Project Synthesis

SAIDE is a non-governmental organisation that has made significant impact towards overall transformation of distance education in South Africa. Its work in distance education has influenced all key education subsections as well as quality assurance and the use of technology in education. SAIDE's educational philosophy of Open Learning allows the integration of students' accumulated experiences into their learning programmes.

Strategy/Objectives

SAIDE's overall goal is to contribute towards accessible, good quality education through the successful integration of distance education and open learning. Other objectives include:
· To contribute to Quality Assurance policy processes and pilot projects through the development of a Further Education and Training system that will increase access to high quality educational provision for large numbers of youth and adult learners through the adoption of open learning principles and distance education strategies.
· To contribute to the development of appropriate distance education courses and materials for educator development in relevant areas of professional competence, aimed at educators in technical colleges.
· Disseminate information on current trends in distance education and development, with specific focus on the needs of adult learners and youth.

Target Group

SAIDE works with the Department of Education and the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) to ensure the incorporation as policy of the Criteria for Quality Distance Education, into SAQA. Its increased understanding of the FET band has enabled SAIDE to target specific areas of intervention like the Council for General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance, Learnership and skills programmes Technical Colleges (FET Institutions) The Development Institute for Training, Support, and Education for Labour.

Activities and Expected Results

SAIDE will:
· continue to develop guidelines for quality distance education and the development of the decision-making framework for the use of different technologies
· develop further distance education networks in the region
· participate in further development of national quality assurance of FET programmes
· undertake research in the areas of distance education, and capacity building for educators in this field

SAIDE is not an implementing agency. It rather acts as an advocate, catalyst and facilitator to bring about change in existing educational practices and to design and support new key programmes. The expected outcomes for this phase include developed and refined policies and approaches to quality assurance within the FET band as well as implementation strategies. Partners involved in learnerships and skills programmes will be equipped with skills and mechanisms for provision of services related to FET programme design, development, monitoring and evaluation. Reports and documents, research reports; published articles reports, and other useful information will be available in SAIDE resource centre and on website. The resource centre has a membership of 50 organisations and students at local and international level.

Partner

SAIDE works with the government; Non-governmental organisations, education institutions and the private sector. They also have collaborations with international educational institutions.

Project duration

The project duration of this phase is from September 2003 until December 2004.

Funding

SDC has supported SAIDE since 1996. An amount of for this phase R3'000'000 has been allocated over a period of 14 months.

Geographical area
 
SAIDE works in partnerships with other distance education institutions in South Africa, in the SADC region and internationally.

Contact address

SAIDE
12 Floor Noswall Hall
Cnr. Stiemens & Berthe St.
Braamfontein 2017
Tel: (011) 403-2813
Fax: (011) 403-2814
E-mail: info@saide.org.za