1

OPEN UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA

OPENING SPEECH BY PROF. TOLLY S. A. MBWETTE, VICE

CHANCELLOR, OPEN UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA, DELIVERED

DURING THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE ODL FINANCING,

BUDGETING AND COSTING SHORT COURSE TRAINING,

KINONDONI CENTRE, MONDAY 17TH MARCH, 2014

MARCH, 2014

2

OPENING SPEECH BY PROF. TOLLY S. A. MBWETTE, VICE

CHANCELLOR, OPEN UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA, DELIVERED

DURING THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE ODL FINANCING,

BUDGETING AND COSTING SHORT COURSE TRAINING,

KINONDONI CENTRE, MONDAY 17TH MARCH, 2014

Deputy Vice Chancellors, OUT, Here Present

Deans of Faculties and Directors of Institutes, OUT, Here Present,

Country Representative for ODL Steering Committee, Dr. Fidelice

S. Mafumiko,

Coordinator, Centre of Specialization for ODL in Teacher

Education, Dr. Josephine Yambi,

Course Facilitators,

Invited Guests,

Distinguished Participants,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

It gives me pleasure this morning to perform the official opening of the

short course training on ODL Financing, Budgeting and Costing. I take this

opportunity in the first place, to extend to you all a cordial welcome to the

training and to the Open University of Tanzania where the SADC Centre of

Specialization is housed. This training is our seventh training session in the

series of nine short courses based on the skill areas that were identified by

SADC for capacity building to promote the use of ODL in expanding access

3

to education across the SADC region. The Open University of Tanzania is

pleased to have been entrusted with such an important task for the region.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The other courses that have already been offered include: E-Learning,

Research Skills Application in ODL including Policy Research, Monitoring

and Evaluation in ODL, Learner Support, Assessment and Accreditation,

Strategic Planning for ODL and Quality Assurance in ODL. Six participants

from each of the 8 SADC countries have benefited from each of the

courses. For the remaining courses, a maximum of 6 participants are

expected from each country. This capacity building programme is expected

to create a critical mass of ODL professionals in the region. I am grateful to

the African Development Bank (ADB) which has made funds available for

the ODL capacity building through the SADC ODL Capacity Building Project.

Distinguished Participants,

By registering for the short-current course with the Open University of

Tanzania, you become part of the ever-growing Alumni of the University,

the largest public university in Tanzania with around 45,000 registered

undergraduate students as well as about 16,000 Postgraduate Masters and

PhD students. The University offers various programmes in a number of

Faculties, namely, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Business

Management, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Science,

4

Technology and Environmental Studies. In addition, the University has two

Institutes which include, the Institute of Educational and Management

Technologies and the Institute of Continuing Education where the course

you are registered for is housed because of being a short course in nature.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me invite you whenever you have time to take a walk through our

temporary headquarters and get more information about OUT and as you

return to your countries help us to market the whole range of programmes

offered. We are ready to bring higher education to the people of the SADC

region as we are also doing to the people of the East African region. We

have established Centres in Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi and Namibia to

facilitate registration and examination administration. We hope to establish

more national coordination centres as the number of students from

different parts of the SADC region continue to grow.

Distinguished Participants,

You may wish to recall that Open and Distance Learning has in the 21st

Century become the language of education planning because of increasing

demand for education against diminishing resources around the world.

There is always a growing feeling that Open and Distance Learning can

produce more for less and so it has become more promising in ensuring

that the masses are reached with some form of education at a reasonable

5

cost. Yet, this is often misleading because some people have felt that you

can offer programmes in ODL at minimal or without any funding at all. This

is why some ODL programmes have not produced results comparable or

even better than face to face programmes which they complement in

reaching the masses. Such misconception and mistakes can be avoided if

policy makers, planners and practitioners in ODL become more familiar

with the intricacy of financing, budgeting and costing ODL programmes.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This course is critical for all involved in the ODL mode of delivery because it

can bring about new thinking to turn things around in our region. I

therefore, consider this course on ODL Financing, Budgeting and Costing as

a timely intervention for SADC because it will instill knew thinking and

hopefully change the way our ODL programmes are funded. You are the

people who are expected to usher in a more positive thinking for ODL to

receive funding that can indeed make a difference for the majority it caters

for. Our region should not be allowed to miss the point in meeting the

need for the majority and deny them quality due to underfunding which a

number of ODL programmes continue to experience.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Finally, let me urge you to take the training on ODL Financing, Budgeting

and Costing very seriously so that you will be able to take appropriate

6

action that can lead to improvement in funding ODL institutions. We cannot

improve the quality of ODL products if we continue to deny the

programmes the minimum funding they deserve. This is why I consider this

training to be very critical in providing technical knowledge which has been

lacking for the funding and sustainability of ODL programmes. By the end

of the course, you will become part of the critical mass which the ODL

Capacity Building Project intends to create across the SADC region.

Through the training, you will also be able to promote the collaboration

agenda which our region continues to advocate in different sectors. You

may wish to take advantage of the training to make a few more friends

with whom you can work together to promote ODL in our region now and

in the future.

Having made these few remarks, I now have the pleasure to declare that

the ODL Financing, Budgeting and Costing Short Course Training officially

open and I wish you all success and otherwise enjoy your stay and the

tranquil environment here in Dar es Salaam.

I THANK YOU ALL FOR LISTENING!