Introduction
Education provides a way to progress and prosperity. The nations with high literacy rates are more prosperous and more independent and the nations with low literacy rates are depending on other nations even for the use of their own resources. The Dakar Framework Education for All (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2000, p. 8) says that education is a fundamental human right. It is the key to sustainable development and peace and stability within and among countries, and thus an indispensable means for effective participation in the societies and economies of the twenty-first century. It is an admitted fact that education plays a vital role in the personality of individuals. Educated peoples can play their role effectively in the progress of the nation. The importance of education has been increased with the emergence of globalization. This phenomenon has created many opportunities and challenges for the nations all around the world. Globalization has affected the educational system of the whole world. Almost all countries in the world are trying to educate more and more people so as to play their role for the economic development of their country. The aim of distance education is to educate those people who were dropped at any stage or unable to attend conventional institutions due to different problems. Distance education accommodates such people in all respects. Pakistan is one of the most populated countries in the world. According to a Government of Pakistan (2009) economic survey for 2008-2009, “total population in Pakistan is 163.76 million in 2008-2009” (p. 177). Pakistan’s National Educational Policy (2009) declares that education is a vital investment for human and economic development and is influenced by the environment within which it exists. The government of Pakistan is determined to raising her literacy rate, though it is a big challenge. In a 2007-2008 economic survey of Pakistan (Government of Pakistan, 2008), the role of education in economic development is stated in the following words:
Education is central to socio-economic development of a country. It plays a critical role in building human capacities and accelerates economic growth through knowledge, skill and creative strength of a society. Education also creates awareness, tolerance, self esteem and confidence which empower people to defend their rights. (p. 169)
In Pakistan, due to different problems the majority of students drop out after completing elementary school. Bilquees and Saqib (2004) conducted a study entitled Drop-Out Rates and Inter-School Movements: Evidence from Panel Data. One of the objectives of this study was to determine and analyze the factors that force the students to drop out. They found that female drop-out rate in rural areas (24.6 %) is high as compared to female drop-out rate in urban areas (17.0%). While male dropout rates for urban and rural areas are virtually identical (23.7 % and 23.5 %), they found that economic factor is the main reason of high male drop-out in urban and rural areas. Moreover, less government efforts and cultural values are the main reasons of female dropout in rural areas.
Pakistan’s national average ratio of secondary to primary school is 1:6 but, in certain parts of the country, it reaches 1:13 (National Education Policy, 2009). Government is trying its best to bring these dropped students back into the educational stream. In 1974, the government of Pakistan established Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), which imparts education through distance mode. Currently, AIOU is one of the mega universities in the world. It is providing education from certificate level to PhD level in arts as well as in science subjects. At the secondary level mathematics is a compulsory subject in the conventional institutions and holds the same position in the distance education system. Mathematics is also a compulsory subject at the secondary school level offered by the university. The main aim of teaching mathematics at this level is to create critical thinking among the students, and to enable them for the use of mathematical laws and principles in the actual situation.
Literature
Education is universally considered to be an important tool of change that has a strong correlation with the overall social and economic development of a country (S. Siddiqui, 2007). UNESCO (2006, p. 4) describes that in many emergency situations, children and youth may be cut off from formal schooling activities as a result of ongoing conflict and insecurity. It may therefore be useful to consider distance education alternatives to enable them to continue learning. In documenting the reasons why young people do not have access to education, the following questions are asked:
Is the distance to school too far or the route too insecure for the children to travel?
Are children and youth engaged in income-generating activities school hours?
Do young women have children of their own or other domestic responsibilities that prevent them form attending formal schooling?
Do postprimary opportunities exits locally?
Distance education provides a solution to all these problems. At present it is not possible for every one to attend the conventional institutions; there are some requirements for these institutions that bind the students for the whole time. On the other hand, distance education provides the opportunity for learning with earning. Globally, the concept of the conventional institution is changing. People are showing more interest toward distance education systems. “Schools and universities will change more drastically than they have, since they assumed their present form 300 years ago when they organized themselves around the printed book” (Drucker, 1992, p. 97). Studies (Kubala 2000; Sullivan 2001; Weems 2002) show that students’ primary reasons for taking distance courses are flexibility in scheduling and convenience of place.
As Butcher (2000) notes,
Distance education describes a set of teaching and learning strategies (or education methods) that can be used to overcome spatial and temporal separation between educators and learners. These strategies or methods can be integrated into any education programme and potentially used in any combination with any other teaching and learning strategies (including those strategies which demand that learners and educators be together at the same time and/or place.)
In Pakistan, a significant segment of the population is not enjoying the basic right of education. According to the Government of Pakistan’s (2008)Economic Survey of Pakistan (2007-08) the literacy rate of the age group 10 years and above is 55% (male 67%, female 42%). The government of Pakistan is well aware of the relationship between education and development and is trying its best to increase the literacy rate. UNESCO (2007) issued a report entitled Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Pakistan, 2007, and pointed out the following challenges which the Pakistan government is facing to ensure the provision of free basic education to all are below:
financial constraints—inadequate provision for education in the state budget;
low absorptive capacity of the education system;
political interference at various levels;
direct costs borne by parents, for example: stationery, uniforms, transportation, payment of charges under “school fund,” and pocket money for lunch/snacks during school hours;
poor physical facilities in rural schools and distance to schools in rural areas; and
teacher absenteeism.
In 2001, UNESCO conducted a study of distance education and the future of distance education in the nine countries collectively known as E-9 (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, and Pakistan) and pointed out the following facts about Pakistan:
Eight million children of 5-9 age groups are never enrolled in school and half of the 12 million that are enrolled may drop out before completing primary education. Of all the E-9 countries, Pakistan has the lowest survival rates at the fifth grade. (UNESCO, 2003, p. 30)
To meet these challenges, in 1974, the government of Pakistan established Allama Iqbal Open University. The idea of the open university was described in Education Policy (1972-80) in the following words:
Open universities are being used in several countries to provide education and training to people who cannot leave their homes and jobs for full time studies. An open university will, therefore, be established to provide part-time educational facilities through corresponding courses, tutorials, seminars, workshops, laboratories, television and radio broadcasts and other mass communication media. (p. 22)
Allama Iqbal Open University offers Secondary School Certificate (SSC) in the following four disciplines: SSC (General), SSC (Health), SSC (Home Economics), and SSC (Dars-e-Nizami).
In Pakistan, mathematics is taught as a compulsory subject from Grade 1 to Grade 10. It is no exaggeration to say that the history of mathematics is the history of civilization. Mathematicians can take pride in the fact that their science, more than any other, is an exact science (Sharma & Sharma, 2008, p. 5).
According to M. H. Siddiqui (2005):
Today’s world is much more mathematical than yesterday’s, in that productivity in today’s world requires greater mathematical abilities than did yesterday’s. Even most common percents, ratios and discounts are done with calculators instead by hand. Tomorrow’s world will be even more mathematical than today’s. (p. 156)
The National Curriculum for Mathematics Grade I-XII (Government of Pakistan, 2006) says that mathematical structures, operations, and processes provide students with a framework and tools for reasoning, justifying conclusions, and expressing ideas clearly. Learning of mathematics needs understanding of basic ideas in mathematics, ability to compare different quantities, and differentiation between the basic concepts. There are some concepts that are abstract in nature; in understanding these ideas students feel many problems. Many mathematical statements are abstract in nature; the result is that students take very little interest in them. To create necessary interest is a constant problem for the teachers (Reddy & Nagaraju, 2007).
According to Saeed (2007):
At secondary level, there are four main streams: arts and humanities, science, computer, and commerce. The majority of the students either opt science or arts and humanities group. Mathematics is one of the compulsory subjects for these four streams of the students. The overall performance of students in mathematics and English is low through out the country. This is evident from the results of the Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISEs) about one-third of the students qualify mathematics with the minimum passing marks i.e. by securing 33% of the total score. Though it is difficult to ascertain without evidence, but the researchers have experienced that many students at secondary level leave schools owing to difficulty in English and mathematics. (p. 44)
A document from the Ministry of Education (2003) of Rwanda states that there are fewer students studying mathematics at advanced level and university level compared with other subjects such as humanities and arts. There is a high failure rate of students in national mathematics examination at all levels. In distance education system, at secondary level mathematics is taught with the same spirit. The aims of teaching of mathematics to the distance learners are to enable them to understand the world around them and use mathematics for day-to-day life.
The Study
The population of the study was the students of secondary level of Allama Iqbal Open University. A total of 100 students were randomly selected from Bahawal Pur Division. These students have left their education many years ago due to different problems. Currently, they were busy in some job. Distance education once again provides the opportunity to learn. A questionnaire was developed using a five-point Likert scale for knowing the opinion of distance learners of secondary level about secondary school mathematics. Five options (strongly agree, agree, uncertain, disagree, and strongly disagree) were given and they were asked to choose one option. The researcher himself distributed the questionnaire to the sample in Bahawal Nagar district, while in districts Bahawal Pur and Rahim Yar Khan, questionnaires were distributed with the help of mathematics teachers. The questionnaire was translated into Urdu (the national language of Pakistan) so that the students could understand it clearly. Each option was assigned a numeric value: SA (strongly agree) = 5, A (agree) = 4, UNC (uncertain) = 3, DA (disagree) = 2, and SDA (strongly disagree) = 1.
Discussion
Currently, distance education is working parallel to traditional learning. Pakistan is one of the countries that introduced the concept of distance learning when this idea was very new to the whole world. Allama Iqbal Open University of Pakistan is adopting new technologies and new trends to facilitate its consumers. While in distance mode, student and teacher are far away from each other, though students interact with each other in tutorial meetings; however, these are not a compulsory component—many students ignore it and the students who attend these meetings seek answers to questions they find difficult and teachers concentrate on the queries of the students. Distance learners at secondary level think that mathematics is not an interesting subject, but mathematics is very important for day-to-day life. Mathematics trains the students in using logic and reasoning and provides a foundation for understanding other subjects in a logical way. Mathematics at this level fosters critical thinking and understanding of the patterns around us. When students were asked if “mathematics learning is only the memorization of formulae and putting some values in them,” they disagreed. They expressed the view that mathematics is not the name of some formulae and their use in the abstract situation. Lack of basic knowledge in mathematics is a barrier to better understanding. Assignments are a compulsory component that aims to provide practice and prepare the students for the annual examination, and students confirm that assignments are very helpful for their final examination. Tutorial meetings provide a forum for teachers and students to interact with each other and discuss their problems and try to find the solutions of such problems. Students were of the opinion that tutorial meetings are helpful for clarify such concepts which required basic knowledge. When the students were asked about the methodologies of teaching mathematics in the tutorial meetings, they noted that the teachers used only traditional methods of teaching mathematics. The students also noted that learning of mathematics through distance mode is not easy as compared to conventional learning.
Survey Results, by Item
| Item No. | Statement | SA | A | UNC | DA | SDA | X | SD | t Value | Significant/Nonsignificant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mathematics is an interesting subject. | 25 | 5 | 43 | 24 | 3 | 3.25 | 1.17 | 2.14 | Nonsignificant |
| 2 | Mathematics helps in day to day life situation. | 52 | 24 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 4.24 | 0.922 | 13.44 | Significant |
| 3 | Learning of mathematics helps in understanding of other subjects. | 55 | 13 | 21 | 10 | 1 | 4.11 | 1.12 | 9.93 | Significant |
| 4 | Secondary school mathematics create critical thinking and logical reasoning. | 45 | 44 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4.23 | 0.95 | 12.92 | Significant |
| 5 | Mathematics’ learning is only the memorization of formulae and putting some values in them. | 23 | 47 | 1 | 9 | 20 | 3.44 | 1.45 | 3.03 | Nonsignificant |
| 6 | Lack of basic knowledge in mathematics is a barrier to better understanding. | 39 | 52 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 4.22 | 0.84 | 14.60 | Significant |
| 7 | Assignments of Mathematics help in preparation for final examination. | 37 | 54 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4.24 | .74 | 16.75 | Significant |
| 8 | Tutorial meetings provide chances to clarify those questions which are difficult and more conceptual. | 36 | 50 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4.11 | 0.94 | 11.79 | Significant |
| 9 | In tutorial meetings, teachers use different methods of teaching mathematics for better understanding. | 23 | 38 | 6 | 30 | 3 | 3.48 | 1.23 | 3.91 | Nonsignificant |
| 10 | Learning of mathematics through distance mode is easy as compared to conventional learning. | 12 | 48 | 20 | 17 | 3 | 3.49 | 1.0 | 4.85 | Nonsignificant |
Findings
The following are the seven main findings of the study.
In distance learning, students at the secondary level feel that mathematics is not an interesting subject.
Learning of mathematics is helpful for day-to-day life and also helps students in understanding other subjects.
Mathematics encourages critical thinking.
Learning of mathematics in not only memorizing facts and formulae.
Lack of basic knowledge in mathematics is a hurdle in understanding of mathematical concepts.
Assignments and tutorial meetings are helpful for learning mathematics.
Learning of mathematics through distance mode is not easy as compared to conventional learning of mathematics.
Recommendations
In distance learning the content of secondary level mathematics is almost same as the content of mathematics taught to the students in the conventional institutions. AIOU split the syllabus of secondary school mathematics in two parts: part one is offered in the second semester and second part is in third semester. If the syllabus may be divided into four parts, it will facilitate students. Moreover, regular classes in evenings may arranged for a specific period in the conventional institutions where students may enjoy the actual situation of learning. It may also help them in building more solid concepts of mathematics.
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