Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

EDUCATION

heads of correspondence institutes in many universities are not permanent. They do not have much voice in the decision-making bodies of the university. There are now 37 universities and four deemed to be universities offering correspondence education. OPEN UNIVERSITY The establishment of the UK open university in 1969 focussed worldwide attention on this new institutional device for promoting Distance Education. A committee appointed by the Government of India under the Chairmanship of G.Parthasarathy, the then Vice- Chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, recommended the establishment of an open university for the country in the interest of maintaining "Proper standards and to meet the demand for higher education from different sections of the people". However, it was Andhra Pradesh which established the first open university in 1982. The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) was established by an Act of Parliament in 1985. The IGNOU is somewhat unique in the sense that it has more than the usual responsibilities of a university. It is vested with two major categories of functions: 1) As a national open university it will introduce Distance Educa- tion programmes to provide opportunities for higher education to large segments of the population; 2) As a national agency of Distance Education, it shall promote, coordinate and maintain standards of the Open University and Distance Education systems in the country. The Kota Open University was set up in Rajasthan in 1987, the Nalanda Open University in Bihar and the Yeshwantrao Chavan Open University in Maharashtra in 1989. Correspondence courses are also offered through correspondence institutes in 40 formal universities in- cluding deemed to be universities. The total enrolment in Distance Education rose from 4,54,243 in 1988-89 to 4,87,349 in 1989-90. Distance Education students consti- tuted 2-6 per cent of the total enrolment in 1975-76. The percentage increased to 4.9 in 1979-80 and 10.3 inl988-89. In the period 1982-83 to 1988-89 the rate of growth in the formal system was 3.9 per cent while the Distance Education system registered 16.2 per cent.

DISTANCE EDUCATION In a country like India with a teeming population, the needs of education cannot be fully met by the formal system. A mode of education that has greater flexibililty, higher productivity and is more open is needed. In 1961, the Central Advisory Board of Education decided to in- troduce the system of correspondence courses and appointed a committee under the chairmanship of Professor D.C. Kothari to study the issue. The committee submitted its report in 1961 and recommended the introduction of correspondence courses which were introduced first in the University of Delhi. In 1962, inaugurat- ing the course, the then Union Education Minister Dr. K.L. Shrimali outlined the objectives of the programme: 1) To provide an efficient and less expensive method of educational instruction at a higher level in the context of national develop- ment in India. 2) To provide facilities to pursue higher education to all qualified and willing persons who had failed to join regular university courses due to personal and economic reasons or because of their inability to get admission to a regular college and 3) To provide opportunities of academic pursuits to educated citi- zens through correspondence instruction without disturbing their present employment. The Kothari Education Commission (1964-66) came out with a recommendation for strengthening correspondence education: "The opportunities for part-time education through programmes like eve- ning colleges and own-time education through programmes like correspondence courses should be extended as widely as possible and should also include courses in science and technology (either at the degree or diploma level). They will reduce the capital cost to a substantial extent, especially as enrolments grow. They are the only means to provide higher education to those who desire to study further but are compelled on economic grounds to take up employ- ment at the end of the school stage. We suggest that by 1986 at least one-third of the total enrolment in higher education could, with advantage, be provided through a system of correspondence courses and evening colleges". The U.G.C. approved a project to study the working of the correspondence education institutions. The report which was submitted in 1986 identified some of the deficiencies of the system: 1) Correspondence education is looked down and treated as a second class system of education. 2) Most of the correspondence courses provide arts but no sci- ence courses. 3) Most of them offer the same courses that are offered in the formal system. As a result they have the same rigidities with regard to admissions and examinations. 4) Most of them use only one medium i.e. the print medium, and are not multi-media based. 5) Very few educational institutions make proper resource allo- cation to correspondence courses. Even the assistance pro- vided by the UGC is very insignificant and insufficient. 6) There is practically no co-ordination among correspondence courses within the country as well as within a State which has led to duplication of effort and wastage. 7) Organisationally, correspondence institutes in the universities are very weak. They are not given the status they deserve. The

Distribution of Enrolment of Distance Education students between Open Universities and Directorates attached to conventional universities in India (1988-89)

37,43 5 21,98 6 18,32 7

The Andhra Pradesh Open University Indira Gandhi National Open University Kota Open University Yashwantrao Chavan Open University Nalanda Open University Total Enrolment in Open Universities (17.1%) Total Enrolment in Distance Education in Conventional Universities (82.9%) Total Enrolment in Distance Education in India (100.0%)

77,74

8

Note: The Yeshwantrao Chavan Open University and Nalanda Open University which were established in 1989 have not been included. 3,76,495

4,54,243