West African Journal of Open and Flexible Learning (Dec 2022)
Incidence of Burnout among Distance Learning Practitioners in Nigeria: Evidence from a NOUN Study Centre
Abstract
This study on the incidence of burnout among National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) staff, Jos study Centre, was conducted in Jos between June and July 2015. Thirty-six questionnaires were distributed to 36 staff. Respondents indicated the strongest period of burnout as during conduct of examinations and least during alumni counseling. The respondents agreed that burnout was more during early rain (May, June, July) and least during late dry (February, March, April) seasons. The respondents agreed strongly that the most conspicuous sign of burnout was exhaustion and strongly disagreed that it was using food, drugs or alcohol to feel better or to simply not feel. The respondents indicated making the zonal/regional offices more functional as very effective in solving the problem of burnout and the not effective method was planning examinations for early and late rains only. It can be concluded that burnout is prevalent in NOUN especially during conduct of examination and early rainy seasons as observed. The management of NOUN should as a matter of urgency make the zonal/regional offices functional and organize training for staff on signs, prevention and recovery from burnout to alleviate, reduce or enable recovery from burnout among staff of NOUN.
