How do national and regional differences affect distance education policy?

In many cases in distance education the lines of responsibility between levels of government are blurred.

Often distance education is a national responsibility, with limited authority delegated to lower levels of government. Sometimes it is a provincial or state responsibility, with the national government playing only a limited part in policymaking. And in large countries especially (such as Australia and Canada), distance teaching institutions often reach across state or provincial boundaries to serve students in other jurisdictions.

Government attempts to regulate responsibility for distance education have seldom been wholly successful, as shown by such examples as the Australian attempt to set up national distance education centers and the Indian provision for a national open university with oversight over the state open universities.

• Janet Jenkins, Some Trends in Distance Education in Africa: An Examination of the Past and Future Role of Distance Education as a Tool for National Development