Determinants of Demand for Open and Distance Learning in Ethiopia: The Case of Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs)

Abstract

Many scholars have forwarded that higher education in general and the same in underdeveloped and developing countries in particular has been facing the challenges of access, cost and quality. What is worst is the trade off between these challenges. When universities try to increase access to higher education, the cost becomes unaffordably very high and quality will be compromised and when they work to meet quality, access will be restrained. Ethiopia is a typical example. Despite the very ambitious five year plan (2005-2010) of education sector development program (MoE, 2005) to increase participation rate from 1.5 percent to 5 and above percent, recent data showed that it is still at a level of 1.6 percent, (UNDP 2008). It becomes a day to day agenda on media that even such a very small increase has led the country’s education system to compromise on quality of education. In most developing countries of Asia and Africa, ODL has emerged as a viable supplement and serious alternative to the formal system of higher education to tackle the challenges of access, cost, and quality and has shown phenomenal growth. ODL in PHEIs in Ethiopia, though started very recently, has contributed a lot in creating access to tertiary education down in each province in the country. However, data showed that there is enrolment fluctuation from one academic year to another academic year with a considerable decline in recent years. This paper, with its principal purpose of identifying the factors that have impact on the demand for ODL in PHEIs in Ethiopia, clearly indicates that several factors contribute to the alteration of ODL learners’ enrolments in PHEIs. Data for this purpose have shown that policy related factors, employment related factors, cost related factors, livelihood related factors of ODL programs offered in PHEIs, cultural factors and some social factors influence enrolment growth in this sub-sector. Therefore, stakeholders need to think twice and shape their strategies in a way that make ODL mode of delivery contribute to the country’s educational attainment thereby socio-economic development at its full potential with minimal cost and high quality.