This case study provides a disquisition of quality assurance processes at BOCODOL
and how the processes have impacted on individual employees, organs and overall
performance of the college. To set the scene, it briefly highlights the history of distance
education in Botswana. The demographic data give a further insight into the country’s
status as a developing economy. The educational policy developments of 1977 and 1993
are highlighted as the foundations on which the current education system is based. The
latter policy development, which resulted in the publication of the Revised National
Policy on Education (RNPE), has become the reference point for major educational
advancements in Botswana. Issues of quality in education feature very prominently in
the RNPE, whereas the 1977 policy had focused on quantity. As a result of the quest for
quality education emphasised by the RNPE, BOCODOL was established with a mandate
that mirrored this desire.
The study thus traces the origins of quality assurance within the college. The process
and route that the college took to make quality assurance an integral part of the college
business are outlined as well as the challenges encountered in the process and how they
were handled and also an enumeration of the positive impact that the college has had as
a result of the implementation of the Quality Assurance Policy. Clearly, quality assurance
is not and should not be perceived as an end in itself within the context of BOCODOL. It
is a means, and the end should rather be seen as the improved quality of life experienced
by those who have had a brush with the interventions of the college.