Roadblocks In University Governance as Impediment to Educational Innovativeness: A Case Study of the Distance Education Programme at the University of Dschang, Cameroon

Abstract

PCF5 Sub-theme: Governance and social justice // The distance education project at the University of Dschang was conceived in 1988 to establish a diploma in Tropical Agriculture by distance learning.. It started in 1991 through a bilateral partnership between the University of Dschang, and the University of Guelph, Canada. Funding was provided by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for an initial period of five years that later extended to seven years as a result of social, economic and political changes in Cameroon. Project implementation achieved a number of favourable outcomes (national acceptance of distance education to increase access and improve the quality of education), outputs (e.g., the effective establishment of a diploma programme in agriculture by distance), and impacts ( flexibility in learning and improvements in the quality of agricultural training at the University of Dschang). But implementation encountered a number of institutional governance problems including policy vacuum, stone-walling, blackmail, oppressive gate-keeping, and back-stabbing. The experience shows that strong leadership qualities, dialogue, accountability, consensus building, trust and the support and confidence of donors and partners contribute to overcome governance barriers in bilateral development projects. // Paper ID 739