THE USEFULNESS OF STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES IN DISTANCE HIGHER EDUCATION WITH PARTICULAR FOCUS ON THE ZIMBABWE OPEN UNIVERSITY

PHOEBE KASHORA; ERIC SAMUEL MAPASURE SARABOYI MAKURA; ELIZABETH CHIKWIRI

Volume : IV, Issue : II, February - 2015

THE USEFULNESS OF STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES IN DISTANCE HIGHER EDUCATION WITH PARTICULAR FOCUS ON THE ZIMBABWE OPEN UNIVERSITY

Phoebe Kashora, Eric Samuel Mapasure Saraboyi Makura, Elizabeth Chikwiri

Abstract :

Provision of Distance Higher Education (DHE), pioneered in 1858 by the University of London as its External Programme, twenty two years after its establishment, is the only way Developing Countries can effectively enable majority of their people acquire University Education, which they had been deliberately denied during the period of colonial domination .This study sought to determine the usefulness of Learner Support Services (LSS) in DHE, but focusing only on the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU). Data was collected from ZOU students through the use of questionnaires and structured interviews. The study found compelling evidence of the popularity and heavy demand for LSSs among students. The study strongly advises institutions of Higher Learning providing DHE to use a wide variety of LSSs so that students would not only enjoy learning, but equally meaningfully benefit from such mode of education.