Distance Education or Open University

Distance Education or Open University

Distance Education or Open University

India has a high rate of illiteracy. Only 52 percent of Indians are literate. Although the literacy rate has increased, it has not kept pace with the increase in population. Furthermore, poverty and compulsion to work compel many students to drop out of school and colleges. Phase distance education was introduced as an alternative through correspondence courses and the open university system to give disadvantaged, crippled and women the opportunity to continue their education "after some time". It has proved a boon to many people who want to improve their qualifications, expand their horizons and study at their own pace. These courses are also expected to “reduce the congestion of institutions of higher education. The growth of distance education should be encouraged keeping in mind the rapidly increasing demand for it.

India is a developing country. The rate of development of a nation depends on the literacy rate of its population. However, despite the increase in literacy rate, the number of literacy has not increased. A single factor is largely responsible for this in the population due to various reasons.

The school dropout rate is 76.6% alarming. Only 2 percent of the youth join the college. Poverty, compulsion to work for the support of family, forces many students to drop out of schools and colleges. Till a few years ago, there was no opportunity for those who wanted to pursue higher studies but the youth could not do so due to the circumstances.

Education by Mail, started by the University of Delhi in 1962, came as a boon to those who had the opportunity to pursue higher education irrespective of their age. The purpose of this experiment was to provide opportunities for higher studies to those who could not afford the luxury of higher education in a college or university. The experiment was appreciated by various sections of the society. For many people who were physically handicapped, housewives wishing to improve their job prospects in this system gave people a second chance to fulfill their ambitions. The success of this experiment encouraged other universities to establish Correspondence Courses and Directorate of Continuing Education.

The National Open School (NOS) was established in 19.89 as an autonomous organization with the objective of providing quality education through distance education mode up to the secondary stage for school dropouts and attending formal schools Did not have children. NOS provides student support services through a network of study centers known as Accredited Institutions (AIS) for academic courses and Accredited Professional Institutions (AVIs) for vocational courses. On March 31, 1994, 306 AISs and 39 AVIs were operating under NOS.

Distance education has come to live as an alternative to the formal system and has become an accepted form of education. To begin with, the philosophy of distance education was not openness, it was an extension of the formal system with all its marks except the mandatory presence. The system was primarily designed to absorb surplus candidates in colleges. Furthermore, the drop-out of the formal system has been attracted since the same courses were offered in the formal and distance education system. Some factors changed the objectives and expectations. These are population growth, distribution of population, access to formal system to the people in remote villages, prohibited cost of education, changing government priorities regarding education, prohibited cost in advancing formal system, need to provide equal opportunities in education, There is a need for subsidized education above all the needs of the weaker sections of the society and building a learned society.

The failure and limitations of the formal system led academics to expect a complementary and complementary role for distance education. He felt that distance education could be an open and flexible system where a student could study at his / her own pace. He realized that it was not necessary that every student should pass through the stages set in the traditional system in the educational ladder. Why should rigid entry qualifications be emphasized? Can individuals not be trained without insisting on previous educational qualifications and be selected through some entrance examinations? As a result, the idea of ​​open education took shape in some universities. The first person to do so was Andhra Pradesh University in 1982. In 1985, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) came into existence. These universities provide students the opportunity to join at any age, study at their own pace and place.

India has ambitious plans to develop a network of open universities with IGNOU at the top. The network will be developed with two objectives. One, the course content in all open universities will be the same. Second, a student can transfer his credit from one open university to another. The open university system is trying to provide carefully planned plans using a multimedia approach, i.e. producing audio and visual lessons, selling content to students, providing studies, to study, through seminars, to teachers Teachers at study centers to contact with, methods similar to those used by correspondence courses. Open universities are, perhaps, going to be more flexible in content and pace of learning, where correspondence is the same as the formal system of course study materials and the duration of the curriculum and range.

IGNOU started its academic programs in 1987 and 58 programs of study. The total number of students registered for various programs during 1995 was over 91,000. The university has established an extensive student support services network comprising 16 regional centers and 244 study centers located in different parts of the country. Currently there are six other open universities in the country viz. BR Ambedkar Open University in Hyderabad, Kola Open University Kota, Nalanda Open University, Bihar; Yashwant Rao Chavan Maharashi Open University, Nashik, MP Bhoj Open University, Bhopal and Ambedkar Open University, Ahmedabad.

Distance education is growing three times faster than formal university education. As a part of the national education policy, states that intend to restrict enrollment in formal education have stopped encouraging: increasing the number of colleges and universities. Therefore, distance education has a bright future. Keeping in mind the demand for higher education, more and more states are opening distance education institutes. Bold experiments are being tried using regular college laboratories: on holidays and Sundays so that students can do practical work. In some places institutes are opening their own laboratories so that students can use them whenever necessary. More and more courses are being offered and students are enthusiastically enrolling to improve their skills and qualifications.

By the end of the Eighth Plan, approximately 15–17 ″ percent of all students will receive instruction through the distance education system, with more funding needed to develop the infrastructure. Study centers provide services in foam individually. Program Library Services. Audio-visual cassettes will be required to enable students to gain an understanding of their subjects. This would mean greater allocation of funds for distance education so that a fairly well developed network of learning resource centers could be established. Only then will the distance education system that is relatively less expensive become a more effective system of learning.