How does distance education help governments meet needs in teacher education?

The need to train teachers, particularly to provide in-service training, is a common problem. But the problem is most acute in developing countries, which face several pressing issues:

• The need to develop and expand inadequate school systems
• The consequent need to expand the teaching force
• The presence of many under- or unqualified teachers in the teaching force
• The imperative of providing quick solutions to these problems.

Governments increasingly have turned to distance education as a means of remedying the serious deficits in their education systems.

• Peter E. Kinyanjui, The Organization of Teacher Training at a Distance with Particular Reference to Kenya

• B.R.S. Chivore, Pre-Service Teacher Education at a Distance: The Case of Zimbabwe

• Hilary Perraton and Michael Potashnik, "Teacher Education at a Distance." Available from the World Bank Group at http://www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/educ/edu_tech/et_v2n2.htm