Participants in this third working group agreed that the ultimate aim of educational institutions should be to reach the unreachable through reducing entry requirements, allowing flexibility of learning and promoting flexible enrolment policies. The issue of gender imbalance was highlighted as a concern in many areas of the world. They emphasized, however, that local policy frameworks are the only way to take into account regional, local and cultural differences.

Quality of tuition should of course be on a par with that of traditional contact teaching universities in order to meet the demands of society and national developmental priorities. But learning outcomes should always be measured through academically accountable assessment processes.

More flexible paths to education can be provided, particularly through meeting students in their natural environment, for example by increasing the support available through social networking tools and developing customized strategies for student support. The importance of also providing ease of accessibility to digital resources was stressed.

Participants concurred that the role of open and distance learning (ODL) in a developmental paradigm is to open the gates to learning for all. Greater advocacy is required to increase the support for ODL at governmental level; a key argument being the fact that ODL makes a tremendous contribution to higher education participation rates.

In conclusion, group rapporteur Dr. Marié Ferreira of Unisa noted that the application of technology is a tremendous driver of efficiency and best practice in assisting tutor effectiveness, time management and data management within institutions. This should be better incorporated in strategy, while at the same time being aligned to pedagogical and contextual appropriateness.

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