Chapter 5
Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs

Category : Government distance training college

Country : Belgium : The Flemish Community in Belgium

Location : Brussels

Language of instruction: Flemish

Konigsstraat 67, 6th floor, 1000 Brussels
Telephone : 003222114429.

Title

Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs is a government college of the Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemenschap, administered by the Department Onderwijs within its Administriatie Permanente Vorming (Lifelong training administration). It is located in the centre of Brussels

Offical status

The college was founded in 1959 and an extensive analysis of its origins is provided by Weinstock N, Les cours par correspondence du secteur privé en Belgique and formed part of a joint French /Flemish distance education provision until 1968.

The model is the same as the CNED in France: an official government offering of distance training courses for adults.

With the closure of the STOHO by the government of Flanders in 1997 the Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs' status will probably be enhanced as the sole official government provision of education and training at a distance. The Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs has only just emerged from a long period of analysis and evaluation on the question of whether the government should maintain the CNED model, or whether distance training should become private.

The Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs uses the government printer and other government materials development, and dispatch facilities.

Its origins go back to September 1959 when the educational/political impulse was the creation of new competitive entrance examinations to the Belgian public service administration, at a higher level than previously.

Training provision

There are 6 groupings of courses The Bestuur offers a total of 70 courses in these six areas and is developing its offering in languages and computing, and considering languages on the WWW.

Training provision: certification

The courses are at further education level and many remain within the Bestuur's original mandate of preparing adults for the competitive entry examinations into government employment. Many of the courses lead to the equivalent of 'O' level and 'A' level examinations for adults, or adult matriculation.

It is a very 'open' system as students can start whenever they like, study at their own pace and complete the course in their own time.

Training provision statistics

The Bestuur enrols a steady 25,000 adults per year with the figures almost identical for the last four years . Statistics going back to 1959 show a steady growth to 1980, then a period of decline, followed by a new peak in 1988 with the introduction of a new distance course for teachers in the new technology.

There is evidence of a consolidation in the mid 1990s and a clear indication that, with the disappearance of the StOHO-, the Bestuur intends to be the leading provider of distance training in Flanders into the 21st century.

Training provision: finances

The courses are free. They have no tuition fee or administration fee. All the students pay for is the textbooks and postage. The qualifications are provided at a distance by the state as an essential contribution to adult second-chance education and vocational qualification.

The average cost of vocational training at a distance is given at 3250 BFr. This comprises 8,200,000 BFr for production, 33,200,000 for tutoring and 40,000,000 for full-time staff. There is also a substantial contribution from government printing, production and dispatch facilities.

Course development policies

Courses are developed, in the main, by the part-time staff of the Bestuur. There are 216 of these and they all correct assignments and some of them develop courses.

When the new or revised courses are completed they are sent to the full-time staff at the Bestuur for editing, layout, pre-production and printing. In addition to the printed materials, there is production of audio cassettes and floppy discs.

Student support services

The Bestuur employs 216 part-time tutors, all of whom work in schools. Legislation of the 5 March 1965, 1 July 1983 and the 25 February 1987 regulates their work in distance education. They can work 8 hours per week for the Bestuur and, as a full-time teaching workload is 22 hours, so it follows by law that they can work for 15-16 hours in school.

All correct assignments for the students but do not communicate with the students but with the Bestuur staff, who if necessary, contact the students.

The 25,000 students in the Bestuur in 1996 produced a weekly postal tally of 1,700 items.

Employment

The Bestuur has a full-time staff of 23 and 216 tutors.

The full time staff deal with administration, publicity, enrolment, course production, printing, audio cassettes, floppy discs, student records, student communication, assignment control and tutor liaison .

The tutors correct and comment on the students' assignments and some maintain existing courses and develop new ones.

The part-time staff must teach in government schools. They work at home for eight hours per week or 416 hours per year for the Bestuur, and this is governed by regulation.

In the past face-to-face meetings and seminars were organised but these were not a success and have been abandoned because the 25,000 students chose the Bestuur specifically because they do not wish to travel to institutions for training.

It is a very open system. Students can start at any time they like, submit assignments at any time they like and this structure clearly militates against meetings for students, whether face-to-face or electronic. Students study at their own rhythm, with the submission of assignments being essential for progress in the course.

Plans for the future

The Bestuur has come through a period of review in the early 90s and has come through with its government support reaffirmed. The dissolution of the STOHO can only strengthen it. In the late 90s it is developing a more user-friendly, more sensitive to students, more upmarket, more financially independent status. New initiatives include a comprehensive computerising of the administrative systems and courses on the internet.

The administration told the Voctade project that little innovation had been possible in the period of analysis. Now, new initiatives are under way. They are:

More cost-effective systems.