The Open University of Mauritius is finally ''operational''. Yes indeed with the appointment of a chairman of the board and of the Director General. Will things really change?
Here is a brief recap (from the author's perspective and deemed correct by the author as far as his humble knowledge permits) of the history of the ''OUM'' and some very pertinent questions for the future.
In between the year 2000 to 2005, the concepts of open learning and technology-enhanced learning were on the political agenda of the government. The first such initiative in terms of technology-enhanced learning was the very successful initiative called the Mass Computer Proficiency Project (CPP) that was targeted at making mass training in basic information technology in a bid to sustain the strategic objective of making Mauritius a cyber-island. The initiative was later enhanced, but within the same goal through the Universal IC3 (Internet and Computing Core Certification) in 2005. The pedagogical philosophy behind the CPP and IC3 courses was based on the “learning-by-doing” approach and “learning IT through IT” which meant that contents were made available in digitized form comprising of multimedia and hypermedia elements.
At the same time during the 2000-2005 periods, the government came up with the idea of an open-learning institute which would be fundamentally absorbing the Mauritius College of the Air. The idea later evolved into that of an Open University in 2005 but it never came into operation, until a revamped bill was presented in 2010 in Parliament. A recent press article in November 2011 (Le Mauricien 2011)[1] reported that the Open University of Mauritius would be operational before the end of the year. We are currently in 2012, yet no sight of any operationalisation of this University. A similar press article dating back in 2010 (L’Express 2010)[2] highlighted that the said University would be operational before the end of that particular year also. A related press article (Defimedia 2011)[3] in October 2011 revealed that Open University of Mauritius would be ‘one of the best institutions which will offer distance learning courses’ and that once it is operational, it will achieve the ‘Government’s vision of having one graduate per family’.
These were reported to be the statements of the Minister of Tertiary Education and Scientific Research. The press article in 2011 (Le Mauricien 2011) talks of the collaborations with the Commonwealth of Learning and that in a first instance courses of the Open University of UK would be offered by the Open University of Mauritius. This is a first contradiction as the Open University of Mauritius has as objective to offer courses at affordable costs while the Open University of the UK cannot really be counted as an ‘affordable’ institution in terms of cost for many Mauritians. Other similar press articles reporting either the Minister’s statements or extracts of interviews from technical officers of the Ministry highlighted that all the plans were ready and that at least the first instance, the Open University of Mauritius will offer courses from other institutions like the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) of India.
At the same time during the 2000-2005 periods, the government came up with the idea of an open-learning institute which would be fundamentally absorbing the Mauritius College of the Air. The idea later evolved into that of an Open University in 2005 but it never came into operation, until a revamped bill was presented in 2010 in Parliament. A recent press article in November 2011 (Le Mauricien 2011)[1] reported that the Open University of Mauritius would be operational before the end of the year. We are currently in 2012, yet no sight of any operationalisation of this University. A similar press article dating back in 2010 (L’Express 2010)[2] highlighted that the said University would be operational before the end of that particular year also. A related press article (Defimedia 2011)[3] in October 2011 revealed that Open University of Mauritius would be ‘one of the best institutions which will offer distance learning courses’ and that once it is operational, it will achieve the ‘Government’s vision of having one graduate per family’.
These were reported to be the statements of the Minister of Tertiary Education and Scientific Research. The press article in 2011 (Le Mauricien 2011) talks of the collaborations with the Commonwealth of Learning and that in a first instance courses of the Open University of UK would be offered by the Open University of Mauritius. This is a first contradiction as the Open University of Mauritius has as objective to offer courses at affordable costs while the Open University of the UK cannot really be counted as an ‘affordable’ institution in terms of cost for many Mauritians. Other similar press articles reporting either the Minister’s statements or extracts of interviews from technical officers of the Ministry highlighted that all the plans were ready and that at least the first instance, the Open University of Mauritius will offer courses from other institutions like the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) of India.
The very first definition of a University is that it is empowered by law as an awarding institution. It has the power to confer its own qualifications in its own name to its students. While the Mauritius College of the Air (MCA) exist since 1971 and its mission was precisely mass education through mainly radio and television programmes, it had over the years moved into running of more formal courses through affiliation to either local institutions like the University of Mauritius or external institutions like IGNOU. The reason for this was precisely the fact that the MCA was not an award institution. Now that the Open University has been (logically) created, the move of keeping the same operational model of the Mauritius College of the Air to run a University is not well articulated. In most of the press communiqués and other public speeches, there seem to be a confusion of the concept of open education and the distance e-learning modality. There is an amalgamation of these two concepts which to those driving the initiative, seem to be one and the same thing. This is obviously one of the main misconceptions of confused minds that have to some extent contributed towards the inability to operate the university after so long.
Perraton (2000) has pointed out that the term ‘distance education’ captures the economic imperative of gaining benefits of scale, low cost and consistent quality, whereas ‘open learning’ evokes the political imperative of widening access. It is important to note that Kanwar and Daniel (2010) argued that establishing new brick and mortar institutions is not a viable option for most countries, especially developing ones. Back in 1988, there was only one Open University in Africa and there are currently four in all in Africa namely the University of South Africa, the Open University of Tanzania, the Namibian College of Open Learning, and the National Open University of Nigeria. One can easily understand the need of open learning institutions in those countries given their geographical sizes and the dispersion of their inhabitants. The rationale of an open university in Mauritius is not so clear in terms of the size of the island. Therefore the vision and mission of such an organization should be clearly linked to the national priorities and in line with the needs of our society.
Perraton (2000) has pointed out that the term ‘distance education’ captures the economic imperative of gaining benefits of scale, low cost and consistent quality, whereas ‘open learning’ evokes the political imperative of widening access. It is important to note that Kanwar and Daniel (2010) argued that establishing new brick and mortar institutions is not a viable option for most countries, especially developing ones. Back in 1988, there was only one Open University in Africa and there are currently four in all in Africa namely the University of South Africa, the Open University of Tanzania, the Namibian College of Open Learning, and the National Open University of Nigeria. One can easily understand the need of open learning institutions in those countries given their geographical sizes and the dispersion of their inhabitants. The rationale of an open university in Mauritius is not so clear in terms of the size of the island. Therefore the vision and mission of such an organization should be clearly linked to the national priorities and in line with the needs of our society.
It is worth mentioning that the Open University of Mauritius is the third public University in Mauritius, although technically it is not yet operational. The business model so far is not clear for the University. A quick scan of the literature available on open universities also reveals University failures in distance education initiatives due to either the inability to attract students or to expand the courses catalogue. One such case is the Malaysian Virtual University. Malaysian Virtual University (MVU) was conceived in 1996 as a degree-granting institution aimed at increasing the participation in commerce and industry of the indigenous Malay ethnic group. One of the country’s largest commercial co-operatives was behind it and an American company was brought in to design it, but not as a web-based distance teaching institution. The MVU did not come into being, however, for lack of agreement regarding where, when or how the courses would be developed. Nor did it obtain the necessary licence to operate from the government (Ress and Sonberg 1998). Open University of the United States (OUUS), after three years of financial losses and low student enrolment, was closed in 2002 by the UKOU, its parent institution. It had not yet obtained full US regional accreditation (Hawkridge, 2003).
In the context of the Open University of Mauritius, the following questions are pertinent:
- Is it important to have a new university if opening access and flexible learning are the main objectives to be achieved?
- What would be the operational and the business model of the Open University? Will it be funded from public funds or will it aim to achieve significant financial independence?
- What will be the pedagogical and diffusion model for the Open University and how these will be linked in an integrated framework throughout the educational process and the student life history?
- What will be the target audience and the strategy to attract local and foreign students to the University? How will it compete with the UNISA, IGNOU and other Distance Education Universities operating in Mauritius? How will international recognition of the University be achieved?
- Will the Open University of Mauritius be a real university or will it just be the MCA ‘operating’ as a University?
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