FODE promises to deliver materials on time

STUDY materials will be made available to students in time for study and the final examination in October, NCD Flexible Open and Distance Education College principal Demas Tongogo said.
Tongogo was responding to the frustration of students over the delay of lessons and course materials, which they had been waiting for since the start of the school year in February.
He said the delay was caused by late availability of funds through the government subsidy, outsourcing of funds in printing the materials and the students’ failure to collect their materials.
He said the situation was beyond their control and asked students and their parents to be understanding. 
Tongogo was shocked with the confrontation by the students last Friday, saying it was unexpected as preparation of materials was underway and should be ready for distribution soon. 
The huge increase in enrolments and increased number of subjects per student had added to the delay.
“On the other hand, there was no advance printing done in previous years as the funds were never made available on time and they were always insufficient.
“This year was the first time 75% of the funds based on subject enrolment of the college was made available in cash, even though it came late.
“The fee-free related demand increased within a short span of time and became so forceful while printing of actual lesson/course materials was slower even though we were doing outsourcing as well as increasing FODE production and distribution capacity,” Tongogo said in a statement yesterday. 
He said his office and staff had already done about 75% of preparing the students’ materials.
Only 31 students of the 169 students in NCD were yet to receive
their materials and his staff were working full time to prepare their lessons before the examination.