Student-Workers’ Perception towards Distance Education in Ghana

Abstract

Ghana’s distance education program is significantly flooded with varied perceptions. The constant variations in perceptions could stem from rapid physical and social changes within the education sector. The purpose of this study was to discover student-workers views about distance education in contemporary times. Informed by the pragmatism philosophy, the study employed the explanatory mixed methods to gather data from randomly selected student-workers and study center coordinators in the University of Cape Coast, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and University of Ghana. The study found that student-workers still preferred distance education over the regular program in spite of its steady challenges. The perceived main reason for opting for distance education was their desire to obtain higher education while doing other necessary activities. The sex of student-workers played a significant role in their desire to obtain higher education in UCC but the same could not be said in KNUST and UG. The study concluded that younger student-workers pursuing distance education in UG desired higher education more than the elderly but this relationship was non-existing in UCC and KNUST. It was revealed, in all institutions, that single student-workers desired higher education more than the married. Generally, the socio-demographic characteristics of distance education student-workers in Ghana have changed significantly over the years. The study recommended that university authorities in collaboration with the management of distance education should make the conscious effort to sensitize males, elderly and married workers, to enroll onto the distance education programs to bridge social disparities in distance education.