Women Heads of Universities Meet in Delhi

Susan Phillips

VOL. 5, No. 2, 87-90

The first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to recognize the importance of women both in contributing to the process of development and as beneficiaries, was held in London in 1977. Since that time "Women in Development" has become a major theme at Heads of Government Meetings and an important part of the mandate of all Commonwealth organizations.

The Commonwealth of Learning (COL), in responding to priorities placed before it by its Board, realized it was critical to develop an action plan for the Women in Development area. Before the development of this plan could take place, it was decided that a strategic group to consult would be women Heads of major Commonwealth institutions. To this end, COL convened a conference which is probably unique in the history of education - a conference of women vice chancellors from Commonwealth universities along with prominent distance educators. The principal goals of the conference were to examine how women might be brought more prominently into the mainstream of development through distance education and to consider the role that might be played, in this regard, by the Heads of major educational institutions.

The conference, which was held in New Delhi from May 14th to 17th, 1990, was inaugurated by Shri Chimandhai Mehta, Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Keynote speeches were delivered by Senator Lucille Mair, Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Jamaica and Professor Yashpal, Chairman of India's Universities Grants Commission. The President of The Commonwealth of Learning, Dr. James A. Maraj, presided over the four-day conference. He was assisted in his duties by Miss Jocelyn Barrow, a member of the Board of Governors of The Commonwealth of Learning and Professor Ram Reddy, Vice President of the same organization.

Participants at the conference included 14 of the 26 women vice chancellors in the Commonwealth or their delegates, as well as the vice chancellors from the four open universities in India. Distance educators from Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, as well as representatives from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) were also in attendance.

A background paper was circulated to all participants before they arrived at the conference, reiterating the areas of focus that the Plan of Action on Women in Development adopted by the Commonwealth Ministers responsible for Women's Affairs had identified in 1987. It went on to discuss the empowerment of women and how education, although crucial for this empowerment, had so far failed to achieve it through the formal system. The paper suggested that distance education might assist in bringing more women into the mainstream of development, as well as enabling them to contribute to it, in ways that the formal educational system could not.

The working sessions began with country-by-country perspectives presented on the whole issue of women in education - the problems they face, the facilities and courses that are provided, the ingrained prejudices that inhibit educational opportunities for women, and other relevant issues affecting the access to education by women. From these perspectives, a number of issues were raised which the delegates, after dividing into four groups, used as platforms from which to formulate proposals to be presented to COL for further actions.

The issues identified and used as a basis for the group discussions were as follows:

Constitutions, laws, religious teachings, and so forth often state that women are equal: how do we educate or re-educate the general population when culture or custom have distorted such professions of equality? How do we correct the accepted distortions? Similarly, when women are declared unequal by law or religious teachings, how can these injustices be rectified?
The competence and skills of women should be developed so they have opportunities similar to men. Educational programs aimed at the development of women should address the whole socio-economic spectrum. Research into the needs of women in particular and into the community in general must be carried out before formulating and implementing programs.
Distance education should be aimed at the economic improvement of women, and the encouragement of women to re-enter the work force, by providing training within the area of entrepreneurship. Education and training opportunities in such areas as basic and functional literacy, and legal and health education, should also be available.
Distance education should be used to educate both rural and urban women, and strategies must be devised to accomplish this effectively. A priority area in which distance education courses need to be developed is that of family life education.
Distance education is becoming a viable alternative to face-to-face instruction as well as a complement to it. However, this necessitates the creation of good training for both the developers and the implementors of the distance materials.
Strategies for the empowerment of women in all walks of life must be identified. Obvious areas identified in which women need help in rising from the lower echelons are in administration and academia - strategies must be devised to redress the imbalance.
Twentieth century technology must be harnessed for the advancement of women. Technological improvements must be sustainable, viable, and not exclude or disadvantage specific groups, such as women who are not able to attend face-to-face educational institutes, that distance education is best designed to serve.
Women's studies need to become central to university education. General perspectives should be introduced across all disciplines, which would necessitate rethinking much of the content of education. This approach to education should strengthen self-respect and the empowerment of women.

Each group deliberated on the issues assigned to them and then prepared a report containing its recommendations as well as suggestions that COL should consider when preparing its action plan for fostering distance education within the area of Women in Development.

The recommendations that evolved all shared the common goal of working towards the betterment of women through increased access to education utilizing distance education methodologies where possible. Commonalties emerged from the specific recommendations which enabled three main categories of priority need to be identified. These were: (1) Women's Issues, (2) Economic Development, and (3) Distance Education.

In the first of these categories, Women's Issues, the collection and dissemination of courses within women's studies and information on legislation on the status of women were identified as specific areas in which COL could provide much-needed help.

Within the second category identified, Economic Development, there is a significant lack of courseware in the entrepreneurial area. Courses on small business enterprises, numeracy, bookkeeping, financial management, and so forth are not readily available, nor are courses available in basic literacy, which is usually necessary before other courses can be taken. Delegates recommended that within the field of economic development, COL could make an important contribution by aiding in the creation and distribution of distance education materials.

The third category in which it was recommended that COL carry out projects was within the area of Distance Education, specifically training distance educators, in both the effective development and in the usage of distance materials. COL should help in the research and development of different means of training that will enable distance educators to be sensitive and effective in their tasks.

Further, COL should encourage and support a network, or series of networks, that would allow communication, exchange of materials, sharing of equipment, collaborative projects, and so forth to take place among institutions and organizations offering distance education courses throughout the Commonwealth. This was viewed as a first step in promoting the use of distance education to enhance educational opportunities for the general populace, and for women in particular, within the developing countries.

The delegates, through their summary discussions, agreed that although education is seen as a means of empowering women, it is not the only component necessary. Other areas must be addressed, such as the social and legal imbalances that exist, before women can truly be brought into the mainstream of development.

A second point made during the summary was that although the delegates were strongly supportive of distance education as a means of increasing the access to education for women, it may not always be the answer - it may be necessary to employ other methods of education to meet specific educational needs or to be effective in particular situations.

Clearly some of the recommendations can be implemented almost immediately, whereas others will evolve over a period of years. Similarly, the financial and time commitments required to put the various recommendations into action vary widely. Notwithstanding, these recommendations were the outcomes from the conference and will be used as the basis on which The Commonwealth of Learning creates its action plan for the area of Women in Development.