Analysing Education Policies for the Future: Realising the Vision of Open Distance Learning in 2030

Abstract

The future of economic development depends on people who are equipped with competencies and skills that are needed for the knowledge economy. To ensure the sustainability of economic growth, higher education institutions are expected to open up opportunities and provide high level of education to a large number of people. Distance and online education based model has proved to be efficient in expanding access into education by providing a cost effective training to both under skilled and unskilled people. The provision of education at this scale is even more critical in African countries where there is a huge need for skilled and trained workforce to enhance economic growth and global competitiveness. If the problem of capacity for knowledge economy is not addressed, many of African countries may not realise the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 – “towards an inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all”. To achieve this goal, there is a need for national education policies to provide direction on how this goal can be reached. In this paper the Futures Research Methodology is employed to assist us understand probable development in education and to articulate and work towards the desired outcome. This will be done through analysing national education policies for Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa in order to identify strategies and actions that may impact on the implementation of policies in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. // Paper ID 93