Key Strategies for Sustaining Open and Distance Learning in Depressed Socio-Economic Environments

Abstract

Innovation is widely regarded as an imperative for the survival of higher educational institutions in the new millennium. This study investigated management actions and strategies which underpin sustainability of an educational phenomenon known worldwide as the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in a depressed socio-economic environment. The data to address the investigation was collected by means of a case study methodology. More precisely, a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from two participants closed involved in the management of the ODL at one of regional campuses of the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU). The managerial participants were, namely the Regional Director (RD), the chief executive officer at the Masvingo Regional Campus (MRC) of the ZOU and the Program Coordinator (PC) in charge of the Quality Assurance Unit.