The Hindu : New Delhi News : Distance education is a critical link: Vice-President

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Distance education is a critical link: Vice-President

Staff Reporter

Calls for partnerships with industry at IGNOU Convocation

Photo: R.V. Moorthy.

Felicitation: IGNOU Vice-Chancellor V.N.Rajashekaran Pillai presenting Doctoral Degree (honoris causa) to Anil Kakodkar, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, at the 19th Convocation of the university in New Delhi on Saturday.

NEW DELHI: Open and distance education delivered through Information and Communication Technology has the potential to provide high-quality higher education to the masses at minimal cost, said Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Saturday.

Delivering the convocation address at the 19th Convocation of Indira Gandhi National Open University, Mr. Ansari asserted that distance education had increasingly emerged as a critical link in achieving the goal of ushering in a knowledge society.

“Distance education in our country has inherent characteristics that are insufficiently appreciated…distance education is inclusive and encourages marginalised sections of society into the fold of higher education. And women make 40 per cent of distance education students as compared to 28 per cent in the conventional mode,” he pointed out.

However, the Vice-President lamented that despite all its benefits, there was still a sense of stigma attached to those who pursue distance education.

“Why are they treated like stepchildren of our higher education system? The answer probably lies in the DNA of our higher education system. The focus in distance education has been on certification rather than skill enhancement and development of knowledge. The need to develop quality benchmarks and standards is even higher in distance education than in conventional institutions of higher learning,” he noted.

Stating that “the distance education system in India has remained insulated from industry and civil society,” he said strengthening partnerships with industry, NGOs and civil society would impart appropriate skills and training to students of distance education.

In his report, Vice-Chancellor V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai said IGNOU had established a number of special study centres focusing on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, women and jail inmates to serve the disadvantaged sections of society.

“The University has launched a new scheme of convergence of Open and Distance Learning with the conventional face-to-face system of education. This scheme will be operational from this year onward in a number of colleges and universities in the country. The procedures for credit transfer and dual degrees from IGNOU with other institutions are being finalised,” he announced.

It was also announced that from now on there would be “walk-in admissions” all round the year for all the 144 academic programmes of IGNOU. “Henceforth, all our programmes will be offered in both cycles of admissions -- January and July,” said a University spokesperson.

Five dignitaries -- Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Prof. M. S. Valiathan, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Prof. Rahman Rahi and Prof. Indira Goswami -- were honoured with Doctorate Degrees (Honoris Causa) at the Convocation.

Prof. C. N. R. Rao will be receiving the honour at a ceremony on March 8.

As many as 101,346 students, including 58 gold medallists, received their degrees and diplomas at the Convocation on Saturday that was held simultaneously at 32 regional centres of IGNOU via tele-conferencing.

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