Addressing the higher education for sustainable development agenda at the College of Open and Distance Learning, St. Mary’s University, Ethiopia: opportunities and challenges

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to assess the extent to which sustainable development practices are prevalent at the College of Open and Distance Learning (CODL), St. Mary’s University, Ethiopia. The assessment focused on identifying the college’s inclusion of the sustainable development agenda in its policy statements, various functions and practices. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a mixed-method approach and used a case study in its design. Data were generated from a standard survey questionnaire, adopted from the unit-based sustainability assessment tool (Togo and Lotz-Sisitka, 2009), a semi-structured interview and documentary evidence. Findings The findings revealed that CODL has limited involvement in sustainability issues despite relevant policy directions set at national and institutional levels. Current engagement patterns are limited to teaching, course provision and a few areas of operations and management while a serious gap has been noted as regard the two core functional areas of research and community service which happen to be neglected. Research limitations/implications This study was based on a single CODL, albeit an institution with a long history of offering distance education in Ethiopia. Despite its contribution to an understanding of how sustainability issues are addressed in the context of Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular, the generalizability of the findings to other similar institutions is limited. Originality/value There is very little research in Africa as regard the involvement of higher education institutions in promoting the issues of sustainability in general and distance education providers in particular. In addition to addressing this gap, the study suggests the need for distance education institutions to improve their mapping strategies and respond to the greater concerns of sustainable development.

Rumo à sustentabilidade: uma análise da implementação dos Objetivos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável em Instituições de Ensino Superior

“…Quadro 2 Portfólio de artigos que compõem o corpus de pesquisa: abordagem N. Autores Abordagem 30 (Costa, Tafuro, Benvenuto, & Viola, 2021); (Stukalo & Lytvyn, 2021); (Shabalala & Ngcwangu, 2021); (Mawonde & Togo, 2019); (Togo & Gandidzanwa, 2021); (Hauser & Ryan, 2021); (Martínez-Virto & Pérez-Eransus, 2021); (Ezquerra-Lázaro et al, 2021); (Vázquez-Verdera et al, 2021); (Fahim, Tan, Naz, Ain, & Bazai, 2021); (Prandi, Ceccarini, Nisi, & Salomoni, 2021); (Wubah, Steuer, Brown, & Rice, 2021); (Nelles, Visetnoi, Middleton, & Orn-In, 2021); (Hübscher, Hensel-Börner, & Henseler, 2021); (Dalla Gasperina, Mazutti, Londero Brandli, & Dos Santos Rabello, 2021); (Hansen, Stiling, & Uy, 2021); (Bedoya-Dorado, Murillo-Vargas, & Gonzalez-Campo, 2021); (Weybrecht, 2021); (Adhikari & Shah, 2021); (Elmassah, Biltagy, & Gamal, 2021); (Chankseliani, Qoraboyev, & Gimranova, 2021); (Leal Filho, 2020); (Purcell, Henriksen, & Spengler, 2019); (Leal Filho et al, 2019); (Mawonde & Togo, 2019); (Frandoloso & Rebelatto, 2019); (Paletta & Bonoli, 2019); (Torabian, 2019); (Goodall & Moore, 2019); (Owens, 2017) Qualitativa (Ivkovic & Mcrae, 2021); (Tamrat, 2021);…”

Editorial: Open education for sustainable development: Contributions from emerging technologies and educational innovation

“…This is even more critical when it comes to open education, where teacher involvement may be considered hidden, but never absent. Moreover, engagement with sustainability issues may be less than desired, despite having adequate policies in place, both at institutional and national levels (Tamrat, 2021). Laurillard (2008) means.…”

Agenda de investigación sobre la Historia de las universidades en las revistas de historia de la educación en Web of Science (2020-2022)

“…En este sentido, se han reconstruido las trayectorias personales y conciencia histórica de las estudiantes universitarias en su trayectoria de inserción laboral dentro de un contexto histórico de relegación de la mujer (Marolla, 2020 y, asimismo, la conciencia histórica de las estudiantes en instituciones superiores africanas, como el caso de Etiopía (Tamrat, 2022. También se ha analizado el papel histórico de las mujeres que ocuparon cargos académicos en la educación superior en China durante el siglo XX (Tang & Horta, 2021). Por otra parte, con el descubrimiento de algunos archivos universitarios, se han estudiado los resultados de los exámenes por género de 1913 a 1986 para mostrar la brecha de género en los exámenes de la Universidad de Oxford durante casi todo el siglo XX (Ahlburg & McCall, 2021).…”