Importance, availability, and utilisation of support services for postgraduate distance education in a public university in Ghana
by Justice Mensah; John Victor Mensah; Godwin Awabil; Albert Justice Kwarteng
International Journal of Higher Education and Sustainability (IJHES), Vol. 3, No. 4, 2021

Abstract: Effective running of academic programmes at the university level requires that the core services are complemented with support services. This study examined the importance, availability, and utilisation of four key support services (library, counselling, internet, information and communication technology) in running postgraduate distance education programmes at a public university in Ghana. Qualitative data were collected from students, course facilitators, and management staff at six postgraduate study centres of the university through structured interviews, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions. It was revealed that these support services were exceedingly important, but the availability/accessibility and utilisation of the services were generally limited. Students at the headquarters had more advantage with respect to access to support services than those at the other centres. The programme managers should increase access to support services in all the study centres but with particular attention to the centres outside the headquarters, where the students were more disadvantaged.

Online publication date: Fri, 18-Feb-2022

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