Jack Chokwe, Acting Managing Editor at Unisa Press, recently obtained his PhD at the University of Leicester. It took Chokwe nine years (2013 to 2021) of part-time online distance learning to complete the thesis. PhD programmes in the United Kingdom (UK) are structured differently. He was involved in a research training course in the first two years (2013 and 2014). In the third year (2015), he submitted a research proposal in which he had to physically present in Leicester, UK. Unfortunately, he failed, resubmitte, and eventually passed the proposal in 2016. His thesis entitled Staff and students' perceptions and acceptance of an e-learning management system at a distance education institution is timely research which was based on Chokwe's development of a model for the introduction of an e-learning management system based on Sakai (myUnisa), which was used at Unisa before the introduction of Moodle.

Prof Edirisingha and Dr Chokwe's family

In the fourth year (2016), after passing the research proposal called probation review, Chokwe officially enrolled for a PhD, submitted chapters and collected data. He had two supervisors, Dr Palitha Edirisingha and Dr Pamela Rogerson-Revell, and a critical reader, Prof David Hawkridge, who read his initial drafts in the early stages of his PhD studies. 

Jack with his wife Phillipine, and his supervisor, Prof Palitha Edirisingha

After many delays, he eventually submitted his final thesis in October 2019. In January 2020, just before the spread of Covid-19, he had to fly to Leicester to defend his thesis before two examiners, namely, Prof John Traxler from the University of Wolverhampton and Prof Wasyl Cajkler from the University of Leicester. There are eight possibilities for the defence and evaluation of the thesis process, namely: Award a PhD, Award a PhD subject to minor corrections, Award a PhD subject to major corrections, Resubmission, Award an MPhil; Award an MPhil with minor corrections; Award an MPhil with major corrections and a Fail with no right to resubmission.

Chokwe robustly defended his thesis after what seemed like a possible failure owing to an initially poorly written thesis. However, he was awarded a resubmission due to his thesis' potential to contribute to the body of knowledge. Furthermore, the internal and external examiners were very generous in providing detailed feedback on the necessary corrections. After the delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Chokwe resubmitted in July 2021. The results were released on 14 January 2022, when he was awarded a PhD in Education.

Sharing his sentiments, Chokwe says: "I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude to Unisa for funding my studies and sponsoring my four visits to the University of Leicester." He adds: "I would also like to thank the Research Directorate for the Master's and Doctoral Support Programme Grant and the Human Resources Department for the study subsidy grant."

"In addition," he said, "I would also like to convey my gratitude to Prof Deon Tustin, Head of the Bureau of Market Research; Dr Meiya Nthoesane, the Director of Unisa Press; Harry Bopape, Director of Research Grants – Research Directorate; Prof Thenjiwe Meyiwa, Vice-Principal: Research, Innovation, Commercialisation and Postgraduate Studies; and Suwisa Muchengetwa for their support in this journey."

Dr Chokwe with his son, Tshephiso, and the wife

He concludes: "My sincere gratitude also goes to my wife, Phillipine and son Tshephiso for their unwavering support throughout my PhD journey."

* Submitted by Jack Chokwe, Acting Managing Editor at Unisa Press