher education via audio-visual transmissions thereby fulfilling higher education needs of the potential learners (NOUN, 2016). Unlike other conventional institutions, the admission procedure at NOUN is much easier, the candidates do not need to write any form of examination such as Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), which is conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board and there is no rigid admission criteria. Even the registration procedure is online, the candidates can apply for admission by staying anywhere having internet access. The applicants will be admitted once s/he has the minimum requirements, five O level credits including English Language and Mathematics for level one and three O level credits for direct entry)level two. NOUN has provided flexibility in term of examination date as well. For instance, if any student is sick or travelled abroad or not well prepared for the examination, then s/he can postpone it and schedule the examination later. Similarly, the teaching-learning mode of NOUN is totally different in comparison to other conventional institutions. NOUN students are not required to attend regular classes, they can study by staying at their place of convenience and they need to be present at the study centre only for screening, collecting course materials and writing examination. However, even though the mode of teaching-learning is online, the institution provides some facilitation to the students i.e. if students come across with any issue while studying then they can plan and organise meeting with the facilitators to clear their doubts. This can be done through online (I-Learn Platform) or face to face contact. This show that NOUN uses blended learning approaches to support teaching and learning at their centers for them to remove students’ barriers for HE and to promote student learning pedagogy. All the course materials are available at the NOUN’s website from where the students can download needed materials. Also, the institution distributes printed-learning materials to the students and all these materials are self-explanatory as well as of good quality. However, the study materials are not adequate and not always available. In response to this, student 15 said, “From my level one to level three I have registered about 50 courses, but I don’t think I got more than 5-7 course materials. Therefore, I have to pay in the cafe and download the materials.” Moreover, there is quality assurance unit at the institution which is led by a directorate and the unit is responsible for conducting staff trainings at the headquarters. Further, the unit oversees activities of NOUN staff and check if they are performing their responsibilities in a right way. In regards to this, staff 3 stated, “…..there is quality assurance, every center has its desk officer, they go for a workshop, and they are always been updated on the internet, and they are writing report of whatever they do and send it from time to time to headquarters.” In addition, NOUN has been accredited under a national government agency called National Universities Commission (NUC) which governs and regulates all the activities of universities and higher institutions offering degree courses. NUC conducts accreditation twice a year in May and in November and for that the commission inspects programmes, laboratories of the study center, students, and also interact with the students. NOUN carries out all functions and activities under the guidance and regulations of NUC and all NOUN programmes are accredited by NUC. Regarding this, staff 1 stated, “We are equally monitored by the National Universities Commission. NUC sets guidelines for us, so we are just like the other universities. In some way we are even better than them.”

4.3. The Challenges Facing the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Kano Study Centre (KSC) in Achieving their Objectives

Four themes have been identified such as theme 1: infrastructural challenges; theme 2: Students’ Complains about Administrative staff; theme 3: lack of full awareness about ODE delivery mode by students and the Public; theme 4: challenges affecting NOUN students. Also, five subthemes were identified under theme 1, two subthemes each under theme 2 and theme 4.

The list of themes and subthemes which are related to research objective 1 are presented in table below:

4.4 Theme 1: Infrastructural challenges

There are several infrastructural challenges facing NOUN such as: Internet/Network issue, insufficient student administration and Support (missing results), issue of power supply, lack of good road access to the centre and poor location, Poor physical infrastructure facilities and insufficient course materials. Similar views has been reported in research conducted by Ayo et al. (2014) that, these are some of the pertinent challenges for Nigerian ODE practices. They also argue that there are such major challenges for ODE due to infrastructural issues such as poor internet and electricity supply, and that this has adversely affected proper execution of ODE programmes. One of the major infrastructural challenges that the institution faces in providing its services- the most significant is related to technology; the network which has created numerous problems for the students. They have to access the necessary materials from the internet and even write their exams online, which has been an issue for some students. Despite the NOUN KSC doing its best to deliver quality education to its students, it was still lacking in the physical infrastructure more especially internet and network system. There were challenges in the ICTs used by the institution. In response to this, Graduate 11 stated that: “the school Internet is not good, website and the portal, the access of the website given by the University is challenging”. Due to the network issue some time students are facing a lot of problems to submit their TMA’s. As stated by Student 5, “we cannot submit our TMAs because the internet server is faulty until when the institution has solved the problem.” Insufficient and unreliable internet access was reported, with subsequent detrimental effects on students’ grades and ability to submit examination work. System errors are a constant problem at the institution. For instance, once a student applied for admission into NOUN, Sauna-Kano study center but different study center’s name (i.e. Ado-Ekiti from Southern part) appeared in her admission letter. In order to overcome the system problems, the institution has upgraded the internet version. The school has undertaken initiatives to upgrade the web portal however; it has been causing trouble to the students during their registration exams. According to, Student 12: ‘Up to 50 percent of student could not submit their TMA’s because of the portal problem and it’s going to affect their general result for the semester so that is the major problem we are facing for now’. Student 15 stated “We are supposed to finish our exams before March-April 2017 but now they reschedule it to June-July 2017 due to network issues”. Similarly, another adverse effect as a result of network issue is missing result of the students and additional payments for the registration which have direct impact upon graduation of the students. One major reason for internet issue is insufficient student administration and support. The institution has not been working effectively to solve this issue as solutions being used to resolve network issue are increasing problems instead. Student 15: said, ‘I supposed to graduate last year but due to this issue of missing result I am still here. Now I have to go and do another registration, to pay a heavy amount of money for me to write another exam, while I have written and passed those exams last year.’ In relation to that Student 17F added: “The student also had problem with missing result” which she admitted having faced many problems pursuing them- “I have about eleven missing result from Level 100 to Level 400. “I did not miss any exams; I have eleven missing results (Student 17F). In addition, Graduate 15 agreed: Yes, you wrote exam and when the result is out, you will find that some results are missing. When you go and report, they will tell the situation is from Lagos, but I don’t know exactly who to complain to, because I have this problem, and also some of my colleagues. And at the end of the day, what they advised us is to go and pay for another registration for that exams again, you wrote the exam and you are sure you passed the exam, but at the end of the day you have write the exam again (Graduate 15). Student 6 cited that “tracing missing marks was hectic”. Student 10F stated that “one had to meet them face to face and table your problem to them.” Student 14 added that, as a result of internet/network problems, there was disconnection between the local management of the school and the headquarters in Abuja. More specifically, he asserted that, although the director tried to improve the school, he did not have the total power to make revolutionary changes in his own. The Staff 5 confirmed the effort of the new director: The success of this institution, Kano study center is attribute to the new Director because, we know when he came he said his primary goals is to make sure, he see how students are graduating. The issues of missing result, he will check it off, the success I will say during this convocation we were able to graduate a lot of students from this center unlike before. This confirmed the findings of Musingafi et al (2015) who found in their studies of challenges for open and distance learning students’ experiences at the Zimbabwe Open University, most of the students in ODL settings face problems like lack of support from instructors, delay in assignments and feedback, lost results, and sometimes their scores might not be recorded in their transcripts, among others: These instructional related challenges contributed negatively to students’ learning because students would find it difficult to move on to new content. Institutional related challenges were found as delayed or lack of study materials; lack of students support services in areas of guidance and counselling; and inadequate academic support and administrative services at the regional centre (Musingafi et al, 2015, p. 65).

Nigeria being a developing country has not been able to develop road infrastructure in different states of the country. The government has not been able to develop effective policies and strategies in developing this infrastructure. As a result, the road network in Kano state is also poorly developed and there is no proper road access to the centre. The condition of road is also very bad and since students have to cover long distance, their vehicles might break down frequently while coming to the center. Though regular classes are not conducted at the institution, the students must be physically present at the centre during exam so, practical access issues include, poor road conditions causing difficulty getting to the institution for examinations. While asking student 10 about the road, she first laughed and said ‘the road is worst especially during rainy season; in fact I am even scared of coming to school in rainy season’. Majority of the participants have agreed that the road access to the center is one of the biggest issues. Similarly, staff 4 said: ‘The challenges mostly are about the location; also the road access to the study center is the major challenge in Kano study center.’ This road issue should be addressed as soon as possible. Even though NOUN is not responsible for its improvement, it can pressurize Kano state government for repairing the road so that students no longer have to face problems in terms of poor road access to the schools environment. Equally, the location of the center is another challenge that is faced by NOUN KSC students. The location of the institution is not quite favorable for many students. Moreover, the environment around the institution is not friendly, and it is just like some kind of village. Though NOUN offers open and distance learning programmes, students prefer going to the university’s library and study there during exam periods to be with other students for mutual support and help. Also, they plan and conduct facilitation programmes if any issue arises. So, it is very difficult for the students to travel long distance to the institution and return to their home or workplace. Since the study center is located at far distance from the city, where majority of the participants have complained about the location of the institution and poor road network leading to the centre. Students consistently commented on the poor road access to the centre, and suggested about changing the location of the study center as it is very difficult for them in locating the place. Further, student 15F stated “my own problem is transport, my car has been broken down, and I must take three cabs [taxis] before reaching here, I think this is my biggest problem”. In addition Graduate 7F has made an appeal to the concern authority to relocate the center to the city, “what I would say is, they should please relocate the school from that remote area because it is too far, and they should provide another study center in the city center. The center it is too far from the town, it should be relocated to the city center for easy access.” This shows that, all the participants who were interviewed have agreed that NOUN KSC is located at far distance from the city and they have also agreed on poor road access being another major challenge. Similarly, staff 2 asserted: “We are far away from the city and the school is located at distant place especially here in Kano so many people do not like to come to our university”. There is a problem regarding the adequate infrastructure within the institution. The physical structure of the centre is not up to that standard which is required for the school. Though other time students learn from home, they can also plan and come to the centre for facilitation if any issue arises. Furthermore, during exams they prefer studying at school’s library, so it is essential to make the library bigger so that every student who wants to study will get place to sit. Although the main focus of the institution is to provide distance learning, access to and use of the building is still an important element and physical presence required at certain times. Repair and restoration is required. “The seats, tables and chairs of the school need to be repaired. Also the library is to be expanded with adequate materials for meeting needs of increasing number of students” (Student 10). When the employer was asked about his advice to NOUN, employer 5 asserted that “NOUN should upgrade the existing structures and bring more working materials.” In terms of facilities, the school is very good. But there is need to improve physical structures and visual things” (Student 6). Student 14 stated that, the library of the institution was often full and did not allow full accommodation. The capacity of the library is only accommodating forty five to fifty students at once. The student also mentioned poor management in terms of infrastructure maintenance and cleanliness of the facilities. Toilets and chairs were not enough; and these compromised the hygiene of the institution. Conversely, some students commented that some improvements have been made. For example, Graduate 4: said, “Yes there are a lot of changes positively. They brought a lot of improvement in terms of exam hall, lectures [facilitation], which will be conducted, when the registered students [for a particular course] reach certain number, the NOUN will provide them with a lecturer [facilitator]. In addition, Graduate 12 stated: When I was a student, there was no much this improvements, now the materials are available unlike when I started. The environment is more conducive than before, and there are a lot of staff you can talk to, when you have one or two challenges on like before, so I’m seen a positive improvements. Hence, from the perspectives of the graduates, there are positive progresses in the institution while the current students have held the opinion that the physical structure and the other infrastructural facilities are not adequate enough in institution.

Besides, internet/network issue, the institution is also experiencing power supply issue and shortage of computer. Even the equipment present in the school do not function properly, especially the computers which are used for exams. This is a common issue occurring at the examination hall; if any computer stops working, the staff change the seat of the student and if there is no any vacant place then one has to wait for someone to finish their exam. In response to this, student 5 highlighted that, “like today when we were writing the examination we experienced a power failure and we had to stay about 30 minutes before everything became normal’. In addition, Graduate 1 has confirmed the issue of power and computer network problems in the examination centre: …now you can imagine all the study centres are supposed to be on the National grid, now when power is not there and we are talking about where things are digital, most study centres face the issue of power ... the computers are not enough, or the computers are broken down, which means that some students have to wait for others to finish, for them to go in. So at times, an exam that is supposed to be 8 o’clock might take up to 4:00 o’clock, so there is a challenge. In addition the number of computers are not enough to accommodate the students during the exams (Graduate 1). One of the institution’s staff has confirmed the existence of the aforementioned challenges and assured, if the solution has been provided they will achieve better success by effectively offering ODE programmes: We have school internet, so the cable pair, is only that sometimes you see that there is no light while some times the network is not being effective. Therefore, I believe that if the university can make the network very effective and as far as possible have a little light at least for 2 to 3 hours based on this recession, we can do more than what we are doing and we will achieve success. And more people will be coming to us here. The poor electric and internet supply is sometimes affecting our daily activities in the Center (Staff 3). Similar view has been depicted by Jimoh (2013) who found out the major issues being power supply, poor ICT penetration, internet connectivity, etc. These issues need to be addressed quickly so that they will not create further problems in the future. The institution has a generator however, another challenge is to get diesel to run the generator. Regarding this, staff 4 said: The first difficulties we have is, we have electricity challenges, though we have generators but you know must of the generators use diesel and the diesel is scarce this time and expensive, we use internet almost everything is online so we need this light 24 hours so because of this we have challenges actually of electricity. In addition to these, there was also another report about the location of the center being inappropriate from environmental perspective. There is one crusher at the opposite of the center which is always crushing rocks, stones and producing dust. This is not good for health of both students as well as staff of the center. This also highlights on health and welfare issues of both staff and the students. While interviewing staff 6, he informed that plans are going on for either changing the location of study center to an easily accessible area or building administrative offices in the city. He further added that, the Vice Chancellor searches place around Magwan area. According to majority of the respondents, the government is primarily responsible for uplifting the standard of the study center. They should build the roads that connect study center to different parts of the state, and they should also provide physical and financial support to improve the facilities at the center. There are certain issues related to course materials even though the materials provided by the university are very good in quality. The materials are self-explained and it is easy for the learner to comprehend their content. However, the course materials are not enough and are not always available physically (hardcopies), but are available in the institution’s website from where materials are to be downloaded by paying additional cost. Even though the fees for whole course are paid at the registration time, the students are provided with course materials only for few courses and they do not get refund as well. This is one of the main issues often faced by most of NOUN students. In addition, Student 15 added that, there are not adequate materials available for her BSc Accounting course stating that “From my level one to level three I have registered about 50 courses, but I don’t think I got more than 5-7 course materials. Therefore, I have to pay in the cafe for me got the materials (download).” Student 4F and 8 shared the same opinion with student 15 have stated that: Sometimes not all reading materials are provided. In some cases you may require 10 course materials, but only 5 or 7 may be available (Student 4F).” “When we register eight (8) courses its hardly for us to get 2 two course materials, there is even a time that I didn’t get anyone” (Student 8). Moreover, Student 7F asserted the struggles of obtaining materials and printing materials from external facilities outside the school due to large queues in the school cyber cafe. One more issue connected along with limited materials, is financial constraint. In the relation to that, one of the graduates has stated that the main challenge in the institution is lack of availability of course materials: in response to this: Graduate 15 highlighted that: So at times or in most cases if you register for ten courses, it is hardly for you to get half of the courses materials. Some will even get one or two out of ten. I have experienced this so many times, and I have even seen other students that registered for ten courses without getting a single course material, and you must pay for the course materials. And they will later ask you to go and download, and you will still pay for that, and you will end up having double payment. Similar response has been given by student 7 stating “…..they may tell you that you pay your tuition fee together with the handout, but when it comes to printing later, they will tell you that this study guide is not available, you have to go to the internet and print it yourself.” However, there is contrary opinion among the institutions’ staffs; some have justified the views of the students and graduates. While others have claimed they have enough course materials and resources which the students can access from the library if they feel need to: We have enough course materials and we have other resources. Our students can access our e-learning [course materials] or even come here and access our books- course materials all are free of charge. Therefore the books have really helped not only our student but the visitors and other universities as well (Staff 3). In support of the views of the above issue, one of the institution’s staff has stated that: Let me start by the course materials. When a student registers a particular course s/he can come to the study centre or to the store where we issue them the available materials we have. In a situation where we don’t have the availability of course materials, we have an open site where a student can go to download those missing course materials. Equally we have them in our library and the e-library (Staff 1). But downloading course materials charges additional fees and students might feel such fees as burden. So, if students take courses and cannot access course materials online then there are chances that they might withdraw from certain courses which eventually affects their learning.

4.5 Theme 2: Students’ Complains about Administrative staff

Another challenge facing NOUN is students’ complaints about administrative staff as the staff lack high problem solving skills and there is lack of proper communication between NOUN and the employers. NOUN has not been able to recruit sufficient at their study centers for solving issues of the students. Due to this some major problems are solved only at National Headquarters in Abuja. The VC in his speech during the 6th convocation has confirmed that, one of the issues facing the institution is “massive shortfall in staff remuneration that restricted employment and overburden existing staff” (NOUN, p. 8). The staff are not enough to meet the needs of number of students who are being admitted at the study centers. Additionally, there are so many issues existing in the center, in terms of poor relationship between staff and students, lack of good responses from the staff as well as poor communication between the center and the headquarters. As evidenced by: Student 2: In my view, I think the headquarters don’t have enough staff to carry out some specific tasks. Secondly the staffs there are not being serious with their work. They are not serious with the problems of the students so they can resolve issues when they like and leave it when they like. The study materials are available online but for that, the students have to pay for downloading materials. However, if the students go to the study center, they can get required materials at free of cost so many students prefer going to the University for getting books. However, when they visit the university, often there are no staff to provide them books. Graduate 1 stated “though the registration is online, one has to come to the study center to collect books and in this area of documentation there is shortage of staffs. At times, there is not staff to provide the books to the students.” With regards to the shortage of staffs in the center, one of the staff has confirmed that the staffs are not enough in the center and he suggested that there is need to have more staff because the population of student is always increasing, he stated, I can suggest, for example here, even the offices are not enough therefore we need more staff as the University is expanding’ (Staff 3). As stated above, the personnel are failed to maintain proper relationship with the students. Not only with the students but they have also failed to develop good relation with their colleagues. As evidenced by an administrator when he was asked what difficulties he encountered in the management of staff, he stated: The difficulties mostly you know as an administrator you would find it difficult maybe within your colleagues. Is easier to manage students, but managing your colleagues is different. Maybe the management of colleagues as an administrator is the only challenge we are facing, sometimes you can give directives to somebody do things he/she might feel why will I do this, he is seeing you as his/her colleague. There is that disobedience sometimes, and sometimes you take decisions and somebody will feel that decision you took it offend him, it will may think that the Boss didn’t do well for him he will see you as one person who is trying to maltreat him. Virtually these are the only challenges one is facing, but regarding the work is okay (Staff 5). Moreover, in any organisation, mutual cooperation is much needed between the members without which goals and objectives of the organization cannot be attained. But in some study centers of NOUN, staffs are seen disobeying their managers/supervisors which are a very serious issue. This issue has created communication gap between students and headquarters, such that the complaints filed by the students are ignored. NOUN has failed in hiring more skilled and competent staff for solving students’ issues and providing them better services. Thus, NOUN facilitators or staff must be alert to provide necessary information to the students in case of any complaint filed. Moreover, they need to provide adequate support to all the students by answering their queries, solving their issues thus developing good relationship with the students as there are many complaints on poor support from NOUN staff. As for example student 2 said “I have written an exam but I was not given the report of my result and I made a complaint and there is no reply up to this time.” As per the student 2, it has been 5-6 months that he has not got any response from the headquarters and while asking about the same, he was given different responses from different staff members. Yes, they have to communicate with the headquarters. I should have had my certificate since 2013 but up to now the certificate is not ready. I do not know what exactly is the problem pending my certificate. I have heard several different responses here from the staff each one is telling me different thing (Student 2). Additionally, from the interviews it has been found that the flow of communication within the university i.e. between administration and staff is also very poor. As evidenced by staff 2: There is delay in information from administration [headquarters] about any new thing. We are not been informed about any new progress on time due to which we have to come across with various problems at times. However, after arrival of new administration we are seeing some improvement on this matter.

4.6 Theme 3: Lack of Full Awareness about ODL Mode of Delivery

Another issue is lack of awareness about ODL programmes including limited awareness about ODL programmes among students, poor perceptions by the public, limited advertisement by NOUN. Most of the students in NOUN face problem regarding teaching and learning mode of the institution. In NOUN there are no permanent lecturers who will regularly come to the centre to teach students and to whom the students can ask questions in the middle of the lecture as well known in conventional universities. There are large numbers of students who find it difficult to learn on their own and this might be due to the fact that, they are not well acquainted with open and distance learning system and they lack prerequisite skills such as self-learning skills, understanding skills, analytical skills, and others. Besides, most of the students lack basic computer skills and since NOUN offers programmes via online platform, they face much difficulties while learning online. Regarding this student 3 said “…..there are no lecturers who would tell you this is A, B or C or who will tell you 2 + 2 = 4.” So, some of the students are forming group with their colleagues for sharing ideas and discussing issues in form of group discussion. They are also seeking help from professional at particular course who can teach them very well and answer their queries thus, making the context clearer. Besides this, the students can come to the university, stay at the library and use paper based resources. Mostly, students’ flow is higher during exam time as most students prefer reading at institution’s library at this time. So, in order to succeed in the Open University, one needs reading habit, if learners have reading habit then they are exposed to lots of books which open up their mind. Once their mind is open then they can easily understand even with little explanation as they can relate whatever they are being taught with something they have read earlier (Ifedili. 2009). Hence, those having reading habit can easily understand by reading books without somebody to stand face to face. Regarding this, student 5 said, “I have developed reading habit since I joined primary school and this habit of mine has been much helpful in understanding course content delivered at NOUN. I am capable of learning on my own so, I usually do not need one to stand in front of me and teach me. Further, I have succeeded in getting good scores by joining this university.” However, such reading habit is very poor in Nigerian students as confirmed by Ifedili, in his research who stated that: There was a high decline rate in the reading habit among the students in the tertiary institution; that 60% of students read prescribed textbooks only during examination period; that browsing and watching television have taken most of students' time for reading and that only 21% of students buy novels to read for knowledge and pleasure (Ifedili, 2009, p.1). Nevertheless, NOUN seems to be an appropriate institution for those who are unable to continue further studies under tough admission criterion, inflexible teaching and learning practices of conventional institutions can also give continuity to higher education by joining Open University. Though, some of the public considered NOUN as an effective vehicle for increasing access to higher education for any interested learner but for that the institution needs to carry out extensive awareness programmes and advertisement campaigns, so that large number of people come to know about the institution and become encouraged in studying there. However, some of the people of Kano state have poor understanding about ODE programmes and even the NOUN institution. ODE programme is new to the majority of Nigerians as they are more familiar with conventional system of education. In response to this staff 1 stated “Some were thinking of the NOUN as a private institution because of the modalities in administering the institution. Most of the people do not know the difference between conventional system of education and distance learning.” Sharing this experience while interviewing staff 4 said, “Some people don’t know more about mode of delivery of ODE system of education and they are afraid that whether our university is accredited by NUC or not, as getting admission is easier unlike conventional universities.”

NOUN is a popular open and distance learning institution in Nigeria, people still hold certain misconceptions regarding programmes offered, mode of programme delivery, recognition of the graduates, accreditation of the institution, among others. Some reservations were discovered about the NOUN programmes and its teaching/learning method. The public doubt whether certificates provide by the institution will be recognized or not and there are so many misconceptions about regulatory authority as well as governing rules that direct the institution. Besides, there is poor perception about NOUN programmes and its degrees among the public. It has been very long since NOUN has come into its existence, however; there is higher percentage of people who are not aware even about the existence of NOUN KSC. The main reason behind this (poor perceptions by the public) is limited advertisement by NOUN. Other HE institutions in Kano are doing much advertisement about their schools, programmes and facilities with the help of different forms of media but NOUN has been lagging behind in this aspect. Though, the scenario has been improved to some extent as stated above. Earlier much information had not been disseminated to the public about NOUN programmes and their products (graduates) had not been tested. But now, the employers have now started recognizing NOUN, its programmes and graduates following high performance shown by NOUN graduates at their workplace. However, there is much to do in order to increase public awareness on this institution and the programmes offered. According to student 15, most of the people outside discriminate NOUN. He further talked about his friend who had told him that NOUN certificates are not accepted by lots of organisations. Further, during interview, student 2 stated that “most of the people are not aware about the procedures of the institution, quality assurance system and accreditation of the institution. Also there are many people who do not know the value of NOUN certificate.” Similar response has been given by staff 3 stating that large number of people perceive the NOUN being a part time or satellite campus though it is a full time university offering globally recognized degree. Likewise, staff 4 said, “Some people were afraid that whether our university is accredited by NUC as getting admission is easier in this university.” So, in order to mitigate such misconception and encourage students’ flow to the institution, various awareness campaigns and advertisements are required. Indeed, several initiatives are being taken up for providing massive information regarding NOUN and its programmes to the public. Majority of the participants have agreed that, the institution is planning to conduct a mass advertising campaign via radio, television, posters, billboards, and social media. They have formed a strong Campaigns team which will visit traditional and religious congregations in Kano for educating the public about the importance of distance learning programmes. In addition, seminars and workshops have been organized in order to increase people’s awareness about the ODE programme in the state.

4.7 Theme 4: Challenges Affecting NOUN Students

There are some challenges affecting the programme in the institution, which include the level of student fees and lack of technical competency in use of ICTs by students. There are some students who considered tuition fees at NOUN being another challenge to them. The fees of registration are more expensive when compared to any other conventional universities. The admission fee for them is much higher at NOUN. It is equally costly to acquire books (either through buying or downloading the books). Regarding this, student 18 said, “I have a friend who studying at the Northwest University where he is paying thirty-two – thirty-four thousand naira only per year semester- equivalent to [£70], while such fee at NOUN University is around fifty thousand naira- equal to [£100].” In support of this, one graduate reports: The main issue or another challenge [in NOUN] is finance, must of the courses offered by the Open University are highly cost. The rate of the courses are higher these also give another challenge to NOUN students, for the prospective student to see the fees are higher than the conventional institution they won’t come, the fees is very higher (Graduate 11). In addition to this, when asking one employer whether they are sending their employees to study at NOUN, his response was: Of course we do, I am even the Training Officer of the Primary Health Care Managing Board, I can even show you from my computer more than 200 people who applied for NOUN and have been given admission but some were not been able to register because the registration fees is high they can’t afford to pay for it (Employer 8). Similarly, the lack of computer literacy among the students and use of ICTs is another issue facing open and distance learning at NOUN. The mode of delivery of the institution is based on open and distance learning which is possible only through the medium of information technology. But most of the students lack prerequisite computer skills and since NOUN offers ODE programmes via online platform, it is difficult for these students to cope up with online learning activities. This is a serious issue because students lacking basic computer skills and knowledge have to face much complexities while accessing NOUN programmes and this can stand as major hindrance for achieving educational needs of the students. Hence, lack of technical competency in use of ICTs by students has been major challenge for the institution to deliver ODE programmers effectively to the learners so that their academic motives can be fulfilled. With regards to issue related to technical competency employer 2 stated that: The institution runs using the e-platform which many people aren’t familiar with. Large numbers of individuals do not possess computer usage knowledge and they lack basic computer skills. I think it is a very critical issue and one needs to be computer literate to be able to enrol into their (NOUN) programmes. A similar response has been given by staff member 4 who stated that “Most of the students are not computer literate, so we have to face numerous challenges. Some of them do not know how to operate the computers.” So, students enrolled at NOUN should study and learn on e-platform which will help them to study at their convenience. It also helps them to improve their IT knowledge thus making them competent for global competition.

4.7.1 Analysis: Evidence of NOUN Role of increasing access to Higher Education in Kano State and Nationally

Two themes were identified along with 8 subthemes which are explained as follows:

The list of themes and subthemes related to research objective 2 are presented in table below:

4.8 Theme 5: NOUN as a Facilitator for Continuing Education and Increasing Access to Higher Education

NOUN has increased the level of further studies to Higher Education in Nigeria more especially in Kano State where, most of the people are business people, farmers and traders. So with the introduction of NOUN, most of them have now got access to the HE and further their studies through the means of open and distance learning mode. While asking the graduates about the role of NOUN in increasing access to HE, the response was: Well actually National Open University of Nigeria has tremendously brought about a lot of opportunities for the working class and even the adult or per say secondary school leavers opportunities to undergo different courses due to the incessant and inflows’ of student into the conventional universities due to the space is very limited. (Graduate 14). Supporting this, staff 6 and 10 added: …… As I told you is highly to go to ministries parastatals or other institutions that you did not see NOUN graduates, even some of the university lecturers come here for their further studies we have student from Bayero University, Ahmad Bello University and other conventional universities come here to do their masters and PhD’s. Some are joining NOUN to further their education or do another degrees (Staff 6). There are some worker who have their NCE Certificate or Diploma Certificate but they haven’t get access to go and further their education, all these type of people we are going to their places and enlighten them with such programmes and tell them they have chances and opportunities to further their studies in NOUN and they will continue their studies all together with their jobs nothing will harm their studies or their jobs. Also there are some Local government areas where they have health workers while most of them holding certificates called ‘Chew or CHO2’ when they get there [certificates] they will not go further, so people are now coming to further their studies (Staff 10). In addition, NOUN offers courses like B.Sc. in Public Health and B.Sc. Community Health which are not offered in most of the universities located in Northern Nigeria, also fewer, among the universities offered BSc Nursing and Midwifery. Due to this, workers of Public health and Nursing and Midwifery who do not have BSc degrees need not to go other states or countries in obtaining such degree. As a result, there has been an increase in the number of learners coming to this university to enhance their knowledge in respective professional field. Similarly, NOUN has supported many students to achieve their education aspiration. With regards to this, staff 6 stated, “Many working people who are interested in civil service have acquired several degrees, diplomas and are presently working in both public and private sector.” In this way, qualified as well as interested people who wish to take in any degree programme either undergraduate or post graduate but bounded by several restrictions can have opportunity to fulfill their educational aspiration. For fulfilling increasing demands of people for further studies, many study centers are being established in every state, some local government headquarters and additional Community Study Centers in some of the agencies in the states. In response to this, staff 8 said, “We also have study centers for Police, Army, Civil Defence groups, and so many groups like that who have missed an opportunity to go to conventional study center due to their nature of job. NOUN is a centre whereby many adults especially the ones in the civil service go for training in order to acquire additional qualification that will improve their skills and give them chance to reach certain position in their work places. In fact, it is a place whereby staffs of various places go there to acquire knowledge while performing their roles in their places of work (Employer 2). NOUN has about 77 centers across the country, it is actively working for providing access to HE and expansion of adult education and lifelong learning opportunities in the country. Talking about this, staff 7 stated, “…..we have a center for Lifelong learning in Kaduna and that center is collaborating with Kaduna State and Sokoto State Governments to train young people to provide the Lifelong learning skill.” He further talked about financial assistances from international agency like World Bank in meeting the objectives. Addressing the significance of lifelong learning, NOUN has combined two powerful units into a bigger and more robust unit. As highlighted by the VC during the 6th Convocation Ceremony, the components units were Center for Educational Technology and Entrepreneurial Development (CETED) in Kaduna and Center for Lifelong Learning (CLL) in Lagos, to form Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and Lifelong Learning (CESLL) centered in Kaduna. The center is mainly aimed at providing skill development trainings to young adults and those outside the institution. Moreover, CESLL has also undergone partnerships with different government agencies with a purpose for providing skills to youngsters who have left school due to various reasons (NOUN, 2017). In this way, NOUN plays substantial role in improving skills of the learners which help them a lot for achieving professional development. Unlike other conventional universities, the students are not required to visit the University for Regular Classes. They only have to be present at the University for writing exam however, most students like to go to the university and study at library during exam time. Since, the students at NOUN do not need to attend regular classes, many people who were compelled to leave their study due to certain commitments can now join NOUN and achieve higher degree which will be highly beneficial for them in their professional career. The key ODE stakeholders in Kano State have revealed their perspectives that, the greatest role of NOUN is increasing access to HE through distance education to different groups of people in Nigeria particularly Kano. When asked about the role of NOUN, most of the interviewees asserted that the institution was established to increase access to higher education. According to the graduates, NOUN had provided a means for Intergenerational Learning (IL) which describes the way that people belonging to different age group can learn together and from each other. The Graduate 1, asserted that, “I think the role that NOUN has played is that of facilitating access to higher education, it has opened up education to the ordinary citizen ...” From her point of view, access was provided through “affordability, accessibility and flexibility that it gives to people, for them to be able to study.” NOUN has been beneficial for adult learners, who are interested to pursue their knowledge but bounded by several restrictions such as work, family responsibilities, and so on. The university has no borders and its main purpose is to fulfil needs and demands of adult learners for HE in Nigeria. For achieving this objective, the university is providing distant learning to its students through conveying knowledge to any nook and crannies of Kano state. NOUN is a center for continuing education and professional development which has helped a large number of individuals in accessing HE for their personal developments. Not only the students or graduates of NOUN also number individuals from other institutions have been benefitted by downloading course materials of NOUN and used them in research and other purposes. Even the lecturers of conventional universities refer course materials of NOUN via online for lecturing their students.

Graduate 1, mentioned that “as a result of NOUN graduates are becoming increasingly independent and developing their learning and understanding skills”. In his statements, he stated that “NOUN has been successful in developing students’ skills such that they can understand most of the content of the books”. Employer 2, added that: “NOUN is a centre whereby many adults especially the ones in the civil service go for training in order to acquire additional qualification that will improve their skills and give them chance to reach certain position in the places of work. Best on the opinion of the participants NOUN has been contributed a lot in meeting the needs and demands of adult learners in the country. Generally, Northern Nigeria is left behind in the matter of education as there are not enough universities which have made getting admission into universities highly competitive. So, most of the people who are interested to study in conventional universities could not get the admission at such universities since the number of students’ intake is very limited and they are unable to give admission to all those applicants. NOUN had facilitated access to HE when most conventional universities were busy denying chances – “the number of students seeking for admission into conventional university has been reduced due to the fact that some students enrol into National Open University” (Student 3F). The participant further asserted that, the criteria utilised within NOUN was different from that which are prevalent within conventional universities and further facilitated access to organisational facilities The same view was evident in the words of the Graduate 3F who used her personal example to elaborate the ease of access to HE provided by NOUN. In her statements, the interviewee asserted that after failing to get admission into several reputable conventional universities, her application within NOUN was fast and convenient. In this regard, staff 5 gave an example of Bayero University Kano where around 80,000 students had applied for the admission but only 5,000 of them got admission.” Though registration fees are higher at NOUN compared to other conventional universities, admission procedure is quite easier and candidates have higher chances for being selected. So, all those people are being attracted towards NOUN and coming to this university to gain knowledge as there is no seat limitations since the mode of education is open and distance learning based and there are no any tough admission requirements for the applicants. With the help of NOUN, chances for getting admission into universities have increased which in turn has decreased the number of students seeking for admission into conventional universities. Further, student 6, just like student 3F acknowledged the difficulty in securing admission within conventional universities in comparison to NOUN. More specifically, he claimed, “there is difficulty in enrolling into conventional institutions so, you can use the opportunity to study here instead of wasting time seeking for admission in the conventional universities.” Moreover, the institution has an expanded capacity to take in most of the applicants who denied admission by the conventional universities: Nationally of course Nigeria has problem with access to HE in the sense that there are many young people who desire higher education and also qualified for higher education placement in Universities in the country but we discovered that we have so much limited number of universities in the country that will take in most of these students. So, NOUN as an ODL institution has the capacity, in fact an expanded capacity to take in most of these students. So, we tried to make the door open, so that qualified candidates who wants to be students, who wants to take in any degree programme, undergraduate or postgraduate studies will have the opportunity to do that. So, is a special mandate that NOUN has, to expand access to University education (Staff 8). The perception of increase access was further reiterated by Employers 1, 5 and 7 when asked if NOUN served to increase access to HE. In addition to these, employer 5 asserted; “with the coming of NOUN a lot of our staffs are now able to attain that particular training and they come up with very good results.” The employer 7 stated that, “… it gave opportunities to those people who were earlier deprived of getting education due to their work commitments. Even the employers encourage their employees to continue higher studies so as to improve existing skills and knowledge of the employees.” He further cited an example of one of his staff “… there is one person in my office who is now a supervisor due to immense support from NOUN” (Employer 7). Thus, NOUN has contributed a lot to promote higher education in Kano and it has also helped to bridge education inequalities in Nigeria. From its reestablishment in 2001, thousands of students have been graduated. NOUN has a lot of advantages and flexibilities to it students. Students at NOUN can register same course in the same year but at different time but that facility is not possible with conventional universities. In those universities, admission is open only once in a year but NOUN provides multiple chances for application. In order to identify the needs of public and other stakeholders, NOUN organises the interviews through radio programmes, where it provides massive information to all the stakeholders about the institution. It also holds convocation lectures for promoting the university and clearing doubts of public. Furthermore, NOUN is open to all categories of people including physically challenged and is focusing on addressing educational needs of those people through introducing various assistances. For that the institution is working with several committees who know how to teach differently abled people so that the university can apply techniques adopted by such committees in teaching those people. The institution is also using help from these committees to solve the problems faced by physically challenged students. Similarly, NOUN has been effectively and instantly responding to the needs of the public and other stakeholders. There is student counsellor who directs guides and gives advice to the students on what to do and how to do. In NOUN everyone from director to lower level staff are available 24/7 on providing information to the needy ones either they are students or people from other study centers. Even the door to Vice Chancellor is always open at NOUN, one can contact him through mail, telephone or meet in person in case of any problem but this facility is not accessible in conventional institutions. Regarding this, staff 7 stated, “We have also set up a website which has not activated yet called “Talk to the VC”, the idea behind that website is for students to share their problems with VC whether the problem is associated with the examination, admission, library, and so on.” Additionally, as stated by staff: We are using emails, text messages or phone calls to communicate or disseminate information to the student. We do advertise them to create a group on WhatsApp, Facebook etc. So when there is any information they will just send it to that group to communicate with other group members (Staff 4).

In Nigeria there are some groups of individuals who have been excluded or denied access to HE through conventional system of education due to several reasons such as; age, socio-cultural and societal beliefs, economic condition, prisoners, individual with responsibilities among others. However, with the establishment of NOUN such groups potentially because of its remit have also got equal opportunities to continue higher studies and meet their educational needs (NOUN, 2017a). Old people who want to pursue higher studies but hesitate on going to conventional institutions where their younger brothers, sons and daughters or grandchildren are studying can also fulfill their educational aspiration with the help of NOUN. At NOUN there is no any age difference between older and younger age people. In addition, the flexibility of NOUN motivated a lot of individuals who are over 60 years to join the institution. In response to this, Student 5 stated that, “I was motivated to join this institution because of its flexibility. In fact, they made everything easy to access even though I am about over 60 years old; with this age I can’t go to conventional institutions”. Similarly, student 4 who is about to reach 60 years said, “At NOUN, I need not have to be ashamed of my age since I can pursue my higher education without attending regular classes. This distance learning mode of education has supported me in fulfilling my dream of achieving higher education which I had thought to remain unfulfilled in conventional universities.” This indicates that NOUN has always given much emphasis on equal opportunity towards education for every person in the country and it is closely aligned to compliance with students’ needs for increasing access to HE. The institution has a broader remit to provide for a number of groups including prisoners, women in purdah and other marginalized individuals. NOUN provides enabling environment to those groups irrespective of their, social status or economic circumstances, age, beliefs, physical abilities or gender, all these are not a barrier to pursue their HE. This has attracted people’s attention towards this institution: Employer 7 also highlights the same idea in asserting NOUN as an enabling environment where all categories of people can gain further studies. So, NOUN provides what we call enabling environment or the diversity of group of people to acquire university education especially the disenfranchised, marginalized women groups, young people, those in IDP camps. All kind of categories of people in the society are our target. So NOUN exists in order to provide equal opportunity for Nigerians to acquire education regardless of their economic circumstances (Employer 7). As evidenced by Staff 9 who stated, “We provide access to what we call the disadvantage people we provide through creating special centers creating community centers creating regular study centers that is why we have about 78 study centers all over the country”. He further provided an example: Like we have the prison study center people who are disadvantage who cannot have access to conventional system and they cannot leave their place of work or where they are situated, the university now moves to their doors step. The word ‘disadvantage’ in our own term it means those who cannot access the HE through conventional universities either because of culture, beliefs or because of their economic situation and so on (Staff 9). NOUN was also found to increase access to higher education for females more especially housewives. Indeed, there are large numbers of girls who were deprived access to HE through conventional institutions due to socio-cultural or societal beliefs. These girls are married off immediately when they reach age of fourteen years or so, or even before completing their secondary education more especially in the northern part of the country. As evidenced by Daniel (2016, p. 1) who stated that “In the northern Nigeria for example, there is the highest rate of early marriage. Nearly about 48% of girls are married by age 15”. By joining NOUN, housewives can continue their study along with looking after children, performing household chores, and so on activities. During interviews, many respondents state that, a large number of women are rushing to get admission at NOUN because of flexibility provided by the institution. A female student asserted that: Well it is very good because some mothers this days they don’t have opportunity to study at conventional schools, but now because of this institution they got an opportunity for HE. At least they have time to interact with new people and to study they also have time to take care of their family too, because the logo of this university is ‘work and learn’ and they can equally do their business at their own time and study as well. NOUN is really good for mothers and even some student that want to work and those that are even training themselves they don’t want to go to conventional school (Student 13F). Some of these girls are not allowed to attend schools or their husbands cannot afford for conventional education. So, addressing this challenge, staff 7 stresses that:

NOUN programmers are very flexible and give opportunity for people to acquire education, our main focus as of target actually is of Northern Nigeria, we have a lot of young girls who have finished secondary school and they get married and their husbands will not sponsor them to go for conventional education not because they don’t want them to become educated because they can’t afford the registration, they can’t the trouble of going up and down and they won’t allow them to stay on campus because of the cultural part and the believe so now they are at home, they are not doing anything at home, they can study for now, we are targeting them. In April 2017 we have arranged a Massive Advocacy which target them so that we can now draw their attention that NOUN is available to them. They can register for NOUN on your mobile phones from at home (Staff 7). Even the prisoners and juveniles have such facility to pursue their HE at NOUN which is free of charge i.e. prisoners do not need to pay tuition fees to acquire higher education from NOUN. If a person is locked up in a jail for whatever reason and s/he has minimum qualification then that person is allowed to continue the study and graduate. From his point of view Staff 7 also gave an example of one prisoner, who actually graduated during his imprisonment with the help of NOUN and after that registered for Masters from the prison itself. He further asserted that: Yes, he registered for his masters. So we provided all prisoners free of charge including juveniles, you know like Juvenile youth, they have just finished secondary school, but somehow involved with drugs or crimes or whatever it is, if they are locked up. While they are there getting angry about society, planning all horrible things to do when they come out, we give them education free of charge (Staff 7). According to definition of disadvantaged people by NOUN there are women in purdah (i.e. those who are restricted by religion or culture) and market women and these groups are not able to obtain higher education in conventional institutions. But now, most of these groups have been able to fulfil their educational needs due to ODL programmes of NOUN as evidenced by statements from female students, student 4F, student 7F, student 10F and student 15F. In order to begin with, student 4F stated that, “NOUN provides opportunities to people, especially to us females. We have many responsibilities at home and therefore we cannot get time to attend conventional universities, but this institution really saves us by giving us chance to take part in HE”. Additionally, she advised her counterparts to join NOUN especially those that have a lot of responsibility at home. More specifically, she asserted that “they can have sufficient time for their families and also for their studies.” Another student added: If you noticed very well, there are a lot of married women in Open University, so they make it easy for them to study and have time to take care of their homes, while most of them are workers too… secondly, it is very easy because you have the time to read, after doing your house chores you will be able to read (Student 10F). As asserted by Staff 9: “Those women who were earlier excluded to enrol in conventional institutions due to some cultural issues, religious reasons and other barriers including women in purdah and market women are now able to pursue their educational needs. For that they do not need to attend regular classes at the institution and they can learn by staying at their place of convenience.” Similarly, NOUN students have more free time to do other things like jobs. But sufficient free time is not available for students from conventional universities as lecturers can fix extra classes during weekends too which the students must attend. So, working students cannot be able to manage their work and study concurrently by enrolling in conventional institutions. For adults, they may not have enough time for going to conventional universities due to lots of responsibilities and also their employers may have problems on releasing them for further studies, so the most appropriate solution to such people is NOUN. Since NOUN aims to enrol as many students, the entry requirements are also simple- five O-Level credits including English and Mathematics. After student got the admission there is no need to come to the regularly, they can study at their convenient place and they only require to come for writing their exams. Additionally, most of the people in Nigeria have poor economic background; about 80% of the population live below two-dollar per day, it is very difficult for them to continue higher studies as they have to take over family responsibility (National Bureau of Statistics, 2016). While, they have great desire to study further and they leave the study in the midway to financially support their family as it is not possible for them to continue their job and attend conventional universities. For those people NOUN has been the most appropriate medium for continuing their higher studies as the motto of the NOUN itself is “Work and Learn”. Here people can learn and get certificate while continuing their work. NOUN has provided flexibility in terms of admission, examination and other academic activities. Initially, NOUN has been established to support working groups in accessing university education and so far it has really been successful in meeting educational needs of the targeted groups. If any student especially working student is not prepared for the examination then he can suspend it and continue later however, s/he should graduate within the given time. But if he wants, he can even extend his graduation but that does not mean he has failed. Due to this extreme flexibility, NOUN has been the most favorite destination of working students and many students are being motivated to enrol at NOUN University. Indeed, NOUN was found to be ideal for working individuals, business people and married women. Most of the participants stated that NOUN allowed them to perform their duties due to its flexibility. Regarding this, student 7 said: I am a working student. My main reason to join NOUN is that this institution offers flexible programmes and enables me to continue my work along with the study. I have great aspiration to continue further studies and at the same time, I cannot afford leaving my job due to weak financial status of my family. NOUN has been a huge support for me in continuing my work along with meeting higher educational needs. In the same way, student 2F stated: “A businessman and a worker can learn all at the same time with their respective responsibilities, especially we females”. The same view persisted with Student 15F who specifically stated that: Yes, I am a worker and NOUN programme allows me to work and learn at the same time, also the programme is flexible and it gives a lot of opportunities to people more especially females because we are a mothers and we have a lot of responsibilities at home. So for me to attend the conventional university would be very difficult for me (Student 15).

When asked the employer if they employed NOUN graduates, he responded: “…one thing I want you to understand is that most of the NOUN students are already employed they are civil servants who are unable to acquire higher education at an earlier stage and now with flexibility and nature of the course, they can work and continue learning, and what we normally do is endorse the promotion of those who have graduated from NOUN (Employer 5). This is among the distinguished characteristics of Open and Distance learning as defined by Jimoh (2013, p.3) who argues that ODL is “a type of learning whereby opportunity is given to people (young and elderly) who have passed the ages of admission into regular universities to continue their education. It is also directed at youngsters beyond school age, who are qualified and desire to earn a university degree”. When probed further from NOUN staff members 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9 confirmed that the system allows students to be flexible within their tasks and their studies. To begin with staff 2, stated that, ““The mode of study is flexible and it is easier to get admission into the NOUN and continue with their work. Unlike other conventional universities, there is no JAMB or post JAMB in our requirements.” Staff 7, added that: The system is so flexible, for instance a student may register for about 10 courses, but he will decide that he will only take examination in five of them and no problem these are the ones I think, I can afford to take exam on, so he will register for five examination and then defer the other five to another time to another examination depending on his own needs and that is making a lot of people comfortable (Staff 7). Additionally, staff 9 highlighted an interesting opinion where he mentioned a mass migration of students from the rigid conventional institutions to the flexible NOUN. Here, [NOUN] the students are not restricted to only their study center, where they registered. The flexibility in NOUN is that, whenever the student have posted somewhere, for example if you are working in Abuja and now transferred or posted to Lagos you can only change your study center when arrives at Lagos. That is why most of the people are interested to join our programme (Staff 9). The above illustrations have shown the institution is very flexible in its programmes; therefore, for any working student it would not be difficult to balance his work and study. Simultaneously thus there will be less stress on work life balance of the NOUN students.

4.8.1 To Explore how the Nigerian Quality Assurance System (QAS) has Responded to the Challenges of ODE in Increasing Access to HE within Kano State

The term QAS in Nigeria has been perceived by stakeholders as meeting the customers' needs and corresponds with NUC’s guidelines and government QA standards. For instance, organisation’s accreditation at programmers and institution levels, assessment of qualities in research and teaching, review of institutional processes as well as regulation of standards (Arsovski, 2007). The National Universities Commission is the national government body that is in the authority of the role of accreditation of universities and higher learning institutions offering degrees programmes in the country. Ibijola, (2014) argues that the role of NUC is to ensure that institutions of HE, be it private, state or federal, maintain its specified rules and regulations which include the availability of adequate infrastructure, structures, and resources; assessments; accreditation; visitation; impact assessment; and, minimum academic standard. Below is the responses of ODE stakeholders in Kano State. Based on the above objective, two themes were identified:

The list of themes and subthemes related to research objective 3 are presented in table below:

4.9 Theme 6: Quality Assurance Unit Providing Trainings at Headquarters

There is quality assurance unit headed by a directorate, a very reputable academician / administrator and this unit is involved in providing training to the staff at the headquarters. The unit also monitors the functioning of the staff members to decide whether they are performing qualitatively or not. Its primary responsibility to ensure that each officer or staff is making student or learning move forward smoothly without any problem. In response to this, staff 3 said, “….there is quality assurance, every center has its desk officer, they go for a workshop, and they are always been updated on the internet, and they are writing report of whatever they do and send it from time to time to headquarters.” In addition Staff 9 commented: The quality assurance unit are doing their best to do the good work, you know they are working hand in hand with all the units in the university to make sure that the quality of the degree we are awarding is qualitative and acceptable to everybody and then they are doing everything which are possible to make sure that this is guarantee, this is what they are doing. We have formed a quality assurance committee which supervises all the activities of the institution to ensure quality. Further, we organize different workshops, seminars and invite all staff members to attend such programmes for improving their skills and knowledge. However, issues exist regarding: Quality assurance system of the institution such as insufficient highly skilled employees; missing results; delay in examination process, Since NOUN has around 78 study centers and it is quite difficult to organise trainings for all study centers on a frequent basis. So, the university is running four training or workshops in a year to accommodate all study centers. Quality assurance is a very big department about which information is available only from the headquarters so somebody at the study center cannot provide much information on quality assurance. Furthermore, new staffs are being recruited; assigned duties and their activities are being monitored by the center Director. Also any issues or problems evolving during the course of operation are sent to the headquarters so as to solve the issues effectively. Staff 9 also stated: What we normally do is this the quality assurance unit is normally develop questioners or what we call measurement instrument on the performance of each activity in the university and then when each of this activity its submitted periodically we do it 4 times a year we collect the data and documented, processes and procedures from different unit and analyse their response to some of the services they provide then we come up with our findings and then make recommendations to the management. When he was further asked about success or failure, his response was: Yes there was a success. Our focus NOUN is to make every staff conscious about the quality in terms of the operation that is to say NOUN each staff we have advocacies head because is that we give out to our staff when they attend workshop to make sure that there is need for quality assurance of whatever they are doing, I mean that we started with sensitization workshop covering every staff in the university which we have successfully done to make sure that they are very much aware (Staff 9). Additionally, qualified and competent staff are granted sponsorship to attend workshops, seminars, short courses and conferences so that they can advance their knowledge in fields that are related to their part of duties by learning from the professionals or taking part in group discussions. Similarly, it is also mentioned in the rules and regulations of NOUN that in house training and development programmes like workshops, seminars and meetings among the departments are to be organized for the development of NOUN officers or staff. Additionally, the institution should execute Staff Development Scheme to fulfil training needs of the staff, so that they can provide better services to the stakeholders thus ensuring quality assurance of the university. Ogunleye (2013) has labelled quality assurance in HE as a multidimensional concept that encompasses all activities and functions of a higher learning institution that include, equipment, teaching, programme design, scholarship, students, buildings, facilities, services to the community and the academic environment. Another theme was availability of the resources at NOUN. The study materials are self-explained and of good quality, the books provided by the institution contain all necessary information for TMA and exams including questions and answers scattered in different pages. Regarding this, Student 4 has mentioned one positive point about the books stating that language (English) used in the books is simple and understandable by studying which students can enhance their knowledge. But at times materials are not sufficient and not always available and the students have to download the materials from the café. For that, students have to pay extra charge for the materials, and they are provided with both hard and soft copies having same quality. According to staff 2: There is not enough books for the students at their study center. Though they have e-library with only about 20 computers but the computers are also not enough and there is need to add more resources. Likewise, all other available resources are also being effectively used. There are many resources to support students’ learning in NOUN. After completing all registration processes, students are provided with portal for them to get access to the other relevant document- books and their TMAs for the semester assessments. Similarly, the assessment system of the institution is also very impressive on which student 4 said, “We have TMA and exams. The exams are for two types, 1) is call POP (Pen on Paper) exam. This makes us to be expert in writing since the pages to be copied are many. TMA and e-exams is instant assessor. It gives you result instantly.” Mostly, ODE programmes are developed through various course modules or learning materials such as: “teaching texts, study guides, course guides, readers or anthologies, assignments (with or without an accompanying tutor guide), television broadcasts or videotapes, radio broadcasts or audiotapes, software or online information and data, CD-ROMS, textbooks and laboratory material” (Jimoh, 2013). For the purpose of teaching and learning process NOUN has created a platform call i-learn through the use of internet in order to connect the learners and their tutor as well as their colleagues. In relation to this Staff 5 stated that: “we have a platform in which we called i-Learn. That i-Learn will connect you to all members that are registered with NOUN. Once you click on that website you can see your course mates and tutors”. Student 14 added that, “ there are computers and books that we use and other stuffs that concern library and i-Learn and other things help me remember this thing WhatsApp there is a student WhatsApp group we use that too (social media)”. Student 16 stated that: While if log on to the website, we have the i-Learn platform, where you get past question papers, if you have any challenge, you can communicate or chat with your tutor online and there is also a platform where you can discuss with fellow colleague, fellow students online even if you have never seen any of them. So these are the platforms on ground where you learn faster and effectively. When asked the graduate reading the availability of the resources at NOUN, he narrated the time he was enrol in to the institution and provided cleared examples about the development in the institution he stated that: When I enrolled into NOUN Kano Study Centre, they don’t have library, they don’t have computers room, and even staff running the centre were not available. It is of recent that, these resources became available. Before we were doing our E-exam in an office upstairs, not computer room, even the computers are not available you have to wait for other students to finish before you enter. So, there is no issue of library, there are no reading materials, but just of recent things are improving (Graduate 15). With respect to change in use of technology among the students and high preference towards smartphone and tablet devices, NOUN has also initiated consultations with major technology partners in order to transfer their study materials into an ePUB electronic format so that course materials can be user friendly, easily and interactively available on smartphone and tablets. As proved by Staff 2, who stated that: You know the world is now advancing we are using printed materials, though we are now planning to provide iPad to all our students containing all the materials in it. Once the student completed his/her registration will be given the iPad. This will be among the greatest development in NOUN and will help to improve the quality of teaching and learning.

This would be useful for those who want to take advantage modern technology through new and innovative delivery mode of educational materials. NOUN doesn’t have regular lecturers like conventional institutions, but there are qualified facilitators for teaching students and most of them are PhD holders and professors. The institution makes provision for facilitation to its students for most of the courses offered in the centers more especially the most difficult ones from the School of Sciences and for the others courses are provided based on the students request or when the reach fifty and above in a particular course. Though is not compulsory for them to attend. The facilitators set time for facilitation and the students are required to read the module so that further discussion can be done with the facilitators via online. Any confusion or issues raised by the students are clarified by the facilitators. For the purpose of improving profile of facilitators or academic staff, NOUN has also formed a NOUN Academics Online module, in which every academic staff is promoted for attracting national as well as international alliances in teaching and research. In addition, the quality assurance system is monitored by staff through organizing a learning site within the student. While interviewing the participants about facilitation they enlightened: Each and every course at this institution is entitled for facilitation, when the students reach fifty in number in a particular course (Student 6). If the students are up to fifty students offering a particular course that is when we can provide this kind of service (facilitator) (Staff 8). Similarly, with response to this, Staff 1 asserted that, “We do not have lecturers, we only have people who are qualified to teach [facilitated] our students, and most of the facilitators are PhD holders and professors”. Further, Staff 1 stated that “…..some centres are very far from the students’ locations. It then becomes easier for them to meet in the state library to carry out their facilitation.” Staff 4 added that “The institution employs sufficient and qualified academic staff as tutors and provides professional training and development opportunities to them. This is in line with the plans of Commonwealth of Learning (COL), who provides a sets of information about the quality assurance procedures for distance higher education institutions programmes “The Institution must have administrative policies and procedures, appropriately qualified personnel, efficient management and administrative capacity, physical facilities, financial stability and resources adequate for the proper operation of the Institution and the discharge of its obligations to all its students” (COL, 2009, p.103). NOUN has developed an e-platform which has been working on receiving and managing complaints. Talking about the effectiveness of NOUN in complaints handling through e-platform, staff 6 mentioned about MIS center, computer center of the university which is bringing new measures to address the needs and demands of the students. Whenever students make complaints about any issue related to the examination, such issue is resolved prior to the time of subsequent examination with the help of e-platform. The e-platform has been so much beneficial that by simply turning on the server, numerous complaints from different study centers can be observed which are assessed by the headquarters and also appropriate solution measures are provided.

4.9.1 To Investigate Stakeholders' Perceptions- NOUN Staffs, Student Learners, Graduates and Employers, of the Quality and Effectiveness of ODE Programmes, and its Graduates in Kano State

In response to research objective 4, two themes were identified and eight subthemes, two themes have been illustrated below:

The list of themes and subthemes related to research objective 4 are presented in table below:

4.10 Theme 7: Perceptions towards Quality Assurance System of NOUN

In Nigeria, there is a national government agency called National Universities Commission, under which higher education institutions are accredited. The commission ensures that, all the universities maintain specified rules and regulations. The NUC has its own guidelines before providing accreditation to any university in the country. NOUN has been accredited under NUC, however, there are both positive and negative perception about the quality assurance system of NOUN among NOUN stakeholders and general public. In relation to this, Student 2 stated that his perception of QAS was influenced by the fact that the NUC accredited the school – “I heard that the NUC came to supervise the learning process and the body has accredited the institution.” Additionally, he stated that the “resources and materials for learning were available”. The Student 7F was of the opinion that NOUN’s clearance by the NUC was enough to see that the quality standards in delivery of education were up to the required standards. The Student 7F also held the view that, the examination procedures of the institution were well designed to prevent irregularities and that stereotypes about quality were still persistent: No, it is just a misconception. If you don’t read you will not pass there is no way and you don’t know any lecturer for you to go and say let me go and bribe this one, you don’t know who’s who, is you and a computer only. Also, you don’t know who is going to mark it your exams (Student 7F). Likewise, the Staff 7 sees NUC’s policy of undertaking accreditation as a good: National Universities Commission (NUC) conducts accreditation twice a year in May and in November and in-between the periods, they give you an opportunity to get to act together, so the NUC will tell you I am coming in May, we are coming in November, so if you are ready tell us what time you are coming, and then they will come, they will examine your programmes, they will examine your students, they will have an interaction with your students, they will look at your laboratories (Staff 7). Further, the VC made it clear during the 6th Convocation Ceremony, “the Directorate of Academic Planning was re-organised to ensure total compliance with NUC- BMAS guidelines by streamlining all the programmes to reflect approved accreditation status of the programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels” (NOUN, 2017). There is also Directorate of Learner Support at NOUN for monitoring and evaluation. There are directorates in the headquarters who visit the study centers on a regular basis in order to supervise and monitor the ongoing activities at the institution. The NOUN staffs are required to provide them with necessary information so that they can give proper guidance as well as support for effectively running the institution. The unit has very important role in improving performance of the institution as they provide necessary feedback and support in solving the problems that are identified during inspection. This is in line to the achieving the guidelines for quality assurance and implementation provided by NUC. The frequency and mode of visit of the directorate are different. According to staff 1, “Sometimes they pay us unexpected visits, interview the students during exams. They come as a team sometimes and other times individually or pretend to be students in order to assess how a centre carries out its activities.” Moreover, the VC has emphasis on the convocation who stated that, “Thus, the Directorate of Learner Support Services was overhauled and given greater mandate on data mining to generate a more effective profile of the study Centers for better service delivery” (NOUN, 2017, p.5). The VC also mentioned in his convocation speech about NOUN management undertaking different initiatives to ensure efficiency and transparency within the institution for facilitating decision making practices. In this way, the Directorate of Learner Support Services was improved and given greater mandate on data mining so as to produce more effective image of the study centers towards delivery of quality service. This shows that the NOUN is under strict supervision and control of the Directorate of Learner Support Unit. In addition, NOUN has been developing quality assurance policies and practices for improving quality of teaching and learning performance (NOUN, 2014). For that it has assigned a Desk Officer in each study center to supervise quality assurance unit and monitor the activities of the study center. At NOUN, one must have to study hard to pass the exam as there is no any room for exam malpractice. In addition to the quality about the institution’s examination, the students have to go through security check before entering the examination hall so there is no room for cheating during the exam. Even there is no any place for malpractice from teachers’ side too as teachers do not know students in person. Unlike conventional universities, where the teachers can either give more marks the student best on their relationship or intentionally fail student due to any disagreements. With regards to the course materials and mode of examination question, Student 3F, 6 and 8 held the same view about these qualities in NOUN. More specifically, Student 3F added that: They give you all the course materials you need and when it comes to exam, there is no room for exams malpractice. The examination questions are totally not the same; your question number one might be question number 20 or 24 to person sitting near you. You will end up copying the wrong answers. Following, the responses of the participants above; have shown the QA system of NOUN was great, especially the procedures of NUC’s accreditation, quality of course materials and examination handling. As per their views, quality of the course materials and examination procedures translated to high quality assurance procedures within the institution. However, some of the participants recommended that improvements could still need to be made to the existing QAS to ensure the various challenges within the institution were resolved. For instance, they talk about some issues related to limited resources such as; course materials, computers are not enough and some need to be repaired, power supply among others. Musingafi et al (2015, p. 65) in this situation students are affected academically, psychologically, and financially. Lack of study materials may force students to submit assignments that are not properly written and they are likely to get to examinations without enough preparation resulting in poor performance. Such poor performance may not be the true reflection of their academic abilities.

Majority of the participants expressed positive opinion with regards to quality of curriculum, and teaching and learning process of the institution. Mostly those who were not able to access computer earlier and letter joined NOUN are now even able to teach others. Similarly, they talked about English Course called General Studies in English for improving English language. The course is very beneficial as it teaches on how to improve their academic writing, communication skills among others. They further argued that the curriculum administered via ODE is seen as more updated and helpful than that in conventional universities. With regards to curriculum Staff 2 stated that, “the NUC were those that are monitoring the main curriculum all the aspect of the university they were the ones to plan the curriculum and they are the one accrediting any course they wanted the university to undergo”. In addition, Staff 3 added that, “the curriculum and the entry requirement is also being guided by NUC. We cannot take unprepared student to come and study. When further asked, what changes can be attributed to the NUC’s efforts in embedding and enhancing the QAS in the institution the Staff 7 he asserted that: Yes there are a lot of changes, every single change in terms of quality assurance in Nigerian Institution is attributed to NUC’ effort, because NUC is the regulatory agency, they won’t allow any university to do whatever they like. So, there is benchmark, minimum academic standard, minimum framework for acceptability of any programme and these are based on International Global Based Facts. So, NUC comes up with this and every benchmark, minimum academic standard document that is the curriculum for any programme is developed by professors, learned professors with international reputation. The mode of training and reference materials of NOUN are qualitative and beneficial to most of the individuals in academic environment, not only NOUN students and their tutors as revealed by the majority of participants. Therefore, some of the lecturers and their students make use of the institution’s course materials. In addition, students of Health Sciences and Nursing and Midwife institution have made good arrangement for their practical courses and they are given chance to attend the practical courses of their related field in any conventional institution of their choice. When asked about the quality about programmes related to sciences, the Staff 7 asserted that: We have a demonstration Laboratory in Lagos, and we also created an MOU with existing Universities of all 36 states [in the country] so that our students who are in those states can go to those universities for their practical, we are paying some amount to the universities. So, science students for instance will have to pay for practical courses, so it is out of the tuition fees that they have paid. So we will also pay to the places they attended their practical. Also, this is a part of the quality assurance of our institution, and NUC is very happy for that because we created this for our students. The same thing with our Nursing programme, we have Networks of hospitals and Universities that are offering nursing programme we created MOU, so that our students could go there and do that Tribulation or whatsoever. We also have a platform for E-Lab and on that Lab we have virtual class rooms, we have the “I-tunes” that is the I-tunes university programme on apple store which are free. This shown that, NOUN is given more emphasis on the quality training of its students. Owoyemi and Akinsete (2006, p.364) conducted a research on students’ perception of practical work in learning Science at NOUN who confirmed the impact of “practical work in science is widely accepted by students even in distance education and it is acknowledged that practical work can promotes the engagement and interest of students as well as developing a range of skills, science knowledge and conceptual understanding”. In their report, the numbers of participants who have optimistic of insights about practical work in learning science are greater than those who held the negative opinion to practical work in the institution. Due to so many efforts of NOUN in providing quality training to their students, peoples’ perception is changing positively. Therefore a number of applicants are increasing annually. On this staff 7 added, We are getting more and more students coming in, right now we have over two hundred thousand students in NOUN, we have 78 study centres all over the country, and every day students are registering.” The responses stated above contradicts with the view depicted by Obemeta (2000) who argues that there is lack of reliable policy of Quality Assurance Systems in ODE institutions in Nigeria. Even though, many respondents have talked about insufficient course materials, resources, internet issues, power supply, and so on which have adverse impact on the QAS of the institution. This demonstrates that along with positive perception, there are also negative opinions of the stakeholders towards QAS of the NOUN. On the other hand, there is also extensive negative perception of NOUN among the public. They consider the institution as well as its certificate as inferior in comparison to other conventional universities. Also there are people who do not consider NOUN student to be University student and do not give necessary recognition and respect. In relation to this Student 6 held the opinion that there is still mixed perceptions regarding NOUN, “Every person has his own different perspective with regards to the students and graduates of NOUN. Some still have doubt about the institution, while it was accredited by NUC.” Most of the people even think that NOUN does not have building and there is nothing like school. They have many questions regarding examination procedures, course materials, learning system, etc. and all these are due to lack of sufficient information about the institution among general public. Student 10 asserted that, the university was heavily lacking in advocacy (awareness); however, “… the advocacy is limited, the problem is that most of the people they are familiar with Bayero university, some don’t even know about the Open University”. So, according to the employer 6 this might be the reason why the public have different perception and views. Following the above indicates that, the limited advocacy by the institution is the major grounds of public confusion about its programmes, mode of training and instructions. Some people are not comfortable with the way NOUN executes its functions or duties since the training modes are not the same as in conventional university. However, NOUN is the best medium to increase higher education access of the potential learners, who have been compelled to leave their study in midway due to several responsibilities. But this will be only possible if extensive information are provided to the public regarding NOUN programmers along with mode of delivery. NOUN and its programmers are much effective in improving academic level of people belonging to different gender, culture, background and physical abilities and so on. Thus, it is essential for NOUN to increase massive awareness about its programmes among large number of people so as to widen the access to higher education. It is reported that NOUN students were not allowed to join the National Youth Service Corps. The service is only one year programme prepared by the Federal Government of Nigeria in order to engage the fresh youth below the age of thirty (30) university graduates as well as Higher National Diploma (HND) graduates from the colleges and polytechnics to participate in national development. For the duration of the executing this NYSC programme the graduates have the opportunity to learn diverse cultures of other communities. In addition, the programme facilitated youth graduates in many community activities and help them for creating employments opportunities in the country (Arubayi, 2015). This is also among the reasons of the public negative perception on NOUN’s programmes. To begin with Student 3F stated: … Denial of NYSC for our youth, is biggest challenge facing our young ones in this institution, they are not allow to go for NYSC. What I am saying is that if a student graduates from NOUN, it is good for him/her to go for NYSC like the other students in conventional universities. That is why the public are not regarding us like other institutions.

Student 10F also had the same concerns stating that denial to join NYSC amounted to bias and made their school seem inferior, people think that only old men and women are schooling there but this is not true as many youths are studying in that university”. This is consistent with the views of most of the graduate, Graduate 6 stressed that: Without NYSC Certificate you will find it very difficult to get the job. Even though as they are saying NOUN certificate is equivalent to every certificate, but they will tell you produce you NYSC certificate, and that NYSC certificate is just the obstacle, and is the only obstacle to the NOUN certificate. In addition, Employer 7 asserted that, “I heard some students saying that they are not going for NYSC and I believe that one will be solved [the issue of negative perception] so that when they graduated they will have employment just like the conventional” to conclude, the Staff 6 emphasized that, “Our only predicaments or challenges is the issue of National Youth Service Corps our young graduates need to participate in NYSC, like their counterpart from conventional universities”. Since NOUN does not conduct regular classes and lectures like conventional institutions and their graduates are not allow join NYSC programme therefore, many people contemplate that the programmes offered by the institution are not genuine. As of recently, after a long argument between the NOUN and some government institutions who do not really understand what the ODL is all about. Later the issue was presented to the National Assembly to review the act of ODE, and finally the “The senate has [review and] amended the Law that established the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and made provision for the graduate of NOUN to participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme and the Law School” (NUC, 2017, P.7). There is massive misconception about NOUN programmes and its degrees in the practical field. Furthermore, Nigerians have poor mentality as they often discriminate institutions based on their popularity. For instance, students who attended some reputable universities and those who attended NOUN are treated differently; the latter are given less preference. Similar response has been given by student 15 stating that most of the people outside discriminate NOUN. He further talked about his friend who had told him that NOUN certificates are not accepted by lots of organizations. In response to this, graduate 1 said, “till now, Nigerians are still stereotype. When it comes to acquiring education, we still believe in going through the four walls of the university, anything outside the four wall of the university, they see as an inferior.” According to staff 3 “large number of people perceive the NOUN being a part time or satellite campus though it is a full-time university offering recognized degree accredited by NUC.” This shows that, some Nigerians still hold negative stereotypes towards education system. But after coming to the institution one can realize whatever people talk about NOUN is totally wrong. The course materials are of as much quality as provided by other institutions and learning system is also as strong as other institutions. There is also positive perception of the public towards NOUN students and graduates. People are accepting new open and distance learning system in a positive way and they are considering the system to be an innovative one in comparison to conventional system. There are a lot of individuals, who praised the teaching/learning mode of the institution and most of them were surprised to see that the students are studying independently without attending classes or any lectures. While conducting interview, Student 5 talked about how his colleagues from conventional university were amazed that he had been learning on his own and solving tough questions. It was noted that majority of students were confident that NOUN qualifications could earn them better positions in their organisations. For instance, Student 5 asserted that he enrolled in NOUN for promotion within the workplace: When I graduate, I will of course be promoted in my work place, because many have been promoted with NOUN Certificate. There is a certain level you would not reach if you are not a university graduate, but if you have a degree certificate the sky is your limit. The majority of the students were attracted to enroll NOUN due to easy admission, accessibility, flexibility and affordability moreover they have confidence that their employers will consider and accept their certificates. In addition, there were mixed views regarding the preference for NOUN and conventional university outputs. For the first employer, NOUN graduates were more qualified than conventional employees; he asserted that NOUN graduates were equipped with “modern methods of teaching and learning” (Employer 1). While supporting his assertions, he further asserted that “… I see each teacher who graduated from NOUN as three teachers.”

4.11 Theme 8: Shift in Views of ODE among Employers as well as General Public

The concept and system of distance learning is new in a society where the conventional education system is deeply rooted. In distance learning system, students do not need to attend regular classes; they only have to visit the university to write exams or if they feel a need for facilitation. During the initial stage of ODE programmes, many people including students had doubts about the programmes and also the university. According to student 7, “Majority of us feel that it is not possible that you are schooling and you are working, or you are married and you are still schooling without attending lectures.” But with passage of time and many successful records of the ODE programmes, people now have realized that distance learning is also possible through which one can achieve higher degrees too. In relation to the above, Ojo & Olakulehin (2006) stated that, peoples’ perceptions have been changed towards open and distance learning, the society is now accepting ODE programmes whole heartedly. Working groups and married women can manage time for continuing their higher studies under this new education system. Earlier people used to think that studying at NOUN means waste of time but this view has been changed as they now come to know that NOUN is also accredited by NUC like other conventional universities. They are becoming aware about easy admission procedures at NOUN along with more advantages of NOUN over conventional universities. Regarding this, employer 2 stated, “At the beginning NOUN has little recognition but presently people know the type of staff they have and the type of programme they run, seeing the qualification they attain, it’s gradually gaining lot of recognition. A lot of people, who weren’t ready at the beginning, are ready to join NOUN.” In addition, Graduate 4 and 15 asserted that with more advocacies (advertisement), NOUN was changing the views of the public regarding distance education: What I can say is, most of our people are not aware of ODE. They prefer going to conventional universities to study, you can find some people here in Kano who doesn’t know about existence of NOUN. But as a result of changes and advertisement, people awareness is now improving. But knows about Bayero University and other universities in Kano but doesn’t know about NOUN (Graduate 4). … The public and stakeholders have positive perception about the programme, what remains from public is not much, some of them are not aware, while some are aware but are not hundred percent satisfied. If you compare the competition of getting admission in the conventional universities and that of NOUN, you will believe that people are still not yet satisfied. But there is a lot of progress unlike before (Graduate 15). This is a very positive development on perception of the public towards NOUN and their programmes. If this trend continues, many more Nigerians will be aware about NOUN programmes and will be influenced to join the institution. Employer 5 added that: Most of the people attending NOUN are adults and already employed in some sectors and this can be one of the reasons behind public thinking that NOUN is meant for old people. However, now with the level of awareness, young people are also prioritising NOUN for higher studies. The opinions and attitudes of employers towards ODE and NOUN certificate have been changed. Now, employers give equal preference to NOUN certificates just like certificates from other conventional institutions so, many working people with no degrees join this institution in a hope of getting promotion at the work place. Earlier, employers from the sector of health sciences had such concept that health and nursing education should involve lot of theory and more hours in the classroom so they had many doubts regarding the knowledge level of NOUN students but as they come across with capability and effectiveness of the NOUN graduates, their view has been changed positively. Initially to be honest we [Health Sector] are not very comfortable (with NOUN programmers) because this is something we have to do especially with medicine education there must be a lot of theory and there are certain hours you have to cover in the clinical area as well as the class room area and this are people that will come who we do not even have an idea of what their curriculum is all about but now when I came to appreciate with them and I really understand what its really all about, I do appreciate the NOUN’s graduates (Employer 6) Similarly, in other fields also, there has been shift on the opinions and perceptions of the employers towards NOUN programmes, its students and its graduates. At present, a large number of working people are rushing towards NOUN to continue their education. In addition, Employer 1 from education sector argues that, “I think in the nearest future the institution will need expansion because people prefer it [ODE] than other conventional universities.” From the interviews it was concluded that employers have developed positive attitude towards the quality assurance system of NOUN’s operating system. They perceive NOUN graduates to be of higher quality who provide huge support in uplifting the standard of the organisation. Furthermore, Employer 1 added that, “I can see how we are improving as a result of our staff that is the products of that institution. Our school used to lag behind at competition but now we are leading as a result of the NOUN graduates we have.” He also mentioned about one of his staff who is also NOUN graduate and how that staff brought an interesting method of handling a large class. From this it can be asserted that NOUN graduates are good and accepted by the employers. Also employers seemed to have allocated more responsibility to ODE graduates because of the new skill they learned from NOUN. Even the NOUN institution itself is becoming more confident towards the services provided to the general public. As proved by Staff 9 and 10: Despite the fact the university is progressing and employers are recognising our student that is why the many people are coming to study here at their convenient. I can either say any ODL institution have been very careful about quality because of the initial perception (Student 9). What I know about NOUN Kano Study center it is doing very well and students are coming and they are ok with what they are getting, no student will complain about that he comes to Kano study center (Student 10).

Even the people from academic environment were not very comfortable with the NOUN programmes in the earlier stage as it is not really a conventional. As confirmed by one dignitary of NOUN, who argued that, one of our greatest issues in this institution is low recognition and acceptability; “even the people in academia” are yet to recognise the importance of ODE programme, let alone the public in the country he had observed (NOUN, 2014, p. 5). While interviewing the employers about their perceptions towards quality along with effectiveness of NOUN graduates, it has been found that, employers perceive NOUN as mainly for continuing studies i.e. they want their staff to obtain degrees at NOUN rather than other universities. While interviewing the Employer 2 he described NOUN as: … a centre whereby many adults especially the ones in the civil service go for training in order to acquire additional qualification that will improve their skills and give them chance to reach a certain position in the places of work. In fact, it is a place whereby staffs of various places go there to acquire knowledge while performing their roles in their places of work. Employer 5 also highlights the same idea in asserting NOUN as an institution where employees can gain further studies: In fact, National Open University is one of the best accessible method to somebody who is an adult, and he/she doesn’t have time to attend conventional university, and he/she has a lot of responsibilities upon him/her which cannot be easy for their employers to release them to further their studies in conventional universities, or at least he/she doesn’t have chance to be in conventional system. Hence, open and distance learning is one of the best places for them to study. In this case, it was evident that the interviewees saw NOUN as an institution where applicants would go to further their studies after gaining secondary certificates or higher education qualifications from conventional institutions. The reason behind this is the flexibility of the institution and best training provided to the students in terms of punctuality among others. NOUN graduates are well trained on how to interact with others so they are good at developing relationships at their workplaces (Employer 1). They form good relation with their fellow workers alongside with their clients. So, employers often see improvement on any staffs who returns back to their respective places of work after attending NOUN. This might be the reason behind NOUN being approached by most of the working adults. Even the employers themselves are interested to continue their further studies at NOUN seeing the improved performance of their employees. Employer 8 also held the view that NOUN students had greatly improved in quality and were on the verge of surpassing their conventional counterparts. According to him: We trust the system is that we only asked some questions just to make sure everything is right. …since the University was accredited by the National University Commission, the office of the Head of Service has recommended the Institution as a recommended Institute, so any time when the students need their credentials, the office of the Head of Service of the Federation and State they used to make their assessment and puts them appropriately and recommends it (Employer 8).

4.11.1 To Examine How NOUN Graduates are perceived by Employers Compared to Conventional Graduates in their Workplaces in Kano State, Nigeria

Regarding the research objective 5 of this study, two themes were identified; graduates of NOUN are Employable, shift in views of ODE among employers as well as general public, employers perceived NOUN as mainly for continuing studies.

The list of themes and subthemes related to research objective 5 are presented in table below:

4.12 Theme 9: Graduates of NOUN are Employable

Among the students studying at NOUN, majority of them are employees at different organisations (public and private sector). NOUN graduates are being treated equally and getting job in different sectors. They are getting jobs as per their qualification. Obtaining an employment is not an issue to them, since majority of them are already working in various places. With regards to fresh graduates, Graduate 2 asserted that, “…..when you present your result of the National Open University, you attend an interview and if you pass the interview, they will employ you.” He further mentioned about his friend who got job in a private organisation after graduating from NOUN. While interviewing the employers whether they are recognizing NOUN graduate and their certificates, Employer 8 and stated that: We really do (recognise), of recent specifically last week [first week of March 2017], we had people that obtained various certificate from National Open University of Nigeria and we recognized those certificate obtained from NOUN and we actually considered their various promotion at grade levels, and some we have converted them from inventive officer cadet to officer carder. Graduate 4 shared the same view and added that: …when the time comes and they are looking for someone with that qualification, I will be converted and upgraded… I believe that they will upgrade me [consider my certificate], because there is no one with my certificate in our unit, and we don’t have any Data analyst. And instead of outsourcing someone outside, they add my qualification to my file and give me the opportunity. Thus, in explaining the reality nature of the ODE graduates employability by the employers in Kano State, the Employer 1 painted the picture that the employability of NOUN graduates had increased. The head-teacher asserted that he had been employed three teachers from NOUN – one female and two male. The employer then expresses his satisfaction with the work they carried out he stressed that, “to be sincere, they are the best staff in this school because they work very hard in training students for example as you know there are modern methods of teaching and learning.” He then continued to recommend NOUN for its education practices asserting that “they acquired a lot of knowledge from NOUN” (Employer 1). He continues to give the example of one of the NOUN staff from the institution, stating that, “I wish to invite you to my school and see how the teachers are performing. One of our staff has come up with a method of handling a large class, which is very interesting if you see it”. The head-teacher also acknowledged that the staff have good discipline, and are able to interact better with other teachers and the students in comparison to the employees who studied in conventional facilities: We draw line on the attendance register at 7:50 AM to indicate that every staff who comes after the line is late but almost all the time NOUN graduates come before the line while other graduates from other higher institutions or universities always come after the line meaning that they always late (Employer 1). In the light of these characteristics, the employer declared that he preferred NOUN students, as they are well adapted and suited to work within the context better. “I see each teacher who graduated from NOUN as three teachers” (Employer 1). From the interview, it also became clear that the efforts and performances of the NOUN outputs motivated others to register for ODE programmes. More specifically, employer 5 acknowledged that NOUN graduates came ready and there was no need for further training. He reiterated his desire to struggle to get sponsorship for his employees in NOUN: This was represented by the statement, “…and I will struggle for sponsorship for any teacher who gets admission with NOUN” (Employer 5). Although Employer 2 did not particularly view NOUN graduates in the same way as Employer 1 did, he acknowledged that NOUN graduates had become more acceptable within the job market. NOUN programmes are nationally accepted. I have not seen any NOUN applicant who applied in my place of work for employment but there are a lot of people here who registered with NOUN and are currently pursuing their studies. Some graduated and came back and their qualification has been accepted (Employer 2). Similarly, the employees who had undergone NOUN did not undergo additional training. The employers emphasised there is no any additional training given to the NOUN graduates. This will be reported in theme 3 ‘the views of NOUN graduates on the labor market and their workplaces’. The Employer 2 regarded both NOUN and conventional institutions graduates as similarly qualified. In addition, Employer 6, hailing from the nursing profession asserted that only NOUN graduates were employable. However, she stated that employment was based on the accreditation of the NOUN course offered. This was more serious for fresh graduates: …we do employ but to do with medicine aspect not any other aspect. For now, we are employing only those that have studied Nursing Education or rather BSc. But to do with employment in nursing it’s through the ministry of health because they don’t notice anybody apart from nurse that undergoes this particular training in NOUN that has been sent to us and then employed under us (Employer 6).

On the other hand, the participants from the nursing sciences revealed that NOUN nursing students required additional practical training to fit within the context. When asked the employer 6 to provide her recommendations to NOUN, her response was, “…firstly let them [NOUN] do reorientation to the public let the public understand what is NOUN and then to really understand the game of what NOUN is all about what are its opportunities and what the benefits are (Employer 6). NOUN graduates are employed and their certificate have been accepted in both private and public sectors. Furthermore, with the help of NOUN certificates, people have also been promoted to higher position in their workplace. Since there are modern methods of teaching and learning at NOUN and the students also coming back with the computer knowledge and how to conduct a research as well. This reveals that NOUN provides quality education and knowledge to the students in such a way that their performance at the workplace is improved. Majority of the employers stressed that, ODE graduates are seen to be more qualified than those from conventional universities. However, some conventional institutions are not recognising degree from NOUN and not accepting students for Masters who submit PG from NOUN. If educational institutions are not accepting NOUN students, then it is not unusual of public not recognising students graduating from NOUN. These statements supported the notion of BNSC Nurses graduates (with second class uppers) from NOUN, who denied admission for Masters’ Degree in Nursing Science by Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. The applicants were met all the institutions requirements for masters’ degree however, they were denied admission because they are holding NOUN Certificates (Nurses Arena Forum, 2016). This evidenced that still some institutions have some concern with regards to ODE certificates. Jimoh (2013) argues that lack of acceptability of ODE certificates as one of the challenges of the programme in most African countries. Some graduates face problems in securing employment. During interviews, few participants held the opinion that some of the employer are discriminating those graduates from ODE institution with those who attended conventional institutions. When asked the graduate if employers consider the NOUN graduates. In response to this Graduate 1F stated that: …the person that is to employ you, sees you coming from non-conventional system of education and he doesn’t think you can stand and meet the demand of that work, you understand? …Since already the labour market is rejecting you, so the likelihood of you getting the job may be that you studied will not really come. She further stated that: “….no, I purposely applied for a job in one of the Federal Universities, and I was told by the Head of the Department that, they cannot employ somebody from nonconventional to come and teach in conventional university”. In relation to that, student 17F, stated that “the public, as well as some employers, still discriminated courses from NOUN- “… they are saying like, is it a school? Please go to a better school. Do you understand?”

4.13 Theme 10: The Views of NOUN Graduates on the Labor Market and their Workplaces

NOUN graduates are treated equally in labour market and at their workplaces. Those who graduated from NOUN and come with NOUN certificates are accepted at workplace on the basis of their qualification. Furthermore, this supports a statement that there is no discrimination in employment and students from NOUN are treated in a same way. When asking whether employers value NOUN graduate as other graduates from conventional system in the labour market. Graduate 7F who was among the young fresh graduate of NOUN has provided her detail experience about labor market, she applied for a job with NOUN certificate and she succeeded. She stated that: Yes, they do consider us [NOUN graduates], I applied and got a job that is reason I invited you to my work place for you to see. If to say they don’t regard NOUN graduates, I wouldn’t have been employed here. To my best of understanding, NOUN graduates are treated as any other graduate (Graduate 17F). When she was further asked, does your employer treat you the same with those graduates from conventional institutions. She responded: They don’t see any discrimination. I studied Peace studies and conflict resolution, so anything that arise pertaining conflict I am in charge of resolving the issue. So, I don’t have any problem with them. As we are not many here, in fact I am the only female among them and I am not facing any discrimination (Graduate 17F). Similarly, employees working at lower position if bring NOUN certificates are promoted to the higher level. On this, employer 5 said, “Before I presented NOUN certificates, I was the Chief Community Health officer on grade level (14). When I came back from the course and presented my NOUN and NYSC exclusion certificate I was recommended to be in grade level (15).” Likewise, majority of the employers are satisfied with the institution and they are recommending NOUN certificates, and graduates and treated them equally. In addition, some employers are even encouraging their staffs to pursue their Masters’ degree from this institution due to quality of its programme, flexibility and convenience. Graduate 2, has cited an interesting view, “for instance, if you are working instead of you to ask for in-service and unfortunately, for you the government did approve it you can use this opportunity just like my own case. I am a primary school teacher and started my post-graduate studies in 2014. Certainly no additional training is offered to NOUN graduates while hiring them for jobs, they are directly selected as per their qualification without any discrimination with those attending conventional institutions. Even if they are to be given training that is mostly in nursing field, students from both NOUN and other conventional institutions are provided with same level of training. Similar response has been given by employer 7 who also talked about giving indoor training to both NOUN graduates and those from conventional institutions so that they will know the difference between what they studied and what they practicing in the field of work. Since most of the NOUN graduates are already engaged in employment, their employers do not have problems with them in terms of duties to be discharged. Having prior experience on the job, the staff after attending NOUN can further improve their skills, knowledge and enhance their performance at the workplace so employers mostly consider NOUN graduates working at their organisation to be of good quality. The higher efficiency and performance shown by the NOUN graduates are mainly responsible for this positive change in the perceptions of the employers. The employers are not only positive towards the NOUN graduates but they are also comfortable with NOUN programmes and their graduates.

Besides, personal perceptions about NOUN are generally optimistic. Students have full faith that with education from NOUN they are able to compete with students from other best universities which shows that, they have much confidence on the quality education provided at NOUN. The NOUN students are even confident that they will be offered good job or higher position with NOUN certificates. They are also much confident about quality of the resources and certificates. They are assured that with NOUN results and certificates, they can get job in both public and private sectors. Talking about this, student 5 said, “When I graduate I will of course be promoted in my work place, because many have been promoted with NOUN Certificate.” In addition, Graduate 4 asserted; …when the time comes and they are looking for someone with that qualification, I will be converted and upgraded… I believe that they will upgrade me [consider my certificate], because there is no one with my certificate in our unit, and we don’t have any Data analyst. And instead of outsourcing someone outside, they add my qualification to my file and give me the opportunity. Moreover, the employers hold a belief that NOUN produces quality graduates. People are competing to get admission to the NOUN as graduates from NOUN can give tough competition to those from other universities. While asking about additional training to NOUN graduates, employer 1 said, “We don’t give any additional training to NOUN graduates, their performance is good enough.” This demonstrates that graduates from NOUN are more qualified who are selected by the organisations on the basis of their performance. On the other hand, those graduates from health sector are provided with induction course before placing them in hospital setting. Talking about this, employer 6F from health sector have stated that “nursing students are given orientation and clinical teaching under the supervision of instructor before sending them to their respective wards”. Nevertheless, Duffy, Kennedy et al (2002), have performed a comparative study on the educational achievement of classroom-based students and distance learning students under a same module from which they found out that the performance of distance learning students was significantly higher than that of classroom based students. They further stated that “when we compare the average marks obtained by those undertaking the degree by distance learning and those undertaking it on campus, we found that the distance-learning students are obtaining significantly higher marks than the classroom-based students” (p. 80). In their study, the average marks of students in classroom-based learning was 61 whereas that in distance learning programme was 69 which illustrates that distance learning programme is much effective in enhancing performance of the students.

Conclusion

This chapter presents data gathered from key NOUN stakeholders in Kano State towards meeting five major objectives of the research study. The use of qualitative interviews was helpful in uncovering the perceptions of the participants as shown by interview results, there are several challenges/issues which have affected smooth functioning of NOUN. Some major infrastructural challenges include network issue, power supply issue, poor road condition, and so on. Similarly, there are inadequate highly skilled employees at the institution to provide on time services to the students. Likewise, there is extensive issue of lack of computer knowledge by students, so the institution has been facing much difficulties in providing effective educational services to the students. However, there are numerous benefits of NOUN to all potential learners who have been forced to leave their study due to various family and work commitments. Further, the admission criteria is also simple and the process is easy as well. NOUN has been one of the suitable destination for disadvantaged groups like women in purdah, market women, prisoners, physically challenges people, and others as the institution provide access to higher education without discrimination on any ground. In addition, students do not have to attend regular classes, their presence is compulsory only in writing exam, even the registration procedures can be completed online. This extreme flexibility has facilitated working students and married women among others to continue their higher education along with fulfilling respective responsibilities. In response to quality assurance system at NOUN, there is quality assurance unit headed by a directorate to provide training to the staff at the headquarters. Further, even though there are no regular lecturers, there are qualified facilitators holding PhD degree to teach students. Also, there is Directorate of Learner Support who pays regular visit to the study centers so as to monitor ongoing activities at the institution. However, there still exist certain flaws in quality assurance mechanism of the institution such as lack of sufficient highly skilled staff, missing results, poor communication between NOUN and employers in Kano State and all these issues need quick response for getting effective results. In addition, NOUN key stakeholders in Kano state have positive perceptions towards ODE programmers because NOUN has been accredited under National Universities Commission (NUC) and conducts each activity as prescribed under NUC’s policies and guidelines. Similarly, the exam conducting process is also fair and there is no place for any malpractice. Besides, the course materials from NOUN is beneficial not only for its students, but also for students from other universities, lecturers and researchers. Compared to earlier days, NOUN and its graduates are receiving good recognition from employers. Regarding high performance delivered by the NOUN graduates at their workplaces, many employers even encourage their employees to join NOUN for continuing higher studies. Also, the institution is undertaking several initiatives to increase public awareness on its programmers, courses offered and quality of the graduates. Nevertheless, there are still significant number of people who hold misconception about NOUN and its programmers. These people even have a doubt on NOUN accreditation, learning and teaching mode, examination procedures, and so on. This shows that the institution has not been able to carry out sufficient and effective advertisement practices to increase public awareness and change their perception. NOUN plays very important role in increasing access of potential learners to higher education. It even addresses the limitations of conventional universities and facilitates achievement of higher educational needs. Many disadvantaged groups who have been deprived of gaining higher education due to social and religious causes have now got equal opportunities to meet their higher education ambitions only because of NOUN. Regarding this, staff 9 said, “Those who were excluded due to some cultural issues including women in purdah and market women can also attain their higher education needs by enrolling at NOUN. But there are many issues or problems which have stood as major hindrance for the institution in delivering high quality ODE programmers and supporting people to meet their academic needs. Thus, NOUN should develop effective plans, policies and strategies to solve existing issues and provide high standard and efficient services to the learners. It is very essential for NOUN to increase public awareness about NOUN, its programmes and quality of the graduates to change negative perception held by the public about the institution.

Chapter Five: Discussion of the findings

5.1 The Challenges Facing the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Kano Study Centre (KSC) in Achieving their Objectives

Findings from the data analysis section have revealed that quite a number of challenges are obstructing NOUN KSC in achieving their objectives. Such challenges or issues have become major obstacles in the path of objective achievement of NOUN students. They include; infrastructural challenges, students’ complains about administrative staff, lack of full awareness about ODL mode of delivery by students and public, and various issues faced by NOUN students. Below is a detailed analysis of the same:

5.2.1. Infrastructural Challenges

There are exists a number of highly dominant infrastructural challenges facing the institution. Among the infrastructural challenges, the major issues are those concerned with internet/networks, power supply and computer shortages, road access to the centre and its poor location, poor physical infrastructure facilities and lack of adequate course materials. Since the University is based on open and distance learning, all the required materials are provided on the website which the learners have to download. However, the students are required to write their exam through pen on paper (POP) and by using school computers, and this has been problematic for some students since they need to attend in person. This shows that NOUN is using some features of blended learning system in delivering distance learning to its students. Which is differed with other open and distance learning institutions. Further, the computer system and networking of the institution are not of good quality and as a consequence several types of issues arise frequently. Some are missing of results, delay in examination process, and so on. The missing of results has negatively affected graduation of the students as they need to do another registration paying huge sum and write exam again despite already giving the exams. Such issue can even impede students’ academic status creating negative picture of them among employers in the future. One more frequent issue in relation to technology is ‘system error’. One female student has shared her experience about this issue stating that she has applied for admission into NOUN, Sauna-Kano Study Centre, but a different study centre appeared on her admission letter. In response to these issues the institution has upgraded the internet system of the school, but this has worsened the situation. The new system is less effective when compared to the previous networking system which has further delayed the process of examination. For instance, students who were to write exams before March-April 2017 have to now write exam on June-July 2017. These issues can be located within the transactional distance theory. Ideally, one element of the theory is structure which denoted the organized framework of the distance learning course. According to believers in the transactional distance theory, structure explains the extent to which the distance educational can accommodate or be responsive to the learners’ needs. Here, I draw from the transactional distance theory to make an argument that poor quality computer systems and frequent ‘system errors’ experienced by the students have a negative effect of the students’ learning outcomes. The theory’s emphasis on responsive and accommodative distance learning systems allows me to think through which poorly maintained computer systems and websites affect the quality of distance education delivered to NOUN students at Sauna-Kano Study Centre. To this end, the transactional distance theory’s conceptualization of highly responsive distance learning systems and structures is generative in grasping how the NOUN students feel frustrated with frequent errors and less effective networking systems interfere with the students’ ability to experience quality distance education. This is the serious issue which needs to be addressed as soon as possible otherwise course may get delayed making adverse impact on the study of the students. The institution has realized the negative outcomes of this issue so for fixing this issue it has adopted measures like upgrading the web portal. But this upgrade has caused more problems rather than solving the existing issue, the students are facing trouble during registration and the examination in the new web portal. Furthermore, the portal problem has disabled around half of the students to submit their TMAs which is more likely to affect their overall result for the semester. Not only that, the constant upgrading of the system has also resulted into loss of huge amount of data. This shows that the institution has not been able to adopt new computer and networking system in an effective manner so as to facilitate different functions and activities. It is worth noting that the reason behind this can be improper handling of the system by the in charge of that department. Either the in charge may not be competent or efficient to manage the system or s/he may be irresponsible towards the issue. Another adverse effect due to internet/network issue is missing result of the students. There are numerous cases of students’ missing results though they have written all papers. Though this is fault of NOUN administration, the students have to pay additional amount for re-registration and it directly affects the graduation of the students. Likewise, tracing missing marks is also hectic, one has to meet the staff in person and state the problem. The network issue has even resulted into disconnection between local management of the school and headquarters in Abuja. One major reason for this network issue is poor administration practices. NOUN has not been effective enough in implementing appropriate solution to solve network issue as solutions which are being adopted are increasing problems instead.

One more infrastructural issue facing the institution is inappropriate access to the study centre, which is located at a far distance from the city where there is no proper road connection. Students have to cover long distance while going to and returning from the university. The road conditions are very bad especially in rainy season, and there are high chances for frequent breaking down of the vehicles while visiting the centre. Students are even terrified to go to the school during rainy season since they might be afraid of accidents taking place. This shows that the centre is situated at such location which is not easily accessible and such issue needs to be addressed quickly. In order to solve this issue, either the condition of the road should be improved or study centre should be shifted to easily accessible location for the students. The development of roads is not in the hands of NOUN, but the institution can pressurize the government to take necessary actions as soon as possible. For that NOUN needs to effectively demonstrate benefits of distance learning for the general public so that the government can be convinced in investing on building the proper road to join the centre. If this road issue can be solved effectively then there is a high probability of an increase in the rate of students taking admission at the NOUN; high intake levels. The distance issue would not have been so many problems if there had been good road facility. However, the road condition is also very poor. So the most appropriate solution for these problems is shifting the study centre to location nearby the city so students and other visitors will not have difficulty in locating and visiting the centre. Some people have even suggested the administration to change the location of the centre since it is very troublesome for them to trace the facility. Similarly, there are issues with the capacity of the library, which is unable to accommodate increasing number of students. During most of the year, the students learn from home or at other convenient places, but during exams they prefer studying at schools’ library hoping to access wide range of materials. But due to limited space in the library, the students have been deprived of library facilities. Thus, it is necessary to expand the library so that each and every student who wishes to study in the library will get a place to sit. Furthermore, there are no adequate toilet facilities in the school. For instance, during exams whoever wants to use toilet have to wait in a long queue. The other option is going outside the school premises. Furthermore, some available toilets in the school are insanitary, including one toilet located in the mosque close to the center. Despite the insanitary condition in the facility, the students are forced to use this as there is no any alternative option available to them. The toilet issue is more problematic for girls and pregnant women. Not only are the toilets in a bad condition, but there is loss of precious time of the students during the exam period as they have to wander in search of toilets to take care of themselves. This reveals that administration has not paid much emphasis on addressing basic requirements/facilities of the students inside the school premises. This type of inadequacy in various basic facilities can be due to the fact that regular classes are not conducted at the institution so the administration might feel these facilities to be unnecessary cost burden.

The opinion held by the school management has proved to be totally wrong. This is based on the fact that large number of students visit the school during registration and exam time, hence the need to have sufficient basic facilities to meet needs of all. Availing the facilities within the premise of the institution will make good impression of school in the mind of students. However, absence of these facilities may see students feeling uninterested in continuing their studies at this institution. They can even discourage other prospective students from joining the institution. Findings from the data analysis section have further revealed that the location of the center is unfavorable and unhealthy from an environment point of view. As stated by one staff member, there is a crusher at the opposite of the center, continually crushing stones, rocks and producing dust. This can be very harmful for health of both students and staff of the center. On that note, it appears very necessary to change the location of the center. Considering the fact that it is very difficult to shift whole center to new location, the management can opt for building administrative offices in the city. The institution’s Vice Chancellor is searching for suitable site around Magwan area in the city. Another issue which is also occurring frequently in the institution is issue related to power supply and shortage of computers. There is no adequate supply of power to the computers and other electronic devices and as a result they do not function properly or stop working in the midst of an activity. As a result of this issue many activities of the institution have to be halted, thus causing loss of time and money as well. Furthermore, when equipment stops working due to shortage of power, the work has to be restarted which means additional cost, time and effort. NOUN is a large university providing services to very large number of students, therefore, breakage in one activity can hamper other activities too thus bringing problems for many other stakeholders. The issue of power failure is a common issue at NOUN and the students have faced this issue while writing exams. When there is power failure, the examinees have to wait for some time for the problem to be solved and situation to become normal. Even the solutions for this issue are not good enough. In a case where any computer stops working at the examination hall, the seat of the examinee is changed. In the absence of any vacant place then one has to wait for other person to finish writing exam. This can be really discouraging factor for the students to join NOUN. This is one major issue which needs to be fixed as soon as possible so as to prevent further problems in the future and so that a variety of different operations become smooth and efficient. The data has revealed that scarcity of course materials is another prevalent issue at the institution. There is little doubt on the quality of the materials provided by the NOUN; the majority of participants have agreed that the materials are self-explanatory and have been huge help for the students. The main problem associated with the materials is the availability of printed copies: there are not to meet the needs of all students. This is the issue being faced by majority of the students. They are given only few materials despite paying full fees at the time of registration and they have to pay additional charge for accessing those materials available in print form. Despite the fact that the course materials are available online and can be downloaded and printed at any time, this is costly for students since they still need to pay extra charges. This issue of limited and costly materials is related issue to other financial challenges. Nigeria is a developing country wherein most of the students have poor economic circumstances so this issue is more likely to adversely affect large number (Ige 2014). Nevertheless, if the collected information is anything to go by, some staff has given contrasting view stating that they have enough course materials at their library and the e-library from where students can access needed materials is sufficient.

5.2.2 Complaints on Administrative Staff

NOUN students have to face numerous issues due to incompetency and irresponsible nature of the administrative staff. Some major complaints by the students about the administrative staff include communication gap between students and headquarters, and lack of proper communication between NOUN and the employers, and the staff numbers are not sufficient to accommodate the needs of students at the centre. Some students have the opinion that NOUN has not been able to hire highly skilled and competent staff at their study centers to provide quality services to its students. The students also believe that staff is also not efficient enough to solve problems of the students. The students argue that some critical issues can be resolved only at the National Headquarters in Abuja. This is time consuming as students often has to wait for the staff from the headquarters to get their issues solved. Moreover, at numerous times NOUN students have to return empty-handed from the library. This is based on the fact that there are not enough books and no staff to give them the course materials. This can be troublesome for the students as they have to come again for the books often having to cover long distances to the center. It seems clear that sufficient number of staff should be recruited in the different departments of the institution so that students and other staff need not to face any more problems due to scarcity of the staff at the study center. With this kind of complaints raised by students, a lot of room is created for a bad impression about NOUN and their staff among the students resulting into decreasing flow of students at the study center. Thus, simply recruiting more staff is not enough; the staff should be qualified, skilled and competent, and most importantly they should be capable of developing good relations with students. Though, the staff has failed to maintain good rapport with their colleagues. Cooperation between members of the organization is much necessary to achieve goals and targets of that organization. If there is mutual coordination and cooperation between staff members then they can perform together and efficiently towards objective achievement. But if such cooperation is absent then the activity of one member will be criticized by other members thus creating various hurdles in the goal attainment path of the organization (MacKeogh, 2001). This attitude of the staff can lead the whole institution in a negative direction so this issue needs to be addressed. Some reasons behind disobedience of staff may be lack of employee satisfaction, inappropriate leadership styles by the management and ineffective performance management measures. Another issue is communication gap between students and the headquarters. The complaints filed by the students are usually ignored by the headquarters or very late responses are provided that do not hold much significance. There is even negligence on reporting results of the students. Sometimes the students are not provided results of their exams and despite filing complaints; they are unable to get a valid reason. Rather they have to wait for longer period, on top of that the staff also give them diverse responses, thus making them more confused. Likewise, the students are not given support by staff and even if they inquire about some critical issues then they may get late response. This clearly reflects inefficiency of NOUN to recruit more skilled, competent and cooperative employees so as to meet demands of the students and solving their problems. In addition, communication flow within the institution is also not effective. The administration and staff are not seen communicating properly with each other. Administration tends not to consider it necessary to inform staff about any changes in the organisational system. Despite the above assertions, there are contradicting views with regards to communication system at NOUN. Some respondents have stated that there is less communication gap at NOUN in comparison to any other conventional institutions. They report that in other conventional institutions, information gets twisted and modified while moving from one individual to another as different persons have their own opinion and perceptions of the same information. They argue that that there is no place for such deviation of information in case of NOUN since the institution operates on e-platform. Every type of information is made available at the website to which each person can have access and there is less space for twisting of the information by the staff members.

The poor communication can also be located within the structure component of the transactional theory. The study results have indicated the existence of poor coordination and communication between leaners and the institution’s staff, to an extent that even if the students inquire about some critical issues then they may get late response. Yet, the transactional distance theory states that the system must be as responsive as possible to the learners needs. Therefore, based on the study findings, the conditions of NOUN distance learning centre does not satisfy the basic tenets of the transactional distance theory. It is only when the system meets the basic tenets of the transactional distance theory that the institution will seize to face issues with the quality of education delivered to students. These issues also relates to the equivalency theory of distance education. Fundamentally, the equivalency theory states that instructional designers should develop suitable processes and procedures for effective learning among different types of students to increase the quality of their learning experience and boost their performance. With poor networking a communication systems where learners cannot effectively meet their learning needs. The respondents complained of constant system errors and constantly failing computer networks that interfered with the online learning process. If much of the education content is delivered through the internet, then a constantly failing computer networks is detrimental to the NOUN student’s learning process. Ultimately, failure of the NOUN education system to satisfy the equivalency theory is indicative of its incapability to deliver quality distance education. Moreover, there is poor communication between NOUN KSC and the employers from different sectors. In particular NOUN has failed to maintain regular communication with employers from the state. As per the responses by the employers, the institution only communicates when necessary. That is, while staff are applying for admission or at the time of examination. This can create negative image of the institution among the employers and the employers may hesitate to employ NOUN graduates in the future. Thus, there is high need for the NOUN to communicate with employers on a regular basis so that their graduates may not be jobless after passing out from the university.

5.2.3 Lack of Full Awareness about ODL Mode of Delivery

Another faced by NOUN which has been identified during interviews issue being is lack of complete awareness about ODL and its delivery method among NOUN students and the public. The teaching and learning method adopted by NOUN is totally different from that in the conventional mode. In conventional institutions, regular classes are held and teachers/lecturers come regularly to teach students. Any confusion or queries can be put to the teachers and are solved instantly. But in NOUN, the case is entirely different; regular lectures are not held and there are no permanent lecturers who come to the class regularly to teach and solve the issues faced by students. The students themselves have to learn via the e-platform. Various study materials are provided on the internet which they have to download and study on their own. This new method cannot be easily adopted by some learners; besides there are large numbers of students who prefer attending regular class and learning from the lecturer rather than learning on their own through the means of internet. This is because they are not well familiar with ODE system of learning and they are facing several problems while studying on their own. However, despite having less contact with lecturers or teachers, the institution delivers education of good quality. The reference books, handouts or notes provided by the NOUN are also of good quality and have been huge help for the students in raising their level of knowledge and abilities. Some of the interviewees have praised the teaching mode of the university in relation to quality study materials, and highly educated and experienced facilitators. Moreover, one needs a culture of reading in order to be successful in this type of university. If the students have such a culture, then they are familiar with lots of books which strengthens their vocabulary and enlarge their mind. According to Chaney et al., (2007) such a reading culture is very poor among people in Nigeria so most of the learners could encounter serious problems while pursuing self-learning. There are chances that they might not understand some terms due to weak vocabulary and the study materials might be hard for them to understand. Since the conventional system is deeply rooted in their minds, it is difficult to divert their attention towards new system. There are series of confusion or doubts among people with respect to quality and accreditation of the institution. Since getting admission into NOUN is very easy compared to conventional universities, people fear whether NOUN is accredited by NUC or not. People even have doubts on the quality of teaching mode, and whether such method is effective enough or not. They are also not certain about acceptance of NOUN certificates by the employers. Furthermore, there are lots of misconceptions about regulating authority and the rules and regulations that govern or direct functioning of the institution. Being operating on e-platform, people think that the institution is not genuine and there is no central authority to regulate activities of the university but this is not true. Most of NOUN programmes have been accredited under NUC and the institution operates as per the guidelines set by the regulatory authority- NUC. Based on VC’s speech, during the 6th Convocation Ceremony of the University, held at the NOUN headquarters, Abuja, on Saturday, 21st January, 2017, “a total of 60 programmes have full NUC accreditation, which reflects the excellence with which NOUN implements its academic mandate” (NOUN, 2017, p. 3). Similarly, most citizens possess very little or no knowledge at all about procedures of the institution and its quality assurance system. Also they are not aware about value of certificates provided by NOUN and they hold an opinion that these certificates may not be worthy enough to grant them desired jobs in the future (Daily School News 2017). However, the appointment of new Vice Chancellor- Prof. Abdallah Uba Adamu for NOUN have emerged to be beneficial for the institution in increasing awareness among the people especially those living in the northern part of the country. With his arrival, there has been increase in people’s awareness level regarding NOUN and its programmes. Further, the VC’s convocation speech, has supported a lot in casting more light on the institution. Through the speech, the Vice Chancellor has answered publics’ inquiries and cleared their doubts and misconceptions. There is high hope that the Vice Chancellor will work effectively on improving the standard of NOUN and increasing number of students enrolling into the institution. One major reason behind Nigerian communities being unaware about new learning system (ODL) is very limited advertisement by NOUN. In spite of operating ODE programmes for many years, there are still large populations who have no idea about existence of the institution. Other universities are doing extensive advertisements about their schools, programmes and services/amenities available through the means of different media but NOUN is very backward in terms of this. Generally, the institution has not made enough advertisements to publicise their programmes, facilitators and facilities and this is likely to be reason for many people being unaware about NOUN.

5.2.4 Other Challenges Affecting Smooth Learning in NOUN

Other challenges affecting NOUN students include levels of fees and lack of their technical competency in use of ICTs by students. Some students report that the tuition fees and admission at NOUN are quite expensive in comparison to other conventional institution. This might be due to ICT driven technology being used in teaching and learning system. For providing educational services via e-platform, it requires much cost as different electronic devices are to be used, also internet is must for this system. Likewise, regular upgrading of the software and whole network system is to be maintained. Since all activities related to teaching/learning are to be carried out through the means of network and technology, the institution has to make huge expenditure which it recovers later from the students’ fees. Likewise, open and distance learning at NOUN is a challenge for some students because of a lack of computer knowledge and skills. NOUN runs its educational programmes on e-platform, but in Nigeria, majority of the people are not acquainted with this form of learning/teaching. Most of the people do not have computer literacy. Since one needs to have some basic knowledge about computer system to enroll into NOUN programmes, this massive computer illiteracy among the Nigerian people is critical issue facing the institution. However, as is the case with some staff, NOUN gives training to their students to be computer literate and how to conduct research since most of the programmes are online and involve web-based research. There is also a computer laboratory at the institution where students with poor computer literacy can improve themselves and there is a tutor in attendance to provide required support. NOUN has become more effective in enhancing computer literacy such that some who earlier faced difficulties in using computer are now able to teach others. Apart from above-mentioned challenges identified during interviews, the huge shortfall in staff remuneration which has restricted employment and overstrain existing staff, is a major issue worth mentioning. Other challenges include the inability of NOUN to meet increasing demands for Community Study Centres in different parts of the State and lack of sufficient resources for properly maintaining existing study centres. Also, there is an absence of effective execution of broadband networking system that connect staff with students scattered in 76 study centres within the country (NOUN, 2017a). Basing on the above assertions, it can be asserted that NOUN has badly failed in fulfilling increasing educational needs of people living in different parts of the state, there is lack of adequate resources to maintain standard of the study centres and there is no effective mechanism for connecting students with NOUN staff. These issues are serious problems that need to be solved as soon as possible so that NOUN can satisfy needs of all stakeholders thus developing very good reputation among them. If NOUN succeeds in doing this, then every group of people living in Nigeria irrespective of their age, gender, class, religion and culture might have access to higher education thus directing the nation towards overall development.

5.3. Analysis: Evidence of NOUN Role of Increasing Access to Higher Education in Kano State and Nationally

If the findings are anything to go by, NOUN appears to have been playing a vital role in increasing access of general public to higher education in Kano state and in overall nation. NOUN has supported Nigerian people a lot in pursuing their further studies, facilitating professional development, increasing access to higher education, promoting educational equality and providing flexibility to working classes. The role of NOUN Kano Study Centre in increasing access to higher education in Nigeria has been described under following headings:

5.3.1 NOUN as a Facilitator for Continuing Education and Increasing Access to Higher Education

The major role played by NOUN is enabling wide range of student learners to obtain higher education. Most of the people in Nigeria are compelled to leave their study in the middle due to several family problems (Olakulehin, 2008). Despite having great aspiration they are not able to continue their studies. There are many business men, traders and farmers in Nigeria who have been unable to acquire higher studies and for those people NOUN has been huge platform to continue further studies. With the help of NOUN their desire to gain higher education can be fulfilled. Considering the fact that one does not need to attend regular classes and learn at their place of convenience, ODL system has gained much popularity among the people especially working groups. Likewise, different courses which are usually not offered at conventional university is provided by NOUN and it has added more value to the institution. For instance, BSc in Public Health is not taught in majority of conventional universities based in Northern Nigeria due to which workers from this field without BSc degrees ought to go other states or countries for acquiring this degree. This is really troublesome for workers belonging to this particular sector but after NOUN started offering such degree, huge problem of the Public Health workers has been solved. They no more have to travel to other states or even countries for pursuing higher studies. Supporting this, the respondents have argued that potential and qualified people who wish to take any degree programme are now able to meet their educational aspiration. This has resulted into increasing number of students joining the NOUN to widen their knowledge in related professional field and obtain higher degree. The institution has seen number of students in attaining their education aspiration. Those who are interested in working in particular sector are able to do so by joining NOUN programmes. This shows that people interested in any degree or programme but restricted under several circumstances now have great opportunity to achieve their ambition. The degree can be either undergraduate or post graduate. With response to various benefits that can be achieved through NOUN, there has been remarkable increase in the number of students coming for admission into NOUN. In order to address such increasing educational needs of the people, different study centers are being opened in every state within the country. Furthermore, many community study centers have been established in different communities and even in some local government headquarters too. There are certain professions which prevent people from attending regular classes such as profession of Police, Army, Civil Defence groups, and so on. People involving in these professions do not have much time to go to the conventional university so, by joining NOUN these people can fulfil their desire for higher studies. ODE programmes offered at NOUN is very flexible one which has enabled working people from different sectors either public or private in continuing their job and higher studies simultaneously. There is no doubt about the significant role of education in attaining professional development. If one has gained higher education or completed their degrees then they are exposed to wide range of knowledge, they are believed to have specialized knowledge regarding their course. Those obtaining professional education can perform their jobs more efficiently and give better results and this is the reason why those holding degree certificates are often given higher positions at the workplaces than those with diplomas only. Higher the level of education, higher will be the job position as employers perceive these degree holders to give greater performance which is indeed true. Because of this, people who had to leave their study on the mid-way due to family issues, financial problems and so on are now interested to join NOUN programmes and complete their study in a hope of getting higher job position and much recognition. NOUN programmes along with degrees and certificates offered by the institution are highly advantageous for the people to achieve success in their professional career. Similarly, NOUN is one of the largest institution in West Africa involved in providing open and distance education to large number of students belonging to diverse categories. Since its establishment, it is working actively for developing lifelong learning system across the nation. With an aim to achieve this objective, the institution is doing efforts for the same. Basing on the findings from the selection, there is no doubt that NOUN is actively working in this area. There are other international agencies like World Bank, UNESCO among others are supporting the institution financially to achieve the desired objectives. The institution has well understood the importance of lifelong learning for the individuals and nation as a whole so in this regards, the institution has combined two powerful units to make them bigger and more powerful. Such units were Centre for Educational Technology and Entrepreneurial Development (CETED) in Kaduna and Centre for Lifelong Learning (CLL) in Lagos, to form Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies and Lifelong Learning (CESLL) centred in Kaduna. The centre is primarily based on providing skill development trainings to young people and to the outsiders i.e. people outside the NOUN. Nigeria is a developing country in which there are massive skill deficiency among the people and this is one of the reasons behind the country lagging behind other countries. So for mitigating this deficiency in skill and enhancing existing skills of people in the country, NOUN has undertaken required initiatives through the means of CESLL (NOUN, 2017a). Furthermore, CESLL has also formed partnerships with several government organisations in the country to provide skill developing trainings to young adults especially to those who have left school in the mid-way (NOUN, 2017a). In addition, NOUN has provided numerous benefits for adult learners. There are several factors that restrict people in Nigeria to give continuity to their studies despite having great aspiration and such factors are financial issues, work and other family commitments. The most appropriate solution to this issue is NOUN which offers programmes or courses that can be learnt from home or other convenient places. The university has been established with a sole purpose of increasing access to higher education and fulfilling demands of potential learners belonging to different categories (NOUN, 2012). NOUN is popularly known as a center where working groups mainly civil service workers go to obtain higher studies for improving their skills and attaining career goals. The flexible teaching/learning mode at the institution has attracted many working people to take admission for their further studies.

Majority of the people in Nigeria have weaker economic condition. This is reflected in such populations in Kano state who left school after acquiring secondary education and instantly started working with their secondary school certificates just to support their family. But in this competitive era where everyone is competing with each other to gain better opportunities and jobs, those who only have secondary school certificates cannot be able to withstand such competitive pressure. Due to this, many working populations now want to continue further studies so that they can also be provided with better positions and opportunities and NOUN has emerged as the best destination for these people. If the interview results are anything to go by, there are large number of working classes from different sectors who join NOUN. They enroll in the institution to obtain professional knowledge and perform their assigned duties in a better and effective manner. Not only the workers but even the employers are looking forward to continue their Masters and PhD level programmes at NOUN. Information from one of the employees in reveals that the institution has been able to attract aspiring working groups to enroll in NOUN for continuing higher studies. Compared to other regions, the education services and facilities in Northern Nigeria are not adequate enough to address needs of every people. In this region, there are not enough universities to accommodate every students applying for the admission due to lack of infrastructures and facilities (Graduate, 7). As a result, the admission procedures are very tough and it is very competitive to get admission into these universities. Many people interested to study in conventional universities are not granted admission as the number of students’ intake is very limited. In these universities generally, the number of students applying is extremely higher than the number of students who are accepted. Information provided by one of the employees reveals that many students are deprived of education though they possess high desire and interest. This is also another reason behind increasing people’s attention towards NOUN as any student applying to NOUN are given admission easily. Unlike other conventional institutions, applicants do not have to take JAMB or post JAMB examination while applying for the admission, they simply have to meet certain admission criteria only. With an aim to provide wider access to higher education to Nigerian people, NOUN has set simpler entry requirements to enroll students. This shows that NOUN adopts simple and easier admission procedures basing on the convenience of the students. Those people who are engaged in any profession do not have enough time to visit the universities frequently and their employers might also be reluctant to discharge them for further studies. Hence, the most feasible and appropriate solution to this prominent issue is NOUN which do not require regular visit by the students. After fulfilling the entire admission requirements, students can apply to the institution staying at their home café or any place with internet access. But this facility is not available in any other conventional institutions, in such institutions applicants need to follow series of steps like written examinations and interviews. Majority of the students find this really hectic so they opt out for admission at NOUN as admission procedures are easy, simple and the chances for rejection is very low in this institution. There are no any border or barrier for those coming to get admission and NOUN provides greater chances for potential learners to study their desired course of programmes. As a result, the number of students seeking for admission into other conventional universities have abruptly decreased. This shows that NOUN has highly contributed towards improving educational status of people within the country along with alleviating widely prevalent education inequalities throughout the country. NOUN has performed its job very sincerely and effectively that can be proved by more than fifty thousand students graduating from the university (NOUN, 2017a). Moreover, some facilitation services are also available at NOUN to support the learners. While going through the study materials, several confusions or queries can arise preventing the learners from understanding the subject matter in detailed. These queries or doubts need to be solved immediately or else this will bring more problems in the future. On the basis of results from interviews with stakeholders, it has been found that NOUN has availed such facility in which students can give call to their respective coordinators and get the matter solved. Besides, the students and facilitators can plan date, time and place for facilitation. In such facilitation, the students can raise any questions that have troubled them and the facilitators teach them, give necessary guidance and clear their confusions regarding subject matter thus making the content clearer. Likewise, another facility available at NOUN is related to registration procedure. NOUN provides its students with choices regarding time of registration i.e. different students can register same course at different periods within the year. This facility (flexibility) is not available at other conventional universities, in such institutions all students should register at the same time as admission is open only once in a year. If by chance any student miss the deadline for registration, then s/he has to wait for another session that means waste of time. But at NOUN, students have numerous chances to apply for the course. They can register the course at whatever time that is feasible for them. This indicates that NOUN provides flexibility in relation to registration time as well.

As of recent, NOUN conducts several radio programmes for disseminating abundant information about the institution and programmes offered to the stakeholders. With the help of radio programmes, the institution also interviews many stakeholders to answer their queries, know their responses, perceptions thus identifying needs and requirements of general people. Similarly, various convocation lectures are held to promote the institution and increase massive awareness among the people. Such programmes have been very effective in clearing misconceptions held by people towards NOUN, its courses as well as accreditation. The university gives equal preferences to all kinds of people and it is currently concentrating on meeting educational needs of these physically challenged people. The findings of the study extensively depict upon accessibility of NOUN to people from different categories constituting physically challenged or differently abled people. For that NOUN has introduced several types of assistances or initiatives. In response to proper identification of needs of these people, NOUN has collaborated with different committees who have knowledge on appropriate teaching method suitable for these categories people (NOUN, 2017a). By closely working with these committees, NOUN is using their techniques to teach differently abled people and solving issues being faced by them. Moreover, the institution constitutes student counsellor who guides, directs and provides advice to the students regarding course related matter. The Vice Chancellor highlighted that the staff at NOUN are so much committed that they are available 24/7 for providing information to NOUN students and also to students from other study centers. Staff from every level either director or junior level staff are always ready on the service of its stakeholders (NOUN, 2017). Even the Vice Chancellor is always available, students are allowed to meet him or contact through telephone, mail if any issue arises. This facility will create positive attitude of the students towards responsiveness of the institution on different matters thus forming strong reputation among the people. But, this facility is not possible in conventional institutions as organisational structure of such institutions is very complex and autocratic (NOUN, 2016a). For meeting higher authority, different procedures are to be fulfilled which is equally hectic and problematic too. In any organisation if there is proper communication system between clients and staff for sharing problem then the clients become very satisfied with the organisation and also recommend services and amenities of that organisation to other people resulting into number of service users. Similar is the case with NOUN, if students and other stakeholders are satisfied with the services provided by VC and other staff then there is high probability that the clients will advertise NOUN’s programmes and services to other potential learners. Eventually, there will be increase in the number of students coming for admission at the institution. NOUN has fully embraced this fact and regarding this, the university is communicating or providing useful information to the stakeholders via emails, text messages or phone calls. From this it can be affirmed that NOUN is doing much efforts in improving communication process and serving information needs of all stakeholders. Furthermore, NOUN provides flexibility in relation to examination process too. If any student is not well prepared for examination, then s/he can postpone the examination date and continue later. This mainly supports working students as they do not have adequate time to prepare for the examination. Though it is not possible with conventional institutions in which every student has to write examination at the predefined date whether they are prepared or not. In such situation those who are less prepared have more chances of becoming fail which does not serve good for their academic background, but in NOUN there exists no such risk. Students can shift their examination date as per their choice but they need to graduate within predetermined time. However, they can even extend their graduation which does not imply that they have failed. This extreme flexibility has increased attractiveness of NOUN among working students thus influencing them to take admission into this institution. Additionally, NOUN provides its students with more free time to carry out other things like doing jobs, participating in different activities, and so on. But students from other conventional institutions do not have such spare time as they have to regularly attend classes. Even during weekends their lecturers can fix extra classes which they must attend and it is very difficult for working students to manage time from their busy work schedule. Therefore, NOUN is the most appropriate institution for working students compared to conventional institutions.

Other than the above assertions, there are many disadvantaged groups who have been excluded from getting higher education in conventional education system. This kind of discrimination has arisen from several reasons such as age, gender, social status, religious and cultural beliefs, and so on. These groups include married women, women in purdah, prisoners, older people, and others. But after arrival of NOUN, these groups have got equal opportunities to continue their higher education and fulfil educational aspiration. NOUN, through its regular study centers, community centers and study centers provide higher education to these groups without any discrimination and bias. Mostly, girls in Nigeria are not allowed to study beyond secondary education as they are married off as soon as they pass secondary school education. After marriage they are not permitted to continue their education because their husbands either cannot afford or not want them to gain higher education. Besides, the girls have to look after their houses, families and children so they have no time to attend regular classes at the conventional institution. Unlike conventional institutions, the students at NOUN they do not need to go for regular classes, they can continue their studies at home also. In that way, they can have time for household works and even for study too. NOUN, in order to increase awareness about flexibility programmes among females is undertaking several awareness programmes. The institution is working to draw attention of large female populations stating that they can learn courses at home and need to come to the center only for writing exams. For that NOUN has planned to conduct mass advocacy for public fully understand what’s really going in NOUN. As mentioned earlier, NOUN promotes equality in education so the prisoners are also allowed to take degree or course at NOUN free of cost. The individuals who have been locked up in custody for whatever reason if interested to study further are given such opportunity. This facility has enabled prisoners with minimum qualification to continue their study and graduate in desired subjects. There are even some evidences of prisoners graduating from NOUN during their imprisonment and registering for higher degree programmes too. Similarly, NOUN has also facilitated disadvantaged people such as women in purdah; those constrained by religion, culture and so on, market women to meet their educational needs through its distance learning programmes. This shows that NOUN respects education aspiration of every people whatever be their background and is actively acknowledging their educational needs. Furthermore, there are many old populations who could not complete their studies at younger age and now want to give continuity to education. But they hesitate to attend conventional schools where their younger brothers, sisters, sons and daughters go for study. For those people NOUN is the perfect destination for meeting their educational aspiration as there exists no such age difference at NOUN. The university is open for all generation people and there is no discrimination in this aspect which has encouraged older people to get admission into this institution. NOUN aims to provide equal opportunity for education to all people whatever be their age, caste, religion, gender, religion, economic status, social class, physical ability, and others (NOUN, 2012). The institution does not discriminate any person on any basis and this equal treatment has encouraged people to join NOUN institution. One of the most common reasons for people to join NOUN is flexible natured programmes or learning mode. NOUN programmes are based on open and distance learning in which one need not to come to the school regularly, students after taking admission into the institution can learn by staying at their homes. As per the findings, the students only need to come to the institution for writing exams, issuing books, even registration can be done via online. This has attracted large number of people especially working people as they do not have sufficient time to attend regular classes. Most of the people in Nigeria belong to poor economic background so they have to take family responsibility at an earlier age by leaving study (Ige, 2014). Though they desire for higher studies their families cannot afford sending them to the universities due to financial crises. This is another reason behind Nigeria lagging behind other countries in terms of educational aspect. Addressing this issue, NOUN has introduced ODE programmes. The initial motive of NOUN was to support these working people in fulfilling their dreams to acquire higher education and the institution has succeeded in doing so. From the early stage of its operation, NOUN has been satisfying educational needs of people working in different fields either public or private.

The establishment of NOUN has been beneficial for working classes who earlier had hard time managing their job and attending conventional institutions. Since people could not afford losing job, they used to leave their study in the middle. But after arrival of NOUN, such issue has been solved effectively. People now do not need to drop out from the school for continuing job, they can take their study as well as job ahead concurrently. The motto of NOUN itself is “Work and Learn” and the university is seen undertaking activities effectively to fulfil this motto. The institution has seen its students to continue study alongside their jobs and obtain certificates. Earlier working students had to face huge stress on balancing their work life. Those who wanted to continue their job and join regular classes side by side faced time management issues a lot and as a result, they failed in both. They neither succeeded in achieving higher scores nor performed well at their workplaces. This imbalance in work life is one of the major demerits of studying at conventional universities which has no place in NOUN (NOUN, 2017a).

5.4. To Explore how the Nigerian Quality Assurance System (QAS) has Responded to the Challenges of ODE in Increasing Access to HE within Kano State

The quality assurance system at Nigeria looks very good which has supported the institution in responding towards issues facing ODE in increasing access to higher education within the Kano State of the country. According to definition by Federal Education Quality Assurance Service (FEQAS), quality assurance system “involves systematic monitoring, evaluating, regulating and reporting of educational programmes and practices to ensure that acceptable standards are attained and maintained. It is a dynamic process that provides the needed guidance and support to schools for improved learning outcomes for learners” (Federal Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 2). In the context of higher education in Nigeria, “quality is generally recognised by stakeholders as referring to satisfaction with or excellence in institutional service delivery, programmes, and graduates” (NOUN, 2016a, p. 3). Meanwhile, the quality of NOUN with regards to the above definitions and the teaching/learning mode, resources, study materials, and support system, the NOUN QAS looks praiseworthy. The response of quality assurance system of NOUN to the challenges of increasing access to HE within Kano can be seen under following:

5.4.1 Quality Assurance Unit Providing Trainings at Headquarters

NOUN has given more emphasis on its quality assurance system to provide quality services to its clients. For that there is quality assurance unit which offers several trainings to the staff at headquarters so that they can discharge their roles and responsibilities effectively and satisfy the stakeholders with better quality services. The quality assurance unit is led by a directorate and the unit is mainly involved in regulating activities of staff members and check their work quality. If any staff is found giving poor performance, then the unit takes immediate necessary actions. From the interview results, it has been found that the staff are said to have performed well if they succeed in meeting educational needs of the students along with taking learning system ahead efficiently. Additionally, there are sufficient resources or study materials available at NOUN, and the study materials are of good quality as revealed by most of the stakeholders. Despite the facts, the materials are not adequate (printed copies), thought are easily accessible online. The students can easily download such materials from the café or so. As per the responses given by many stakeholders, all the NOUN course materials are available at the website so one can access them at any time and at any place. Students need to pay additional charge for the study materials but they can get hard as well as soft copies with same quality. Regarding this, respondents have given contrasting views. There are some staff who argue that NOUN study centers do not have adequate books/materials for all students. Even though there is e-library with 20 computers, the computers are not enough to meet the needs of all students so, the institution needs to acquire sufficient resources and materials. However, the limited resources available at the institution are being fully utilized in the service of the students. NOUN has always been huge supportive in fulfilling learning needs of its students and for that there are many resources and facilities. As soon as registration procedure is accomplished, NOUN provides students with portal to access TMA for printing all necessary documents. The institution further provides books which include all relevant information regarding TMA along with exams questions and answers. This will help students to do exam preparation in a right way and become familiar with answering pattern. Besides, the course material provided by NOUN are written in easily understandable form so that readers can comprehend each term and widen their knowledge. During interviews, one student has talked about language used in the books in which he states that books are written in simple English language so learners do not face problems in understanding the content. For providing better educational services one of the most important human resources is facilitators or lecturers. There needs to be highly qualified facilitators for offering quality education to the students so as to meet their educational aspiration (Harrison 2000). Apart from physical resources like library and e-library, NOUN also constitutes good facilitation facility. Every course offered at the institution is entitled for facilitation. Though NOUN does not have regular lecturers, there are well qualified facilitators to teach, guide students and most of them are professors and PhD holders. In case any query or issue related to course matters arise, the students can contact facilitators for holding facilitation at convenient time and place. But there are some constraints associated with this facilitation i.e. lack of enough space or rooms to organize more facilitation programmes at the study centers. Even some center is located at farther distance from students’ locations. So, usually meetings between students and facilitators are carried out at places outside the study centers such as state library. Even though NOUN lacks full facilitation, the staff monitors and manages quality assurance system by organising a learning site among the students. The learning site is formed by the group of students meant for conducting discussion wherein one member is from within NOUN staff who is responsible for all aspects of learning. From this, it can be depicted that NOUN has many initiatives to support students’ learning so that they successfully accomplish their goals for higher study. NOUN study centers are regulated by the headquarters which supervise and keep records of each and every activity to provide required suggestions. However, NOUN conducts altogether four such trainings in a year for addressing needs of all study centers. These trainings have helped study centers to perform their operations in a better way. Quality assurance is a very big unit such that information associated with this cannot be delivered by someone from the study center, such information can be provided only from the headquarters. Moreover, there is a Director at each center who monitors the activities of the staff. While running ODE programmes and providing services to the stakeholders, there arise several issues which are solved by center Director. But there are certain issues that cannot be solved at the centers and such issues are reported to the headquarters.

Similarly, if staff are able to develop their skill, knowledge and capability with the help of NOUN then they are motivated to put great efforts at their work thus increasing quality of their services. In response to this, NOUN should implement Staff Development Scheme to address training needs of every staff so as to ensure quality educational services to the students. Higher the skill and competency of staff, higher will be the quality of their services. Hence, during interviews, the stakeholders suggest that NOUN should pay more attention in improving quality of their staff thus maintaining good quality assurance system in the whole institution. NOUN has adopted modern technology in handling arising complaints during normal course of operations. With the help of this e-platform, the institution receives and manages complaints thus addressing needs of all stakeholders. Most of the staff are satisfied with complaint handling procedure of NOUN as there is I-Learn platform connecting each registered members with one another. From the interview results, it has been found that as soon as one visits the website, s/he gets a chance to interact with other course mates. In this way, students can share their ideas, course matters with other colleagues thus making the subjects clearer. Furthermore, there is also a Directorate at the university called Management Information Systems (MIS) center that introduces new procedures on a periodic basis to meet changing needs and preferences of the students. Several issues can arise related to examination and such issues are fixed before start of next examination through the means of e-platform. Usually headquarters are responsible for addressing the filed complaints so, they have set up e-platform to effectively handle every coming complaints and satisfy the key stakeholders accordingly. The e-platform mechanism is very much useful such that large number of complaints from diverse study centers can be accessed by just turning on the server. Then the assigned department reviews the received complaints, studies in detailed and consult with higher authorities to come up with the most suitable measures for solving the identified problems. The above assertions confirm that the complaints handling mechanism adopted by NOUN are fairly effective. With this kind of mechanism in place, the institution can improve its performance and attract more potential learners to get admission. Besides, the monitoring and assessment practice at NOUN is commendable. NOUN has Directorate at the headquarters known as Directorate of Learner Support who regularly visit study centers for supervising activities of the centers. There should be central controlling authority to regulate, direct and monitor ongoing activities at the centers so as to provide necessary advice and support. Then the directorates can be able to do so only if they are given accurate and full information. So, it is the responsibility of NOUN staff to provide such information to the directorates so that they can obtain required support and guidance. In presence of such support, the institution can succeed in advancing their activities effectively and meeting their objectives thereafter. Furthermore, the frequency and mode of visit by the directorates are not same all the time. In that way, directorates will be able to come across with actual happenings at the centers. All these indicate that NOUN study centers conduct their activities under a main controlling authority, Directorate of Learner Support Unit which regulates and supervises each and every activity thus providing necessary guidance, support and suggestions. If the unit identifies any issue or problem during assessment, then it provides required support and feedback for enhancing performance of the study centers (Daily School News 2017). Additionally, based on the convocation speech given by VC, different initiatives are being conducted by NOUN administration to assure that the institution maintains transparency and efficiency in all its undertakings (NOUN, 2017a). These initiatives further support relevant decision makers to take major decisions for benefits of the institution. Accordingly, there has been improvement in the Directorate of Learner Support Services which are highly preferred for developing strong reputation of the study centers regarding provision of quality service. Moreover, NOUN is constantly revising policies associated with quality assurance in order to enhance teaching and learning quality at the institution (NOUN, 2017a). For this purpose, the institution has appointed desk officer in every study center to monitor functioning of quality assurance unit and determine whether it is performing as per standards.

5.5. To Investigate Stakeholders' Perceptions- NOUN Staffs, Students, Graduates and Employers, of the Quality and Acceptability of ODE, and its Graduates in Kano State

This section presents detailed insight upon the perceptions of key stakeholders about quality, acceptability of ODE programmes and those of graduates in Kano state under the following headings:

5.5.1 Perceptions towards Quality Assurance System of NOUN

There are wide positive perceptions towards QAS of NOUN. Quality education is one of the prime needs of present society and the related institutions are intensely competing for providing better and high quality education to the students. The educational institutions need to give huge emphasis on satisfaction of their clients/students so as to ensure strong name in the industry. Nigeria has a national government agency named National Universities Commission which provides accreditation to the universities and other higher education institutions conducting degree courses, and NOUN is accredited under NUC. As per the responses obtained from the respondents, the commission monitors compliance of stated rules and regulations by HE institutions and conducts accreditation two times in a year i.e. in May and in November. For providing accreditation, the programmes, examination process, facilities at the institution, performance of the students are evaluated. Furthermore, the course materials provided by NOUN are of good quality; they are self-explanatory, written in simple language and easy to understand. These materials are effective not only for NOUN students, but also for students from other institutions, staff and professors in their research work. Further, no any exam malpractice occurs at NOUN so whatever marks the students obtain is only from their own effort, not by cheating. This in return improves knowledge level of the students. Even teachers cannot conduct such malpractice for giving high marks to favorite students and fail least favorite ones. This shows that examination process at NOUN is of much quality focusing on the sole benefits of students. Similarly, the mode of teaching and learning process at NOUN it seems to be of good quality such that those students who had no prior knowledge about using computer are now able to teach others. Besides computer literacy, NOUN also works for improving English of its students and for that there is an English Course called General Studies in English. The course aims at enhancing both communication as well as academic writing of the students. Likewise, ODE curriculum is much better, enriching and of latest updated version. The reference study materials and training system are also commendable. All the functions and activities of NOUN along with its courses, curriculum are guided and monitored by NUC so the programmes offered by NOUN are of updated version and qualitative. Since QAS of NOUN is perceived to be of good quality, there has been tremendous increase in the number of students coming to enroll themselves in to institution for further studies. Further, the course materials are good and beneficial not only for NOUN students but also to outsiders and other institutions. The lecturers or staffs from other conventional universities refer NOUN course materials for teaching students, doing researches and for other purposes. Only class room knowledge is not enough for the individuals to gain professional success. However, they need adequate practical knowledge so that when they step in practical field, they can handle their work much effectively. Practical work plays an important role in enhancing interest and involvement of the students along with their skills, knowledge and theoretical understanding. The institution gives equal preference to practical aspect of education as it believes that practical education is also very much necessary for development of students. In line with the above assertions, the respondents stated that NOUN provides students with opportunity to visit related organisations of their field so that they can perform well in respective profession after graduating from the institution. Besides, NOUN has developed good network with many organisations such as hospitals, institutions of higher education, and others where students can get practical training. Also, there is E-lab which runs virtual class rooms to provide practical training and enhance practical knowledge of the students. This initiative is a part of QAS of the institution which has received good appraisal from NUC as well.

There are large populations who do not regard NOUN, its programmes and certificates as superior as those which are provided by conventional institutions. Some people still do not think NOUN as an authentic university so they do not consider it necessary to give NOUN student respect and recognition. Many people even think that NOUN does not have building and it is totally different from normal school. From the interview results it has been found that people still lack adequate knowledge about NOUN programmes, study materials, examination procedures, teaching/learning method, and so on. The insufficient information about NOUN among people shows that NOUN has been unable to enlighten its stakeholders about its courses, mode of learning, available amenities, etc. in an effective way. Though approach adopted by NOUN is innovative and new, there are some people who face difficulties in adjusting with such changes as they are habituated with conventional system. They cannot easily adapt themselves into new system, procedure and approach so they hold different opinion towards such system. Similarly, there is massive misconception that only old people join NOUN but there are equally more youngsters who are studying there. People even consider NOUN courses as inauthentic. They argue that the institution does not hold regular lectures like other conventional schools. Basing on the findings, majority of people are not known to the fact that at times NOUN conducts facilitations outside the study center in which they invite experts or professionals to give lectures on subject matter. Not only the general people, but the government also has some negative outlook towards NOUN graduates such that they are not given employment in Federal organisations. Some of the interview results reveal that in the matter of providing job, private sector is much better than public sector. The public sector is supposed to provide needed support and respect to NOUN graduates and encourage private sector but here the scene is totally different. However, there is contrasting opinion between the respondents. Some of the respondents argued that NOUN students after showing their certificates along with NYSC exemption certificate are promoted to higher level posts even in government jobs too. On the other hands, there are large numbers of people who consider NOUN as an adult education center where only old people go for study so NOUN students are not permitted to join National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). The service is prepared by the Federal Government of Nigeria for fresh youth who are below the age of thirty. It is one year programme designed for university graduates as well as Higher National Diploma (HND) graduates from the colleges and polytechnics to participate in national development. Basing on the findings, there is massive misconception that only old people join NOUN but there are equally more youngsters who are studying there. Due to this misconception, NOUN graduates are not allowed to join NYSC programme which makes it difficult for the graduates to get better job opportunities. Likewise, people perceive NOUN as part time or satellite campus but this is totally wrong. Due to this negative perception people even discriminate NOUN and do not appreciate certificates from this institution. Some respondents also mentioned that there is very poor mindset among Nigerian people that they view educational institutions on the basis of their reputation. Similarly, there is deeply rooted thinking among Nigerians that they only consider education as genuine education if it is provided within four walls of the university. In that line, they have huge doubts regarding NOUN programmes and learning mechanism. This arises from the fact that the education system is based on open and distance learning in which one need not to go regular classes unlike conventional institutions. All these doubts and misconceptions can be cleared once people visit the NOUN study centre. The teaching method and study materials are of very good quality just like in conventional institutions or even better. Furthermore, there is mixed perception of people towards NOUN and its programmes. There are many individuals who appreciate NOUN programmes and are interested in joining while on the other hand, there are also many people who do not consider NOUN programmes genuine and acceptable. Talking about positive perception, people are astonished with the fact that students learn on their own without attending regular classes. Mostly, students from conventional institutions are surprised at how NOUN students are studying without teachers’ support and solving tough questions. The acceptance of NOUN and its ODE programmes has increased among general public as they are regarding the new learning system to be an innovative one over conventional mode of education.

As per responses of the stakeholders, the major appealing features of NOUN are flexibility, easily accessible and affordability. As mentioned earlier, the admission procedure at NOUN is very easy and simple, courses or programmes can be learnt from home or at workplaces, and people from every category can access NOUN programmes. Besides, majority of the students are much confident that they will get better jobs or promotion in their organisations with the help of NOUN qualifications. Even there are some employers who consider NOUN graduates to be of high quality compared to graduates from other conventional universities.

5.5.2 Shift in Views of ODE among Employers as well as General Public

Based on the great performance shown by NOUN graduates, employers and general people’s views about ODE programmes are changing. When ODE programmes were initially introduced, most of the people had doubts on the programmes. Even the students were not sure about effectiveness of such programmes. In such society where conventional education system predominantly exists, it is much difficult to divert people’s attention towards new learning system. But as time passed by and ODE programmes brought many effective results, people are believing on effectiveness of such programmes. They now have realized that higher education is not only confined to conventional system, they can acquire higher degrees through distance learning too. The findings depict that people now have become more familiar with NOUN programmes, the staff they hire, admission procedures, accreditation of NOUN, and so on activities which shows that progressively, the institution is being recognized among Nigerians. Seeing the results delivered by NOUN and its graduates, people are being attracted towards NOUN and are interested in getting admission there. Such change in people’s perception is a very good achievement for NOUN which is more likely to increase awareness about it programmes among large population in the country. Likewise, there is need for NOUN to open study centre in every senatorial zones so that the institution can satisfy increasing educational needs of people living in different parts of the country. Vast majority of people joining NOUN are adults and already involved in some sector due to which people perceive NOUN as adult (old people) education centre. But with rising awareness level, presently youths are also considering NOUN for attaining higher studies. They have started valuing courses and programmes offered at the institution and if this trend continues then there will be huge increase in the number of potential learners applying to the institution. Furthermore, the perceptions of employers are also seen being changed towards ODE programmes and certificates provided at the institution. Basing on the findings, nowadays, NOUN certificates are also given equal value and priority just like those from conventional universities at the workplaces. So, many employed people who have no degrees come to NOUN for higher studies with an expectation of being promoted to higher position. All these positive perceptions by employers are the results of outstanding performance exhibited by NOUN graduates at their workplaces. NOUN graduates with their phenomenal performance have even changed the attitude of employers in health science field who earlier believed that learning health sciences should include more theoretical aspects and more hours in the classroom. Similarly, employers from other sectors are also seeing NOUN programmes and its graduates in a positive way thus accepting more NOUN graduates at their workplaces. Because of this, most undergraduate employees are rushing towards NOUN for achieving higher education which they had left in the mid-way due to various family issues and others. Further, there has been development of positive attitude within the employers with regards to quality assurance system of NOUN. They are assured that better quality graduates pass out from NOUN who are efficient enough to move the organisation forward. Information given by some of the employees’ show that employers have developed full faith towards quality programmes offered at NOUN. The main reason behind this is NOUN graduates being more capable, efficient, innovative, and they have their own new and pioneering way to perform any task. The education system adopted at NOUN is so much inventive that the institution has been able to produce more qualitative and competent graduates than conventional institutions. There are several instances in which NOUN graduates have proved to be far better than those from other institutions. This is the reason for employers assigning more and huge responsibilities to ODE graduates. Furthermore, with the passage of time and received appreciation, the institution itself has developed more confidence. Previously, NOUN was not confident whether their new concept and programmes would be accepted by people or not but gradually. With increasing number of students coming to NOUN and positive perception among people, the institution is becoming more confident about the services that is being offered. From the above assertions, it can be observed that NOUN has high potential of providing quality educational services to its students. With this kind of potential, the institutions will contribute to overall educational development in the country. Though, the majority of the employers perceived NOUN as mainly for continuing studies so, they want their employees to go there for higher studies. This is based on the fact that they consider NOUN graduates as more creative and innovative.

The students at NOUN are given best trainings on punctuality and are encouraged to value time. This is the reason behind employees who are the products of NOUN, arriving at work before time. However, such punctuality rarely exists in employees graduating from other universities. Since every employer from all sectors give high importance to time, they prefer to hire NOUN graduates or want their employees to join NOUN for higher studies. From the responses given by the employers, it has been found that the reason for employers preferring NOUN is that the institution provides its students best training on interacting with others so NOUN students are better at developing good relations with their colleagues at workplaces. They are also good at forming connection with higher level staff as well as with clients. Every organisation need such employees who have higher interpersonal skill so that organisational activities can be carried forward smoothly. Regarding this, the employers influence their staff to get admission into NOUN due to which majority of working people are rushing towards NOUN for higher studies. This shows that there has been huge shift in the perception of employers towards NOUN and programmes offered there.

5.6. Assessing Perception of the Employers towards ODE Graduates in Comparison to Conventional Graduates at their Workplaces in Kano State

The findings of the present study give detailed description on how some employers perceive ODE graduates compared to conventional graduates at workplaces in Kano state. The analysis of employers’ perceptions towards NOUN graduates have been presented under headings below:

5.6.1. Graduates of NOUN are Employable

The graduates of NOUN are employable. Many NOUN graduates have succeeded in getting jobs and promoted at different organisations. Most of the employers do not discriminate between NOUN graduates and graduates from other universities during recruitment or promotion. Rather they hire employees solely on the basis of their qualifications. So NOUN graduates are also considered to be equally eligible for jobs in different sectors. There is no any rule or stage which particularly NOUN graduates have to pass for getting jobs. Just like for conventional graduates, the job application process for NOUN graduates is also same and simple as well. Information given by one of the graduates shows that there are equal employment opportunities for NOUN graduates. Also these graduates are given equal treatment at their workplaces. The findings also reveal that NOUN certificates are accepted by many organisations and after acquiring these certificates, employees have been promoted to higher position too. Thus, with the help of NOUN certificates, graduates have not only got jobs but also achieved desired higher position. Since NOUN applies new and innovative mode in teaching students, its outputs i.e. graduates are regarded to be more qualified and efficient. NOUN provides quality education and quality course materials, students can acquire more knowledge and skills which they can utilize at their workplaces. During interviews one of the employees argued that employees from their organisations who are also studying at NOUN have contributed a lot based on the knowledge they obtain from NOUN. Furthermore, the employees who are not NOUN students are also inspired by looking at better performance of their colleagues who are NOUN students. So, there has been increase in number of employees wanting to continue their higher studies at NOUN. Hence, it can be asserted that NOUN offers high quality knowledge and trainings to its students so that they can give better performance at their work. Besides, many NOUN graduates are already involved in certain organisation and they have satisfied their employers with their performance. Since they have previous experience on the job, they can perform their work in better way after joining NOUN as the institution supports a lot in enhancing their existing skills, capabilities and knowledge. Due to this, employers perceive NOUN graduates to be more qualitative as well as productive in achieving major goals set by their organisation. The interview results demonstrate that the greater performance delivered by NOUN graduates and positive perception held by employers towards them are interrelated. On one hand, NOUN graduates’ improved performance is responsible for employers’ perceiving them to be highly qualitative while on the other hand, such positive change in employers’ perception has encouraged NOUN graduates to show even better performance. NOUN graduates have wide range of employment opportunities. However, there still exists certain discrimination between NOUN graduates and graduates from conventional universities. As stated by some respondents, there are still some employers who do not give job to NOUN graduates as they hold negative opinion towards these graduates. These employers have doubt on the capability and efficiency of NOUN graduates so they prefer hiring graduates from conventional institutions than graduates from NOUN. In response to this, some respondents have shared their experience on how they have been discriminated by the employers.

Not only the employers, but also some conventional institutions do not recognize NOUN degrees and thus reject NOUN students for Masters who submit PG from NOUN. Even though the applicants meet all admission requirements, they do not get admission for Master’s degree just because they hold NOUN certificate. This shows that NOUN graduates are considered to be inferior by some institution compared to conventional graduates.

5.6.2 The Views of NOUN Graduates on the Labor Market and their Workplace

The graduates from NOUN are acceptable in labour market across the nation. The graduates who come with NOUN certificates at job interviews are selected solely based on their qualification. There is no any bias between NOUN graduates and those attending other universities during recruiting employees at the workplaces. From the interview results, it has been asserted that even the graduates with no additional trainings are also not discriminated. Furthermore, while providing trainings, both NOUN and conventional graduates are treated equally and given same level training. Such trainings are much beneficial in locating differences between theoretical knowledge and actual practice in applied field. The above assertions show that all the graduates from different types of universities including NOUN are given equal respect and treatment at the workplaces. Even the staff at lower positions can get promotion after they complete their higher studies at NOUN. Information given by one of the employer reflect that NOUN degrees and certificates are acceptable in many organisations. Such wide acceptance of NOUN certificates develops confidence level within students towards the institution and influence them in continuing their higher studies there. The individuals are generally hopeful about NOUN degrees and certificates. NOUN students believe that certificates from this institution help them in becoming marketable in the job markets and at their workplaces. They even have full confidence that knowledge obtained at NOUN will enable them in competing with other graduates. There are also some studies which have proved that distance learning students perform better than classroom oriented students (Duffy, et al., 2002). This shows that distance learning programmes are much effective than conventional education in improving quality and competency of learners. Similarly, students also have confidence on getting better jobs with NOUN certificates. They are hopeful that they will be promoted to higher position at their workplaces with NOUN certificates as many of their colleagues have been promoted with the same. This optimistic attitude of the students is very good for the university as it encourages more students to get admission into NOUN. Also NOUN students consider resources and certificates provided by the institution to be of high quality and they are full confident that they will get desired job. This demonstrates that students have developed positive perception towards the NOUN. In addition, the employers too perceive NOUN graduates to possess higher efficiency, competency and capabilities compared to graduates from other universities (Employer- 8). This positive perception towards NOUN has influenced and attracted many learners to join NOUN and this is why people presently rushing to the institution for getting admission. There are lots of examples regarding NOUN graduates performing better than other conventional graduates and giving them tough competition which has increased public interest towards NOUN. The employers have full faith upon quality of NOUN graduates that they do not give extra trainings to them. Information provided by one of the employer reveals that NOUN graduates are qualified enough to get job in any organisation based on their qualification and capabilities. So there is no need for additional trainings for these graduates. Nevertheless, there are some contrasting views related to health sector. Graduates in health sector, either from NOUN or other universities have to attend induction course prior to working in any hospital. For instance, nursing students are given orientation and they have to join clinical teaching under mentor’s direction before attending patients at ward (Employer- 6). Graduates of NOUN have performed so well that they have succeeded in clearing doubts and changing employers’ views towards NOUN programmes and its graduates.

5.7. Summary of the discussion of the findings

The findings have confirmed that there exist numerous challenges facing NOUN, Kano study centre. These include infrastructural challenges, students’ complains about administrative staff and lack of communication flow and lack of full awareness about ODL mode of delivery by NOUN students. Other challenges include the lack of awareness about ODE programmes and, distance and higher fees at the University. However, the institution plays an important role in increasing access of Nigerian people to higher education. People who were compelled to leave their study in the middle are also able to continue their further studies by joining NOUN. Similarly, there is positive perception among the participants about QAS of the institution. People perceive NOUN study materials to be of higher quality, they are satisfied with highly qualified facilitators, complaints handling mechanism, monitoring and supervision mode alongside training methods offered at the institution. But there is also a wide misconception by the participants about NOUN and its programmes among the people and the main reason behind this is limited advocacy by the institution. However, there has been shift in perception of employers and general people towards NOUN graduates; as for those who took part in the study. The better performance shown by the graduates at the workplaces have influenced the employers in accepting graduates with NOUN certificates. NOUN graduates are being given equal treatment as well as opportunities in the workplaces. But still there are some spaces for improvements which the institution need to address soon.

Chapter Six Conclusion and Recommendations: Significance of the Research

6.1 Conclusion

The goal of the current research entails looking at the challenges facing ODE in Nigerian Higher Education. This goal comes alongside other objectives such as examining the challenges facing distance education providers, primarily the NOUN Kano Study Centre in Nigeria, in achieving their aims. The second study objective was to analyze the role that the distance education provider, NOUN Kano Study Centre, has had in increasing access to HE in Kano State, Nigeria. The study explored how the Nigerian quality assurance system has responded to the challenges of ODE in increasing access to higher education within Kano State. This was followed by an investigation of the perceptions held by stakeholders, ODE staff and employers of graduates, with regard to the quality and acceptability of ODE programmes, and of its graduates in Kano State. The final objective entails examining how ODE graduates are perceived by their employers in their workplaces in Kano State, Nigeria. In order to realize the predefined objectives, different methodological approaches have been adopted based on the direction of the study. For instance, the study adopted an interpretivism philosophy, and used qualitative research methods for data collection. Furthermore, both primary as well as secondary data has been accumulated to meet the purpose of the study. The primary data was gathered by using semi-structured interview. These methods have empowered me as a researcher to collect detailed information regarding the research topic from the respondents in addition to extracts from policy documents and frameworks, rules and regulations, memorandum, convocation speech, and others. The respondents for the interviews were four major stakeholders of NOUN; NOUN staff, student learners, NOUN graduates and employers. The respondents operated in different sectors such as education, health, business, Civil Service Commission and NOUN administration who were asked some interview questions related to the research objectives. The respondents have been selected by applying different sampling techniques for different groups of stakeholders. A sample of 18 student learners, 18 NOUN graduates, 11 NOUN staff and 11 employers from Kano state were chosen by using simple random, snowball and purposive sampling techniques respectively, giving a total of 58 participants. Secondary data collection emerged as one of the critical elements in the current study. For an effective secondary data collection, I studied several journals, research papers, articles, and other internet sources relevant to the current research topic. After that all the collected data from the respondents were analyzed using thematic analysis under which several themes and subthemes were extracted for each objective. Moreover, validity, reliability and ethical considerations have been major concern of the researcher in the entire study. The current research called for undertaking a pilot study prior to the main study so as to determine viability of the research process and locate necessary changes to be made. Based on findings from pilot study, the researcher made few changes in the procedures of main study such as incorporating School of Social Sciences in the study which was previously excluded. Also, I added some questions alongside modified some of them as per the results from pilot study. The findings of the pilot study proved relevant in supporting the process of answering research questions. From the results of pilot study, it has been concluded that the greatest challenge facing NOUN is lack of full awareness of ODE programmes, where most of participants stressed that lack of lecturers and face to face interaction between lecturers and students as one of their great challenge in the institution.

There are no regular classes held at NOUN, hence the students and lecturers have to plan facilitation outside the NOUN premises on their own. The other major issues have been poor road access to the study center along with concerns of power supply, internet, insufficient study materials, delay in examination process and missing of results, among others. This concludes that NOUN has not been able enough to manage physical infrastructure and facilities at the study center. However, despite poorly developed infrastructures at the school premises, NOUN has succeeded in offering quality educational services to its students. With the mode of teaching and learning being based on an e-platform, the students have been able to enhance their IT skills and knowledge (NOUN, 2016a). NOUN programmes are mainly beneficial for working people and housewives who cannot attend conventional institutions due to several commitments. Also the prisoners are getting opportunity to fulfil their educational aspiration at free of charge. Due to these, people’s perceptions towards NOUN and its programmes have changed and NOUN certificates are being accepted in professional fields. From this, it can be established that with its quality services and innovative mode of service delivery followed by ease of admission and extreme flexibility, NOUN is receiving immense popularity among Nigerian communities. However, there are still many improvements that are to be made in order to meet educational needs of potential learners effectively and increase respect and recognition for NOUN graduates at the job markets. On the basis of primary and secondary data and information, the researcher has developed research findings. For instance, the data were collected in line with the predefined research objectives. In other words, it can be held that the research was undertaken with an aim of obtain particular objectives. There are five major objectives in this study and this chapter discusses how I have been able to achieve each objective, and their significance; contribution to knowledge in the field of ODE in Nigeria and globally.

6.1.1 Objective 1: The Challenges Facing the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Kano Study Centre (KSC) in Achieving their Objectives

The first objective of this study entails looking at the several challenges being faced by NOUN, Kano study center in attaining the motives for which the institution has been established earlier. From the interview results, it has been concluded that there are various kinds of challenges which have hindered NOUN in delivering quality services to the students so as to meet their educational needs. Among the identified issues include infrastructural and staffing challenges, lack of communication and full awareness about ODL mode of delivery by NOUN students. Other challenges include lack of awareness about ODE programmes and, distance and higher fees at the University. The findings of this study has supported the findings of Yusuf (2006), Awe (2012) as well as Jimoh (2012) which established that among the major infrastructural issues creating much troubles are internet and power supply issues. Being open and distant learning institution, NOUN carries out all its activities from registration to conducting examination on e-platform. On that basis, the institution needs to have adequate computers, internet facilities and power supply to provide ODE programmes effectively. But, it has been observed that there are not enough computers or spare computers to replace those which stop functioning abruptly during examination. Due to this, if any student’s computer breaks down during middle of examination then s/he has to wait till other student finishes writing exam. The networking system of the institution is wanting. The frequently occurring issues as a result of poor networking system are missing of results, delay in examination process and the system error. Some students have talked about how the NOUN website failed to show their results which saw them rewriting their exams by paying additional charge. Likewise, some talked about applying for one study center and getting admission letter from other study center. The study has established that in order to eliminate such system errors and improve networking of the institution, it should not only upgrade its computer system on a regular basis which instead of improving the system, is making it further worse. This continuous upgradation of the system has caused loss of large volume of data, created difficulties for students while registering for exams, submitting their TMAs and even the new system has delayed the examination process. With this kind of failure in place, realization of the institutional objective is jeopardized, thus the need to seek the best way forward in addressing the same. The study centers are situated in isolated locations, forcing many students to travel long distance to visit the facility and return to their homes. This comes alongside lack of proper road network due to which there are high possibilities for frequent break down of vehicles. The roads are even more dangerous to travel during the rainy season as there are more chances of accidents taking place. Besides, other physical structures at the institution are also not adequate and well developed. The buildings, library and furniture need to be expanded and repaired to satisfy increasing educational needs of potential students. Scarcity of sufficient study materials is another issue prevalent at the institution. Even though the students are made to pay full amount for textbooks during registration, they are not provided with all the materials for the entire courses. The students have to download remaining materials from the café by paying additional cost. From all these, it can be concluded that there are inadequate and poorly developed infrastructures and facilities at NOUN to address needs of all the incoming students. These issues are one of the major reasons behind potential students hesitating from taking admission into NOUN.

The study established that the other major challenge affecting NOUN is staffing- related. The institution has been unsuccessful in hiring skilled and proficient staff to deliver quality services to the students coming with their issues at study center. Mostly, the staff at study centers cannot solve major issues, which have to be taken to headquarters. The school lacks enough staff to provide services to the students. This has seen in students coming for books, who have to return empty handed as there are no staff to issue books to them. The study established that staff in the institution have failed in maintaining good relationships with students. They often ignore students’ problems and give late responses which have no meaning. There is a lack of a the sense of cooperation between employees and they are often seen disobeying their leaders or managers. This suggests that the HR department at NOUN has not been able to carry out their duties and responsibilities of hiring, managing and influencing staff members in a right way. There exists a wide communication gap between students and headquarters, and also between staff and administration. The students are not provided with enough support from staff at the headquarters and any complaints filed by them are given much delayed response. Even the communication between staff and administration is not effective. Any important information about new changes are not disseminated to the staff by the administration on time so, staff have to come across with various issues at times. However, there has been found some other contrasting views of the respondents who argue that there is better communication flow at NOUN compared to other conventional institutions where information may get twisted while passing from one individual to another. From the findings, it is clear that there exists no proper communication between NOUN KSC and the employers. This is one aspect that might lead to negative perception of employers towards NOUN graduates. The lack of effective communication prevents employers from knowing the quality and competency of NOUN graduates which directly affect employability of the graduates. Hence, this study calls for the need to embrace proper communication between employers and NOUN to open wide range of opportunities for the graduates in future. The study findings also have revealed that NOUN students lack complete awareness on ODL mode of delivery. There is vast difference between teaching-learning methods of NOUN and that of conventional institutions. Unlike conventional institutions, NOUN does not hold regular lectures and there is no regular face to face interaction between teachers and students which the students find totally different and quite confusing too. All the study materials are available on the internet which students have to download and study on their own through e-platform.

Just as Ajadi (2010) puts it, students are more familiar with conventional education system where teachers come to the class regularly and students can raise questions immediately. This makes it difficult for them to adjust into the entirely new system. There are many students who favor conventional learning mode over ODE system as they have no reading culture and no habits of learning on their own. Also there are certain negative aspects of this distance learning such as the failure to ascertain whether s/he is learning the appropriate material and using suitable techniques or not. They cannot discuss matters and share ideas with colleagues which prevents them from enhancing their knowledge on subject matter. Basing on the above assertions, there are high chances of students not getting high scores in the examinations. So, distant learning is not preferred by many students. Therefore, blended learning mode might help such kind of learners since it comprises both conventional and ODL mode of delivery. Moreover, majority of the people believe in education provided within four walls of the university as there are regular lecturers who guide, direct and correct students but that is not possible with NOUN. Though there are facilitators to solve certain issues, their availability is an issue. Since NOUN students have to learn independently, they have to face difficulties in understanding some terms if they have poor reading culture. This shows that one needs to have good reading culture if they want to succeed in NOUN programmes. From the findings, the research has concluded that most people have less awareness about NOUN programmes. They perceive NOUN as a private institution and have doubts regarding accreditation of the institution. The admission procedure at NOUN is much easier so people think NOUN as an inauthentic university. People are even unsure about effectiveness of ODL mode of delivery as well as acceptance of NOUN certificates in the job market. The doubts extend to the provision of jobs as per their qualification with NOUN certificates. A number of questions have been raised by members of the public with regard to regulatory authority, monitoring and supervision of the institution. However, the arrival of current VC in 2016- Professor Abdallah Uba Adamu, has been beneficial for NOUN in terms of increasing awareness level among general people. The speech delivered by the VC on convocation day has provided much information about the institution, and cleared doubts of the stakeholders. Therefore, with the arrival of the current VC in 2016, new hope has arisen that he will work much efficiently in increasing students’ enrolment into the institution. The study has established that the lack of awareness among people is the result of limited advocacy by the institution (see, Chapter Four, 4.6). NOUN has been providing ODE programmes for very long but still there are significant number of people who are not aware about its existence. Unlike other universities, NOUN has not been doing much advertisements in promoting its programmes/courses, services and amenities to the people. So, there is high need for the institution to use different forms of media extensively for promotion of the institution and increasing awareness among mass people. Regarding this, NOUN has started carrying out several initiatives such as massive advocacy via radio, television, social media, posters, billboards, and forming good advocacy team to enlighten people about benefits and prominence of ODE system. Similarly, another challenge that creates problems for NOUN in providing better services is its distance and costly fees. The location of institution is not favorable for most students and they have to travel long distance while coming to the institution. There is also lack of accommodation facility which has further increased problems for students who have to come from farther distance. Many NOUN stakeholders have suggested for providing accommodation facility within the premises of the study centers and some have even asked to shift the center to easily accessible area. From the research findings, the distance issue has been a major influential factor in discouraging students from getting admission into NOUN. This is also one of the reasons behind many people being unaware about existence of NOUN. Had the institution been located at such area nearby city or accessible location, large number of people would have been known about the institution. Furthermore, if the road to the study center had been well developed then it would not have been much trouble for students in coming to the center and returning back.

Other than the distance, the costly fees is another affecting the institution in achieving its objectives. During interviews, some students talked about NOUN admission fees being much higher than that of conventional universities. This can be due to the fact that NOUN provides educational services on e-platform and for that it has to employ different electronic devices, internet, software system, and ensure regular upgrading. So, it can be quite difficult for students from poor economic background to afford these higher admission fees and acquire course materials by downloading from the internet.

6.1.2 Objective 2: Analysis: Evidence of NOUN Role of Increasing Access to Higher Education in Kano State and Nationally.

The second objective of the research study entailed looking at the role played by NOUN Kano Study Center in increasing access to higher education in Kano state and nationally. From the findings, it can be concluded that NOUN plays significant role in facilitating further studies and professional development as highlighted by most of the participants. The institution has been key in widening access to higher education in Nigeria, promoting equality on different grounds, and providing greater flexibility to working class. Many people in Nigeria in traditional settings have to leave their study midway to fulfil their family and other work related commitments. They could not manage time to attend regular classes at conventional institutions due to these commitments and as a result, they are compelled to stop studying. There are people from different professions such as farming, business and trading who were unable to further their education due to other priorities. For all these people, NOUN has been a huge platform which enables them to continue their work and further study at the same time. Similarly, there are many courses which are not provided by other institutions but offered at NOUN. This has made it possible for Nigerian people to pursue their desired course without moving to other states or even countries. Also, people who were earlier restricted by several constraints and their nature of profession to pursue their interested degree are now able to do so with the help of NOUN. Thus, there has been high increase in the number of students coming to NOUN with an aspiration to acquire higher studies in their related professional field. As response to the tremendous increase in number of students, NOUN has started opening study centers at each state along with community centers to address educational needs of people living across the nation. Since NOUN enables working people to continue further education in their respective professional fields, they can get good opportunities to achieve professional development. By continuing higher studies at NOUN, they can improve their existing knowledge, attain specialization in their course which ultimately develop professionalism within them. Also, they will be provided with higher positions at the workplace thus achieving development in their professional career. NOUN plays a vital role in improving IT skills of the students. Being a distant learning institution, each and every activity at the institution is carried out via internet which helps students in developing computer knowledge. Those who have no prior computer literacy are also provided with required support to develop such knowledge. Likewise, NOUN considers provision of learning skill as equally important as course materials. To access the learning materials effectively, one should have good learning skill. This has the institution working actively for the development of lifelong learning skill within the learners by running learning center and directing right way for the learners to study course materials. The research study has provided a better insight on NOUN’s role in increasing access to higher education in Nigeria. The institution was established to fulfil educational needs of every Nigerian people. It is therefore apparent that the management at NOUN has failed to set the necessary borders for those who want to pursue education at the institution. Potential learners from any part of the country can get admission into the institution and achieve their education aspiration. The course materials are available on the internet which students can download from any place that has internet access and study by staying at home or at other convenient places. The current research has revealed that the study materials in the institution are of very good quality which can be accessed not only by NOUN students, but also by practitioners and lecturers from other universities and researchers. This confirms that NOUN has not restricted access to its resources and materials to the outsiders as the institution mainly focus on widening knowledge and education all over the nation. Similarly, NOUN aims to provide education opportunities to every potential learner, hence the need to set easy admission procedures. Unlike conventional universities, the admission procedures are not tough and competitive as students who fulfil basic admission criteria can easily get admission. Even the students who fail to get admission into other conventional institutions are being attracted towards NOUN.

The study has established that NOUN organizes various radio programmes in order to communicate with the stakeholders, give them required information, clear their doubts, and answer their queries, along with determining their needs and requirements. There are also student counsellors who provide necessary guidance, advice and direction to the students in relation to their subject matter. The students enjoy an opportunity to discuss their problems with VC at any point of time through telephone, mail or by meeting in person. Thus, it can be asserted that NOUN has embraced every attempts to address needs and demands of the students and improving their knowledge level. If the study findings are anything to go by, the NOUN aims at providing quality education to all types of people irrespective of their age, gender, religion, profession, culture, family and economic background. Normally in Nigerian community, girls are not allowed to continue higher education and are married off immediately after completing secondary school education. There are instances where some are not allowed to attend school at all due to cultural beliefs. Therefore, girls and married women considered NOUN as a huge opportunity to pursue their higher education aspiration. By taking admission into NOUN, they can be able to continue their education and accomplish their household chores and other family responsibilities. Also as an institution of higher learning, NOUN provides free education to the prisoners who wish to complete higher education. Furthermore, women in purdah and market men are allowed to obtain their higher degrees by joining NOUN. The institution does not discriminate students based on their age level and the older people do not hesitate attending same institution as joined by their brothers, sons and daughters since the mode of education is based on e-platform. This has encouraged old people in pursuing their higher studies at NOUN. Likewise, physically challenged people can also join NOUN and obtain higher education. The institution uses different types of assistances to support learning of these people. Based on the research findings, majority of learners are driven to NOUN due to the highly flexible programmes and teaching-learning methods. NOUN is based on the motto “Work and Learn” so it encourages working people to join their desired courses at the institution through the means of open and distance learning. Being a developing country, economic background of most Nigerians is very poor so, they have to start supporting their family at an early age prior to completion of higher education. This has resulted into majority of people with incomplete education but after emergence of NOUN, those who had to leave their study in a midway are now able to give continuity to their education. The flexible NOUN programmes have supported working students to manage time for work and study effectively. The institution has provided flexibility to the students in terms of examination too such that they can postpone their examination date to desired date. This gives the working students enough time to prepare for exams and score better. But this type of flexibility is not available at conventional universities due to which many working groups are rushing towards joining NOUN. In conclusion, the study has highlights the role of NOUN in increasing access to higher education in Nigeria through different measures (See, Chapter Four 4.7.1). As a result, the, the second objective of this research study has been fulfilled. From the above study findings, it can be concluded that there are numerous challenges on the path of NOUN while providing quality educational services to the students. These challenges can stand as major obstacles while attaining predefined aims and objectives set by the institution. It is, therefore, important that the institution addresses the identified challenges

6.1.3 Objective 3: To explore how the Nigerian quality assurance system has responded to the challenges of Open and Distance Education (ODE) in increasing access to higher education within Kano State in the country.

The third objective of the current study entails looking at the responses of Nigerian quality assurance system to the ODE related challenges in increasing access to higher education within Kano State. NOUN has undertaken several initiatives to develop effective quality assurance system with regards to teaching method, resources, study materials and support system at the institution. Since NOUN gives huge emphasis on providing quality education services to its students, the institution has formed quality assurance unit which monitors activities of NOUN staff. The quality assurance department provides required trainings to enhance their skill and efficiency in performing their duties effectively. As confirmed by Ojeleye, Shone, Shohola and Joy (2016), the quality assurance unit headed by a directorate determines the quality of staff by checking their capability in fulfilling educational needs of the students. Each study center constitutes desk officers who are encouraged to participate in various seminars, workshops and training programmes so that they can learn new and innovative techniques in serving the clients. The desk officers are required to upgrade their knowledge regarding internet. NOUN headquarters are primarily responsible for regulating and monitoring each and every activity of study centers alongside providing necessary guidance, advice and direction for improving performance. For a smooth operation, NOUN organizes trainings four times in a year accommodating all study centers dispersed across the country. In any organization staffs are the most important assets who have vital role in delivering quality services to the clients. So, they need to be highly qualified and competent to meet client’s expectation level. Regarding this, NOUN is recruiting more qualified and proficient employees who can perform their roles and responsibilities effectively and solve any complex issue arising at the center. The interview results have revealed that NOUN provides adequate resources and materials of high quality to the students. In case if the materials are not available on hand, one can download such materials from the internet at any time and from any place that has internet access. But the findings have revealed contrasting views of the respondents regarding the availability of materials. During interviews some respondents argue on inadequacy of course materials as well as computers at e-library. This shows that NOUN needs to improve accessibility of study materials and bring additional computers so as to address needs and demands of all increasing students. Nevertheless, the institution has fully utilized the available resources in an effective manner. The findings also demonstrate huge support of NOUN to meeting learning needs of potential students. The students are provided with portal to access TMA immediately after finishing registration so that they can print out all useful documents. Further, the institution provides all relevant materials that are very beneficial for exam preparation and all the materials/books are written using simple English language which can be easily understood by the students. The assessment system of NOUN is found to be praiseworthy as students can get instant result immediately after finishing writing exams. It is worth noting the facilitation role of NOUN, which is of top quality. Even though regular classes are not held at the institution there are very qualified and highly experienced facilitators to teach, direct and guide the students. Whenever the students come across any issue with studying materials, they are free to contact related facilitator to plan time and place for facilitation. Such facilitation has found to be very effective for the students as they can discuss their problems with facilitators and get the matter solved, as confirmed by Moore (2013).

Despite the above assertions, the findings also conclude that there are certain constraints related to this facilitation. The study centers do not have sufficient space and resources to organize facilitation accommodating all students. Due to such reasons, usually such facilitations are held outside the study centers. Furthermore, NOUN has formed a learning site including students and one NOUN staff to maintain quality assurance system within the institution. This concludes that NOUN has embraced different initiatives for supporting learning needs of the students and make them achieve their education aspiration. The findings further depict effectiveness of monitoring and evaluation practice put in place by management at the institution. NOUN headquarter has Directorate of Learner Support who frequently visits study centers to monitor ongoing activities at the centers. The Directorates have major responsibility of regulating, directing and supervising the activities carried out at the study centers so that necessary actions can be taken to bring positive changes. Their mode of inspection and frequency both are different from time to time. Sometimes, they visit the study centers without prior notice and seek students’ opinions about NOUN. They at times even visit in a team or individually disguising themselves as one of the students to get true picture of the institution. The Directorates’ visit is really helpful as they can provide necessary feedback and guidelines for improving existing performance of the students. So, NOUN staff need to provide accurate and full information to the directorates during their visit. From this, it can be concluded that NOUN operates under robust regulatory authority which provides needed support, suggestion and guidance while running ODE programmes. Moreover, it has been explored from the findings that NOUN has applied modern technology; e-platform in handling complaints. The complaint handling procedures through e-platform has been found to be much effective that the stakeholders are well satisfied with this technique. The institution has utilized I-Learn platform that connects registered members with each other such that they can share their ideas, knowledge, and issues on this platform. In this way, the students have been highly benefitted on course related matters which enhance their performance on study. From the interview results, it has also been established that NOUN has a MIS center, a computer center which introduces new approaches on a regular basis to address changing demands of the students. This shows that complaints handling mechanism at NOUN is quite effective in solving arising issues of the students and providing them better educational services. Generally, the research findings have shown that NOUN has formed an effective quality assurance system to provide quality educational services to potential learners and meet their educational aspiration. Hence, the researcher has succeeded in achieving third objective of this study.

6.1.4 Objective 4: To investigate stakeholders' perceptions (NOUN staff, student learners, graduates and employers) of the quality and acceptability of ODE programmes, and of its graduates in Kano state, Nigeria.

The fourth objective of the current research entails analyzing the perceptions held by NOUN stakeholders towards the quality and acceptability of ODE programmes along with its graduates in Kano state. If the interview results are anything to go by, NOUN stakeholders perceive its Quality Assurance System in a positive way since the institution is accredited by National Universities Commission (NUC), a national government agency that provides accreditation to the higher education institutions. This commission regulates every activity of the institution and monitors amenities available to ensure whether the institution is capable to conduct its operations efficiently. This accreditation has supported NOUN to develop positive perceptions among the stakeholders. The institution has curbed the possible loopholes for any form of exam malpractice at NOUN. The question papers are set in a way such that students will not be able to copy answers from other students, thus they have to study hard if they want to score higher. Even such malpractice is not possible from teachers’ side as they have not met students face to face. Thus, examination process at NOUN is very fair and the scores entirely depend upon knowledge and hard labor of the students. Likewise, the NOUN curriculum, study materials and training mode of the institution are of much higher quality, enriching and of latest updated version comparing to conventional institutions. According to Ojeleye, Shone and Soutine (2016), NOUN considers practical education as equally important as theory and hence, provides various opportunities for students to practice in related fields. The institution also focuses on improving computer literacy and English of its students so, it conducts necessary actions on that matter. This shows that NOUN’s main aim is to assist students in developing their knowledge, skill and competency. This is consequently has encouraged huge number of students on getting admission into NOUN. However, the research has identified contrasting opinions of people towards NOUN and the programmes offered. While on one hand, people are appreciating ODE programmes and astonished with the fact that students are doing well in independent study at distance, at the same time there are many people who perceive NOUN programmes along with its certificates to be inferior to those offered by conventional universities. People still doubt the existence and authentication of the institution and do not acknowledge its students and their certificates. They have many doubts regarding NOUN programmes, registration procedures, course materials, mode of learning and examination process, which disclose inefficiency of the institution in advocating its services and facilities to the general people. The study has established that NOUN has adopted an innovative mode of teaching and learning but most people are failing to adapt into this new system which is totally different from conventional mode of education. The mode of conventional education has deeply rooted in the mind of people such that it is very difficult for them to adjust into new education system although the new system is much better than the old one. Likewise, people are still unaware to the fact that NOUN conducts facilitation outside the institution for helping students to solve their issues. They even doubt that NOUN has its own building and it is totally different from any normal schools. The only difference is in terms of admission procedures, teaching-learning mode and examination process. Other than that, NOUN is like normal schools which have accreditation from regulatory authority, well-structured curriculum and systematic assessment practices. People’s lack of awareness about NOUN programmes and their negative perception towards the institution has restricted access of the institution’s graduates to many opportunities. There is widespread negative attitude among the Nigerian community about NOUN graduates which has compressed many career opportunities for them. Even the government holds negative attitude towards NOUN graduates and refrain from employing them in some of Federal organizations. From the interview results, it has been concluded that private sectors are more liberal than public sector in terms of offering jobs to NOUN graduates which clearly shows failure of government in providing required respect and recognition to NOUN graduates.

Findings from the current study depict that employers and other people’s views have been changed towards ODE programmes; largely thanks to effective performance delivered by NOUN graduates at their workplace. NOUN’s programmes, course materials and teaching mode have been so effective that graduates are being able to compete with conventional graduates and even performing better because of which employers are perceiving them in a positive way. They are giving equal preferences and recognition to NOUN graduates and their certificates due to which NOUN has been the best destination for employees to continue their further education. Even the general people have started trusting NOUN programmes and their effectiveness on enhancing skill and knowledge of students which is a very good sign for expansion of NOUN. The research findings have shown that employers are well satisfied with quality of NOUN programmes and its graduates as there are many instances proving better capability and efficiency of NOUN graduates compared to other conventional graduates. The graduates are much qualified, innovative and efficient that they have contributed a lot towards organizational success. Similarly, they have learnt new and innovative ways to handle any work, they are more punctual and very good at developing relation with their colleagues. Since all these qualities hold great importance in any organization, employers usually want their employees to continue further education at NOUN. Even the employers themselves have been greatly influenced to join NOUN programmes. Moreover, the positive outcomes obtained from NOUN outputs have also boosted confidence level of the institution in offering better services. The study has established that there exist mixed perceptions of people towards NOUN, some people have well understood the quality and efficacy of NOUN programmes in enhancing students’ knowledge level while there are those people too who have many doubts about courses and certificates being offered at the institution. However, with effective performance given by the NOUN graduates at their workplaces, there has been change in employers’ perceptions towards quality of NOUN programmes as well as their graduates. Thus, the fourth objective has also been successfully attained by the researcher.

6.1.5 Objective 5: To examine how ODE graduates are perceived by employers compare to conventional graduates in their workplaces in Kano State, Nigeria.

The fifth objective of the present study entails exploring difference in perceptions of employers towards NOUN graduates and other conventional graduates at their workplaces. From the findings, it has been established that graduates of NOUN are generally as employable as any graduate; they have been successful in jobs at different organizations. Employers in this study give equal preference to both NOUN graduates and graduates from conventional institutions and hire employees only on the basis of their qualifications. NOUN treated similarly to conventional graduates. They are getting jobs in both public and private sectors from which it can be concluded that equal employment opportunities are available for NOUN graduates. The study has noted that graduates from NOUN are accorded with equal treatment at the workplaces such that they are being promoted to higher position with the help of NOUN certificates. Such equal treatments and promotion to higher positions are being provided to the graduates only because they have performed exceptionally at the workplaces. NOUN graduates have provided huge contribution towards bringing more productivity, efficiency and positive changes in the organization. This has influenced other employees at the workplace who are not NOUN students to get admission into the institution so as to improve their performance and achieve desired posts. Findings from the study has shown that students in the institution are hopeful about being offered desired jobs by showing NOUN certificates. They have enough confidence on NOUN programmes and knowledge offered on making them marketable in the job markets. This positive attitude of the students is very beneficial for NOUN as such students promote NOUN programmes to other people thus indirectly advertising the institution. There are even certain evidences which show better performance of NOUN students while compared to performance of other conventional graduates. This has influenced the employers to change their attitude towards NOUN graduates and view them as equally eligible as graduates from conventional institutions. The study has revealed that employers have full faith upon quality and efficiency of NOUN graduates so, they do not provide additional trainings to the graduates. They usually hire employees on the basis of their qualifications and give jobs immediately after conducting interviews. However, graduates in health sector either from NOUN or other universities have to attend induction course prior to working in any hospital. This also supports the fact that NOUN graduates are not discriminated at the workplaces. Hence, the researcher has succeeded in achieving fifth objective of the study. In addition to semi-structured interview method, the researcher has also performed documentary analysis to gather the relevant data and information. For that documents like copy of rules and regulations regarding the terms and conditions of service of NOUN senior staff, written form of speech delivered by the VC, JCCE & NCE Memorandum and NOUN policy and framework on Quality Assurance were made available to the researcher. As per the results depicted by documentary analysis, it has been concluded that NOUN is also facing issues regarding huge decline in staff payment, incapability to address demands for Community Study Centers from various parts of the state, inadequate resources to operate study centers and ineffective execution of broadband networking system connecting staff with widely dispersed students throughout 76 study centers. The findings conclude that NOUN has been working actively in developing lifelong learning skills within the individuals. In that line, the institution has combined two robust units for offering skill development trainings to the students and also to the outsiders. Also the institution has formed alliances with many government bodies for improving skills and knowledge of people living in the state. As confirmed by (staff-8). In order to improve complaint handling mechanism of the institution and effectively solve any issues of the students and other stakeholders, NOUN has introduced initiatives like Talk to the VC and Rate My Center. The former initiative allows students to express their attitude and feelings towards NOUN programmes, services and facilities while latter enables students to rate NOUN services. The above-mentioned initiatives primarily aim to identify perceptions of NOUN stakeholders and take necessary actions accordingly. The institution acknowledges students’ preference towards technology and regarding this, the institution is planning to transfer all course materials into an e-Pub electronic format. For that, NOUN has initiated discussions with major technological agencies for transferring study materials into innovative, user friendly and easily accessible platform. Likewise, the institution is also working for improving profile of academic staff for which NOUN Academics Online Module has been set up to invite national as well as international unions for teaching and conducting research. The results from documentary analysis also reveal some achievements of NOUN with regards to open and distance education. The institution has been able to defeat other ODE institutions in Africa for providing open access to the best study materials across the world to improve students’ learning. The study has revealed that the documents state that NOUN provides sponsorships to qualified, skilled and competent employees for participating in various workshops, seminars, and trainings so as to improve their skill and knowledge. According to Shohola and Joy (2014), these programmes provide employees with opportunities to interact with experts, counsellors which will be very helpful for employees to fulfil their roles and responsibilities in an effective way. The main motive of NOUN is to promote equality in education so as stated in documents, NOUN provides educational services to four different categories of students such as traditionally excluded people, financially constrained groups, the lifelong learners and student 2.0. Further, NOUN ensures that no any students are being discriminated on any basis, all the course related activities are conducted under NUC directives, and affordable education are offered to the students. With an aim of meeting educational needs of every people living across the nation, NOUN has established different types of study centers. These include the regular study centers, community study centers, prison study centers, and special study centers across six geopolitical regions. Additionally, NOUN has developed Quality Assurance Framework and Policy to ensure that proper quality assurance system has been maintained at the institution. NOUN aims to acquire policy objectives through the means of protection strategy, development and execution of QAS that constitutes standards, policy guidelines, applicable conditions, assessment tools, and other procedures.

Under the Quality Assurance Framework and Policy, the major service zones of the institution are Institutional Governance and Administration and Quality Assurance. Others include Course Design and Development, Review and Appraisal, Infrastructure and amenities, Alliance and Partnerships, Research and Community involvement. NOUN has formed a Quality Assurance Unit which is responsible for monitoring all the activities related to quality assurance alongside assuring the implementation of Quality Assurance Policy within the institution. In the current research study, as a part of secondary data collection, the researcher has studied various relevant papers which are already available. Several articles, journals, books, magazines and other internet sources have been reviewed for obtaining needed information on the research topic. From the analysis of literature review section, it can be concluded that the major focus of NOUN is on providing cost-effective, functional and flexible learning with lifelong significance to every individual who want to pursue higher degrees/courses (see, p. 23, p.53, and p. 122). NOUN is working actively for meeting its strategic mission and vision by establishing study centers in different states and conducting activities as per the guidelines and directions provided by NUC. The literatures suggest that main concern of many authors have been students’ capability to learn independently. Basing on the interview results, the students at NOUN have to learn on their own. It is only for certain issues that they can seek facilitation and clear their doubts. But majority of Nigerian people lack reading culture due to which students might face difficulties while studying even though the materials are of high quality. Similarly, it has also been found that Nigeria has been inefficient to develop and implement appropriate plans and programmes towards development of ODE system in the nation. As stated by many authors, some major factors hindering effective delivery of ODE programmes are inadequate finance, insufficient research facilities, inadequate power supply, lack of skills in designing course materials, poverty and poor ICT penetration, internet connectivity, low tele-density and poorly developed school curriculum. Likewise, some other kinds of challenges identified are lack of logistics and proper guidance in education system, family and work related responsibilities, widespread computer illiteracy, and inherent feelings and attitudes of the student learners, as describe by Sang (2012). Findings the literature review section of the current research are worth noting. For instance, it has been established that presently, there are numerous ODE institutions working in the field of open and distance education (see p. 146). Despite the large number, there are plentiful number of institutions which have failed in maintaining quality assurance effectively since these institutions lack abundant ICT related amenities. This shows that some ODE centers have been inefficient in availing required ICT services to the students and consequently, students are facing various problems. The literature review section has also provided relevant insights on the initiatives adopted by Higher Education regulatory authority and Quality Assurance System providers for tackling prevalent challenges in Nigerian Higher Education System. One of the most prominent examples of such initiatives is formation of National Institute of Teachers (NIT) Center for developing existing skills, knowledge and competency of teachers so that they can guide and teach students in a better way. In the history of Nigerian ODE system, establishment of NOUN is considered to be the major advance which has contributed a lot in improving educational position of the country. Similarly, from the literature review, it has been concluded that Nigerian higher education policies are formulated on the basis of practices and policies adopted by other developed countries especially UK. However, this has caused several difficulties while executing such policies since one institution differs from another in terms of size, assets, number of students and quality assurance system. The views depicted by many authors regarding QAS of the institution contradict with responses given by the participants in interviews are worth noting. While respondents mentioned about positive perception of people towards QAS of the institution, many authors have claimed that Nigerian Higher Education System lacks sound and consistent policy for enabling appropriate QAS in distance learning within the country. Distance education in Nigeria is associated with several issues so, the quality of ODE programmes is very poor. There are different factors responsible for inferior QAS in ODE institutions namely poorly developed ICT infrastructures and unsatisfactory ICT services. Other factors contributed towards the same are support staff, power supply, unsuitable teaching of practical subjects, lack of trained personnel to operate ODE system, and so on. Looking at the arguments raised by the several authors, it is clear that there are certain conventional universities which reject NOUN students for Masters’ programme. This attitude of conventional institutions towards NOUN graduates will create negative impact on general public and influence them in forming inferior image of the graduates in their mind. Further, it has been concluded from the literatures that NUC regulations and guidelines have direct impact upon educational inputs into Nigerian Higher Education but many studies claim that NUC activities lack proper quality assurance. The commission has failed to introduce effective initiatives for changing negative attitudes of society towards ODE graduates and providing them much needed respect and recognition. Additionally, from the views of several authors like Anderson (2016), it has been established that people now have much awareness about significance of education. This has increased their urge towards pursuing higher studies at any cost. Even those who had left study in the midway have started continuing their education so as to get access to wide range of career opportunities. With time, there has been an establishment of educational institutions in every corner of the country thus creating intense competition among such institutions. The implication, therefore, is the most appropriate measure for the institution to attain competitive advantage is developing an effective QAS. The literatures have also stated on efficiency of open and distance education in overcoming the challenges dominant in conventional classroom based education system.

The extreme flexibility and easier admission procedures have been major factors to influence potential learners in taking admission into NOUN. The ODE programmes successfully overcome the loopholes prevalent in conventional mode of education. With the help of these programmes, many aspiring students who were earlier rejected by conventional institutions are now able to continue their higher studies programmes by joining NOUN. Likewise, married women, physically disadvantaged people, market women, old aged, and so on people who were restricted by several circumstances to join conventional universities now can fulfil their education aspiration through the means of NOUN programmes. NOUN has also very significant role in uplifting educational status within the country thus supporting economic, social, political and technological development.

6.2 Recommendations

The current research has revealed that as an institution of higher learning, NOUN is a dedicated university established for providing open and distance education to potential learners in Nigeria. Since its establishment, the university has been offering ODE programmes and supporting people in attaining their higher education aspiration. Though the university was initially established for working class and those who had to leave their study in the midway, presently many youngsters are being attracted to join NOUN due to quality education services offered along with several exceptional features. By studying at NOUN, many graduates have been able to enhance their skill, knowledge and give better performance at the workplaces. Similarly, people restricted under several circumstances and deprived people have also got opportunity to pursue graduate and post graduate studies with the help of NOUN. It is worth noting that the course materials, teaching mode, training system at the institution are very effective such that NOUN graduates are competitive enough to face off with other conventional graduates. However, there are many challenges associated with the university which can create huge obstacles in attaining predefined aims and objectives. Likewise, still there are extensive misconceptions and negative perceptions of people towards the university, degree/programmes and certificates which leaves some spaces for the improvement. On the basis of the research findings, following recommendations have been put forward:

The computer networking system of the institution is wanting. The research has established various evidences showing computer networking causing serious problems. These include missing results, delay in examination, system error and registration related issues, among others. All these issues have several negative impacts which can even cause long term effects on the students’ academic profile. It is therefore important that such kinds of networking issues need be addressed as soon as possible to prevent possible serious hazards. One of the best solutions to this challenge is NOUN administration installing robust hardware and software within the computer system and regularly update the applications in a right way. As described by Miyazoe and Anderson (2015), the administration needs to hire highly skilled and competent staff who can manage the computer system effectively. Also, experts or professionals should be invited to the institution on a frequent basis for providing necessary computer education to the staff of related department and inspect the functioning of networking system.

The failure in power supply is another major issue which has affected normal day to day operations of the institution. NOUN lacks adequate power supply to support all the electronic devices due to which the devices stop working abruptly. The power failure has also been experienced during examination wherein computers stop functioning and students have to wait till the issue get solved. It is, therefore, important that the administration of NOUN take necessary corrective measures to solve this issue. For that the institution have to set up strong power supply system to increase supply of power to all devices and machines. Also the institution needs to replace high voltage consuming devices with appropriate alternatives.

The research has revealed that there are many other physical infrastructures which need to be improved. For instance, the buildings should be improved, the chairs, tables and seats should be repaired or replaced. Since the library cannot accommodate all the students at a time, it needs to be expanded and sufficient books and other resources should be provided in the library. Likewise, there are no enough computers in e-library, hence the need to bring additional computers to meet needs of every student. The management should develop proper toilet facilities so that students do not have to face troubles during examinations. Similarly, there are no enough space at the study centers to manage facilitation programmes and students have to plan such programmes on their own with lecturers. It is, therefore, important that NOUN administration arrange such facilitation for the students so that they do not have to face much trouble on planning the facilitation.

The other factor discouraging students from enrolling into NOUN KSC is the poorly developed road facility. There is no proper road access for the students to come to the study center. Also the study center is located at farther distance which has been huge problem for the students particularly, during rainy season. So, NOUN should take immediate actions to solve this issue. However, it’s worth noting that the road issue cannot be solved by NOUN KSC individually and it is the responsibility of the Kano State Government to build road network. On that line, the university should pressurize the government on developing proper road as soon as possible. Alternatively, it can change the location of study center to area nearby city or such area which has easy road access. However, it is very difficult to move whole study center, NOUN can opt for shifting administrative offices to the main cities so that both institution and students do not have to face problems.

The study has established lack of adequate course materials as another challenge facing the institution. The students are not provided with sufficient materials/books even after paying full fees for whole course. They only get limited materials and rest they have to download from the internet incurring additional charge. This calls for NOUN management to be responsible on this matter. As concluded by Mbwesa (2014), the management should provide all the necessary materials and handbooks to the students at the time of registration. Even if there are not sufficient materials in the library, NOUN should download all the materials and distribute them to the students without taking any additional fees.

The findings revealed that the institution is suffering from very limited advocacy- advertisement about NOUN programmes, services and facilities among the public. There are large number of people who are still not aware about the existence of NOUN, the programmes offered and facilities available. People even consider NOUN as inauthentic or private university, thus perceiving the institution to be inferior to conventional institutions. Therefore, the institution should improve its promotional activities and advertising strategy for raising awareness level of general public (Simonson, Smaldino and Zvacek, 2014). This calls for NOUN has to conduct excessive advertising through different forms of media such as TV, radio, social media, print media, etc. Also it can organize various seminars, workshop and programmes to advocate the programmes/courses being offered at the institution.

Considering the fact that the mode of education is totally different from conventional education, many students are confused about ODE programmes and they find it quite difficult to learn on their own. On that basis, the institution should educate students about ODE mode of delivery and clear arising doubts. The institution needs to guide and direct students on how to access materials and study in a right way. Furthermore, different workshops and training sessions are to be organized to raise awareness among students regarding NOUN programmes and mode of learning. Additionally, NOUN can properly introduce the blended learning mode in some of its centres and some of its programmes. This will see the institution acknowledging the various needs of its students.

The research has revealed that staff at NOUN are not adequate enough to provide services to the students so, more staff are to be hired by the institution for serving students and other visitors at any point of time. Only increasing staff number is not enough, it is necessary to hire highly qualified and competent staff who can provide quality services to the stakeholders. Since there was found wide communication gap between staff and administration, it is essential to develop good communication system between them along with sound working environment. The staff should be encouraged and motivated to properly address needs of every students and solve their issues.

The interview results have confirmed instances of delayed responses to complaints filed by the students. It is, therefore, important that the institution consider adopting an effective complaints handling mechanism to address students’ issue and meet their needs in an effective manner. The application of different appropriate motivational techniques will see the employees feeling motivated to serve needy ones wholeheartedly.

The research has revealed that the staff at study centers are less efficient and incompetent in solving complex issues. This is attributed the existing bureaucratic procedures; concerns sent to the headquarters which means lengthy process of solving issues. On that note, the institution should go for highly qualified, competent and experienced staff at the study centers. As advised by (Jimoh, 2013). This will see any problem raised by the students solved instantly. The staff should be encouraged as well as sponsored to take part in various seminars and workshops which are highly beneficial for their professional development.

The research has established the existence of poor communication between NOUN KSC and employers. NOUN only communicates to the employers when staff are applying for admission. So, it is necessary for the institution to develop regular communication with employers. NOUN needs to interact with employers on a regular basis and inform them about relevant activities so that employers develop much awareness about the institution which will be huge support for the students in future.

The institution should consider developing effective plans and policies for improving courses, services and facilities it offers. While doing so, the institution needs to comply with rules and directives set by the regulatory authority along with other policies and frameworks as prescribed. Such compliance ensures that NOUN has been performing its activities in an appropriate manner which helps them in getting required support in case any serious issue arises in the future.

NOUN should stick to the defined Quality Assurance Framework and Policy for seeing that a proper quality assurance exists in the institution. This will entail following all the basic principles and codes of open and distance education as prescribed in the framework. Also, the policy needs to be properly communicated to all students, employees and other stakeholders to determine whether such policy has been implemented effectively or not. Moreover, periodic evaluation of quality assurance system is also necessary to take necessary corrective actions accordingly. Besides, NOUN needs to review its strategic ideas and courses to enhance quality of programmes and for that major emphasis is to be given on learning design component of ODE programme.

As advocated by Street, Gilliland, McNeil and Royal (2015), considering the fact that stakeholders play vital role in organizational success, NOUN should maintain good relation with all key stakeholders and show some sense of responsibility towards them. Any relevant information about new changes made in organizational procedures and activities are to be disseminated to all stakeholders in a proper way. Also, the institution should heartily welcome any feedback or suggestions from the stakeholders and act upon them.

Basing on the fact that it might be difficult for NOUN to run ODE programmes due to several issues such as financial issues, technological issues and others, the institution needs to seek help from supporting agencies. In order to solve finance related issues, NOUN can ask help from Nigerian government as well as from international donor agencies. For technological issues, the institution can hire IT specialists and take advice from them for improving technological aspects of the institution.

The current research has established that NOUN is working closely with the NUC in accreditation process, the NUC is constantly monitoring and evaluating the NOUN’s programmes for better achievement of quality assurance. Though, the literature review in the current study has revealed that National Universities Commission (NUC) has failed in working effectively on quality assurance in Nigerian Higher Education. So, the commission is highly required to be more attentive towards formulating effective policies and practices for maintaining strong QAS among the institutions. The commission needs to develop the most suitable strategies for changing negative perception of community towards ODE graduates and providing them as equal opportunities that are offered to other conventional graduates.

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