Factors Influencing Students’ Protracted Duration For Completing Study Programmes: The Case Of Out Students Registered Between 1994 And 2002
This report is the result of a study aimed at investigating factors that influence students’ protracted duration for completing their respective study programmes at the OUT. A case study design of students registered with the OUT between 1994 and 2002 was adopted. Data were collected through validated interviews and questionnaires and the use of unpublished documentary materials for review. Analysis was done through absolute and relative frequencies recorded in tables for the quantitave data and content analysis reported in themes and categories or direct quotations for the qualitative data. The findings show that the university’s failure to supply adequate study materials on time, mark assignments/tests and examinations and return scripts to students on time, poor record keeping of students’ academic progress records, insufficient number of tutors, and lack of organized study centres, contributed to the students’ protracted time for completion of their course programmes. Student’s failure to pay tuition fees on time, heavy responsibility at work and at family levels, poor time management, failure to attend orientation and face to face sessions, participation in social activities, postponement of annual examinations and studies constituted factors that negatively influenced students completion of study programmes. I recommend that OUT upload soft copies of study materials on the OUT website for students to access; enhance face-to-face sessions; and undergraduates are advised to possess laptops and/or cell phones that can be utilized to access information from the internet. For further research I recommend that a study be conducted to assess the additional cost for students who pay for face to face sessions with facilitators other than those organised by OUT staff.
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