POWER POINT PRESENTATION ON DEVELOPING COUNTRY POLICIES ON THE USE OF OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OERs)IN SOUTHERN AFRICA-A REGIONAL POLICY FORUM

 The size of Zambia is 752,614 square Kilometers. It is surrounded by eight Countries( Neighbours) namely Tanzania to the North East, Malawi to the East, Mozambique to the South East, Zimbabwe and Botswana to the South, Namibia to the South West, Angola to the West while Democratic Republic of the Congo is to the North West.  It has a population of 13,092,666 million people according to 2010 Census of Population and Housing(

 3,617,160 Children are enrolled in all schools from Grade 1 to 12  Zambia has 8,982 Schools both primary and secondary, 36 colleges and 9 Universities of these,3 are Public while 6 are private Universities. Two more Public Universities are about to be opened.

 OERs in Zambia are defined as education resources that are available for use by teachers and learners without the need to pay license fees.  Zambia has OER material available in both print and electronic although the abundance of OER material is being developed in electronic form.

 Like many other African countries Zambia is party to the EFA goals and MDGs,  MDG Goal number 2 is to achieve Universal primary education by The goal looks at progression rates, literacy rates and completion rates.  Zambia also follows the six EFA goals 1) expansion of early childhood ;2)free and compulsory primary education ;3)promotion of life skills for young people and adults ;4)increasing adult literacy ;5) achieving gender parity and equity 6) enhancing quality of education.

 Officially the OERs movement was kick started by Commonwealth Of Learning in 2009 with a project were lectures of the Zambia College of Distance Education(ZACODE) were asked to develop open learning resources in Science, Commerce and Mathematics. These material were developed between 2009 and 2011 and commissioned by COL.We are yet to commission them as soon as possible at a local level in Zambia.

 No Policy for OERs exists in Zambia in stand alone format.  There is a mention of OER in the draft Zambia ODL policy on how OERs will be encouraged as a mode of education delivery in Zambia.  Pockets of activities are however, taking place in Pre-Service Colleges of Education, National in-service Training College and the University of Zambia to form institutional policies.

 One of the key reasons for OER in Zambia is to allow as many learners access the free learning material as possible  Reuse the materials and modify them to suit the geo-economic disparities in the country  Provide a learning opportunity for all Zambians  The OERs are cheaper as they are freely accessed by learners

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