Organisation and Drop-out Rates in Distance Education: A Preliminary Study of the Fiji Centre of USP's Extension Services

The purpose of this paper is two fold: to identify some factors contributing to students ' dropping out of USP Extension Studies courses; and to suggest some administrative improvements that could help to reduce the drop-out rate amongst extension students enrolled through the Fiji Centre.* Any distance education institution seeks to provide education for a wider community beyond those who are able to attend the institution in person. The distinguishing elements of distance education, and its growing importance, particularly in the provision of post-school education, have been presented elsewhere (see for example Keegan 1980; Holmberg 1982). Such formulations have evolved in the contexts of European cultures and situations where there are many institutions that provide various programmes through the distance mode. They are, nevertheless, readily applicable to our region, where there is a single university, the University of the South Pacific (USP), catering for eleven countries, with a twelfth, the Federated States of Micronesia, also negotiating with the University fo