BOTSWANA OPEN UNIVERSITY: SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION
(previously “BOTSWANA COLLEGE OF DISTANCE AND OPEN LEARNING”)
Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning Regulations
BOTSWANA COLLEGE OF DISTANCE AND OPEN LEARNING REGULATIONS
(under section 29)
(8th December, 2000)
ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS
REGULATION
1. Citation
2. Committees of the Board
3. Media and teaching methods
4. Programmes and courses
5. Regional centres
6. Duty of College
7. College staff
8. Payments and receipts
9. Liaison with other institutions
10. Transitional arrangements
S.I. 78, 2000.
These Regulations may be cited as the Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning Regulations.
(1) The Board of the Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning established under section 4 of the Act (hereinafter referred to as “the Board”) shall appoint the following committees—
(a) a Finance Committee which shall—
(i) propose the annual budget;
(ii) submit applications for Government subventions;
(iii) assist in locating additional sources of income or funding;
(iv) receive statements of financial accounts from the College on a regular basis and advise the Board on matters pertaining to financial accounts;
(v) recommend qualified, fit and proper auditors to the Board for auditing College accounts;
(vi) recommend remuneration levels for part time staff; and
(vii) oversee the processes of tendering and recommend the awarding of tenders;
(b) a Human Resources Committee which shall—
(i) facilitate the recruitment process and recommend the appointment of full-time staff to the Board;
(ii) consider the Director’s recommendations for the promotion of full-time staff and make proposals to the Board regarding the said promotion;
(iii) oversee the planning and implementation of annual staff development programmes;
(iv) review staff salaries, welfare and other conditions of service and propose revisions thereof to the Board when required; and
(v) oversee matters concerning staff discipline and application of disciplinary procedure; and
(c) a Programmes Committee which shall—
(i) ensure relevance, quality and effectiveness of all programmes and courses offered by the College and their appropriate accreditation;
(ii) review programme development proposals and make recommendations thereon to the Board; and
(iii) assist in the establishment of links with private and parastatal organisations in order to identify new programmes that will meet the needs of the distance and open learning industry.
(2) Membership of a committee shall be determined by the Board.
(3) There shall be at least one Board member and the Director or the Director’s representative in every committee.
(4) The College shall appoint a secretary who shall provide secretarial services to a committee and a secretary so appointed shall be a member of the committee but shall have no voting rights.
(5) The Board shall appoint a chairperson for every committee and the members of the committee shall appoint a vice chairperson from among their number.
(6) A committee may co-opt other persons who are not members of the Board, where the expertise or experience of such persons is needed to handle a specific task.
(7) A person co-opted in accordance with subregulation (6) shall have no voting rights.
(8) The Board may from time to time appoint such other committees either of a general or specific nature consisting of such number of members as the Board may think fit.
(9) Each committee shall be responsible to the Board and shall report in writing to the Board, at each Board meeting.
(1) The College shall teach or impart knowledge on the programmes and courses appearing in its prospectus, as provided under regulation 4, by the use of self instructional print, audio, radio, face to face interaction, information communication technology and other media.
(2) The College shall employ qualified tutors to give support to learners by means of—
(a) face to face tutorials;
(b) distance communication; and
(c) marking assignments and provision of feedback on the marked assignments.
(1) The Board, in consultation with the College, shall decide on the programmes and courses to be offered as well as the procedure for enrolment, assessment, accreditation and conduct of learners.
(2) A decision arrived at in accordance with subregulation (1) shall be published in the College prospectus approved by the Board and made available from time to time to the public.
(3) Programmes and courses of the College shall include the following three categories—
(a) out of school secondary education at Junior Certificate and Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education which shall be subject to the following—
(i) the programmes and courses shall be based on the National Curriculum Syllabus;
(ii) the delivery of the programmes and courses shall be by distance education and open learning methods;
(iii) the maximum time allowed to complete the programmes shall be subject to the requirements of the National Examining Body;
(iv) the maximum number of courses a learner can take in any one year shall be determined by the College on the basis of individual learner circumstances; and
(v) new admissions to the programmes shall be open to all applicants who meet the requirements determined by the College, and where appropriate, the determination by the College shall be in consultation with the national examining body;
(b) post basic education, vocational, professional and management courses which shall be based on market research and needs analysis and where appropriate, a formal agreement between the College and any partner institution, business or industry, which shall be subject to the following—
(i) the curriculum shall be developed in house or out sourced and adapted to the needs of the target audience, in collaboration with any partner of a partnership which may be established under regulation 9;
(ii) in designing the curriculum and developing the instructional materials for the course, the College shall use the official languages or any other language appropriate to the target group;
(iii) the delivery of the course shall be by distance and open learning methods through the use of self instructional materials and face to face contact, and the extent of face to face contact shall be agreed upon by the College and any partner institution, business or industry requesting the service;
(iv) admission shall be granted to learners presented by an institution, business or industry requesting the course or any other learner, who shall meet the entry requirements for the course as determined by the College;
(v) the College and the partner institution, business or industry requesting the course shall determine the duration of the course;
(vi) the College and the partner institution, business or industry shall negotiate and determine an appropriate accreditation for the course and the College shall, where appropriate, in consultation with the partner institution, business or industry, issue a certificate of attendance or achievement; and
(c) the post literacy and extension courses related to employment, and developed by the College, where appropriate, in partnership with any learning institution, business or industry, shall be subject to the same conditions as those contained in subregulation (b).
(1) The Board shall authorise the creation of regional centres in appropriate locations, which centres shall provide support services to learners and provide the means to establish positive relations between local communities and the College.
(2) Regional centres established under subregulation (1) shall—
(a) respond to enquiries and provide information about College activities;
(b) enrol learners;
(c) acquire and handle study materials;
(d) mark learner assignments;
(e) provide face to face tutorials;
(f) provide counselling support to learners;
(g) handle examination matters at appropriate levels; and
(e) carry out any other activity that the College may from time to time determine.
(3) Every regional centre shall be run by a regional manager employed by the College on the recommendation of the Board.
(4) The primary duty of the regional manager shall be to oversee the establishment, re-sourcing, support, monitoring and co-ordination of community study centres or other learner support centres (hereinafter referred to as ‘centres’) in collaboration with the communities concerned.
(5) Without limiting the generality of subregulation (4), a regional manager shall—
(a) in liaison with the community hosting the study centre, determine the nature and the cost of the facilities to be charged;
(b) arrange for the recruitment and training of part time staff working at the centre;
(c) develop rules that shall govern the use of the centre and the conduct of learners in accordance with the needs of learners and concerns of the community;
(d) establish and run mobile centres where feasible, and supervise the giving of support to remote area learners where such a need has been identified;
(e) in consultation with the communities concerned, determine the appropriate times for the opening and closing of the centre;
(f) identify and develop regional specific marketing plans and strategies;
(g) within the region, establish links between centres and other institutions;
(h) provide advice and make proposals to the College on the changing needs of learners; and
(i) compile and submit budgets, financial reports and any other reports as the Director may require.
(1) The College shall—
(a) through appropriate learner support centres admit any person who satisfies enrolment requirements as specified and published by the College in its prospectus;
(b) continually monitor and review enrolment levels and procedures in order to sustain interest among current and prospective learners;
(c) within its resource capacity, endeavour to cater for the admission of learners with disability; and
(d) through its appropriate guidance and counselling structures, establish procedures for dealing with matters that affect learner performance and shall offer guidance and counselling to learners.
(2) Each learner shall, upon enrolment, receive study materials through established centres and by means of procedures established by the College.
(3) The College shall not be responsible for its learner’s employment, promotion at work or admission to any other institution.
The appointment of staff and disciplinary matters shall be contained in the conditions of service approved by the Board.
(1) The Board shall, in determining and approving fees for courses, take into account unit costs, market forces and other relevant factors.
(2) Payments and receipts for fees and services received or rendered by the College shall be based on market prices operating at the time and shall follow processes and procedures drawn up by the Board from time to time.
9. Liaison with other institutions
The College may liaise with national or international public or private institutions in developing relationships or partnerships to further the aims and objectives of the Colleges.
(1) The College shall—
(a) replace the Distance Education Division under the Department of Non-Formal Education and assume all functions of the Division;
(b) continue to work with the Department of Non-Formal Education and to share resources with the Department;
(c) continue to work on the current school equivalency programmes and improve their quality and effectiveness;
(d) expand by introducing new programmes in response to market requirements.
(2) The Director shall assume leadership of the College under the guidance and support of the Interim Management Committee, which Committee shall cease to exist when the Board is appointed.