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Tamil Nadu
“Need to widen scope of open universities”
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI: The Government is planning to bring community colleges under the open university system, Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy said on Thursday.
Speaking at the convocation of the Tamil Nadu Open University, he said it would be good if the scope of open universities was widened. Community colleges, which provided a valuable alternative education system, needed to be brought under one roof. They gave training and qualification, especially to school dropouts, offering bridging courses to those in need of vocational training, or those with technical skills who need some theoretical background.
He said some correspondence and distance education providers started commercialising education. Making it clear that he was not referring to any specific institution, he said even courses such as engineering and medicine were being offered under the distance education mode.
V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice-Chancellor of the Indira Gandhi National Open University, who was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the TNOU, said the open university system was the key to enhancing national productivity, since it provided capacity building and training opportunities needed to strengthen the quality of the workforce.
Only five per cent of the Indian workforce had any kind of academic qualification or vocational certification, against 85 per cent in developing countries.
Asha Kanwar, vice-president of the Commonwealth of Learning, the chief guest at the convocation, echoed his sentiments. Pointing out that barely 10 per cent of the relevant age group in India had access to higher education, she urged that open and distance education be expanded immediately. “It can no longer be a poor cousin of formal traditional higher education. It has to become an integral part of the total educational context.”
University Chancellor and Governor Surjit Singh Barnala awarded the degrees to the candidates. In all, 14,384 students were awarded degrees, including 2,288 postgraduate degrees, and diplomas.
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