Distance Education

 

History:- In 1947 the picture of Indian education was very pathetic. Education was denied to women and lower castes. Social handicaps like Sati, Child marriages, ban on widow remarriages and  purdah prevented women from being educated. The practice of untouchability and discrimination based on caste prevented the spread of education on the lower caste. The remote areas also faced discrimination on grounds of education and this led to educational backwardness among the scheduled caste and tribes to add to that downward filtration theory policy of the British period prevented the spread of education. The main objective that guided the educational development during the British period were to train personnel for administration to develop a small class of educated persons and to teach the Indians the English languages and through  it to introduce them to the literature, science and philosophy of the West. It was for this that after independence the govt. of India took education as the most important instrument for transforming the illiterate society to an educated society since the formal system of education was unable to make the demand for higher education in India, the govt. suggested the introduction of correspondence education at the university level. Hence D.E. was adopted as an alternative mode at the university stage in 1962. The period 1962 to early 1980’s was the corresponding education phase. It was within these periods that teleconferencing, television and Open University system started growing up adding up more facilities for students doing education from Distance education mode. The first Open University was established in 1982, followed by establishment of IGNOU in 1985. Now in India we have different types of Institutions offering programmes through distance mode such as, National Open Universities, State Open Universities, Correspondence Education, Private Distance education institutions. But out of all these institutions IGNOU has been given status of 3G for its technology applied to learning and also 4G for its flexibility. Some of the examples of Distance education Institutes are B. R. Ambedkar D.E. University, Allamalai University, Indira Gandhi National Open University, Centre of Distance Education through NEHU and other Universities of the country.

 

Meaning of the term Distance Education

                Distance education provides teaching to those students who missed the opportunity of getting the formal education at normal age. It is a type of education in which teaching is given from a distance. In this education there is always an absence of teachers as the teacher and students are separated from each other. The term Distance education is an European term, that is Ferrnenterich, Tele- ensignment and also Education-a-Distancia, which means that the instruction in distance  education is do arranged in which the student and teacher are separated from time and place. It provides second chance for providing higher education to those who missed the opportunity for problems which may be social, personal and financial problems. It meets the need of the students in the rural areas where there is no provision  for formal education . It fulfills the needs and requirements of higher education post graduate education, Diploma courses, vocational courses, professional courses, orientation courses, refresher courses etc. Distance education uses both print and non- print medium to provide education to provide education to the learners. The following diagram shows the use of both print and non-print media:-



Merits of Distance Education

Distance Education has the following merits:-

1)      Higher Education is provided to in-service personnel.

2)      Education is also made available to women who could not complete their formal education.

3)      Education is made available to people who live in remote areas.

4)      Education is made available to those students who could not get admission in formal education.

5)      Education is given to drop-out of the society.

6)      The cost of Distance education is less than formal education.

7)      Admission system in Distance education is flexible.

8)      Distance education provides professional and general courses.

9)      The system of evaluation in distance education is flexible because it takes into account the marks of the assignment while declaring the results.

10)   Distance education has counselors who provide counseling classes.

 

 

Demerits of Distance Education

 

1)      Distance education is not being able to serve fully in the rural areas. It mostly concentrates in the urban areas.

2)      There is always a lack of study centers.

3)      Difficulty of getting trained counselors who can guide the learners well.

4)      The duration or time for completing a programme is very short.

5)      The feedback of the distance system of education is not adequate or satisfactory.

6)      The performance of counselor is not evaluated (checked) systematically.

7)      The self-instructional materials do not reach the student in time.

8)      The lessons sent by the post are found not to edited properly and also pointed inaccurately.

 

Need and Importance of Distance Education

 

The Need and Importance constitute the following:-

1)      Population Explosion: Due to population explosion, conventional system of education is unable to provide education is unable to provide education to all students. Hence the need of Distance Education was felt

2)      Explosion of knowledge: In the recent years it is seen that new knowledge have come out in the society. The knowledge acquired in schools and colleges becomes outdated, hence, the need of Distance education was felt for updating new knowledge.

3)      Earning while learning: Due to the increase in the cost of living many students prefer to earn and at the same time learn. As this is impossible task with conventional education so they go for distance learning.

4)      Desire for independent learning: The desire for studying at home without attending school and colleges is independent learning. Also, independent learning means to study taking their own time and completing their course. For this purpose the need and importance of Distance education was felt.

5)      Desire to improve qualification: As new subjects have come out in the society, it becomes a desire for an individual to improve their qualification. It is not possible through conventional education for this the need and importance of Distance education was felt.

6)      Universalisation of Education: India is a country which dreamt that every person in the country should be literate. It is known that conventional education is not being able and successful in providing education to all the people. Henceforth, a different mode of education was necessary to help the people receive education. For this the need and importance of Distance Education was felt. Today, India has achieved universalisation of Education to a great extent only due to the efforts and services of Distance education institutes.

 

 

 

 

 

Aims and Objective of Distance Education

 

1)      Distance education provides opportunities for higher education e.g. undergraduate courses, post-graduate, diploma, career oriented courses, vocational etc.

2)       Distance education allows students to learn according to their own time and place because of its flexibility.

3)      Distance education aims to provide freedom to the learner to carry on self directed learning.

4)      Distance education aims to help the learner to actively involve himself/herself in the learning situation.

5)      Distance education aims and objectives is to provide efficient and less expensive method of education.

6)      Distance education aims and objective is to promote educational well-being of both urban and rural areas students.

7)      Distance education aims and objective is to promote educational well-being of the community.

8)      Distance education provides flexible system of education.

9)      Distance education aims to provide opportunity to all the willing person to join courses who on account of personal, social and also economic reasons could not complete the education.

10)   Distance education aims to provide opportunity of learning for qualified persons who is interested to upgrade his/her knowledge.

11)   Distance education aims and objective is universalisation of education.

12)   Distance education aims is to eradicate mass illiteracy.

13)   Distance education provides both in-service and pre-service education.

14)   Distance education aims to provide opportunity to in-service personnel to update their knowledge and skills

15)   Distance education uses learning psychology in the teaching learning process.

16)   Distance education uses maximum educational technology in the teaching learning process.

 

Nature and Characteristics of Distance Education

 

1)      Distance education is characterized by self-dependent learning, that is, the student has to totally depend on himself/ herself for studying and also completion of the courses.

2)      Distance education provides self- instructional learning/material to the learner.

3)      Distance education is characterized by the presence of a counselor. The counselor guides and solves the problem of the learner throughout the course.

4)      Distance education is characterized by counseling sessions. It is taken by University Professors and college lecturers.

5)      Distance education is characterized by assignments system.

6)      Distance education is characterized by flexibility unlike the conventional system which is rigid.

7)      Distance education is characterized by the physical absence of a teacher.

8)      Distance education is characterized by individual learning, group learning is absent, that is, the learner is separated from the group.

9)      Distance education is characterized by privatization of learning, that is, the learner study alone in private situation.

10)   Distance education is characterized by use of print and non-print media.

11)   Distance education is characterized by two way communications, that is, the learner communicates with the counselor through learning, telephone, e-mail, counseling sessions.

12)   Distance education is characterized by the presence of grading system, that is, A+, A, B+, B, C, D, E.

13)   Distance education is characterized by the presence of credit system of learning.

14)   Distance education is characterized by the presence of study centre, that is, a centre which provides facilities for counseling classes, library, submission of assignments, study materials, counselors. The study centre has a programme co-ordinator who takes and look after the affair of the study centre.

15)   Distance education is characterized by the presence of Regional centre. The Regional Centre looks after admission, issuing admit cards, examination ticket for hall entry. It is taken care by a Regional Centre.

 

Role of IGNOU in promoting Distance Education

 

                      IGNOU was established by an act of parliament in 1985 for the promotion of D.E. in the country. This followed the establishment of five more universities namely Kota open University in 1987, Nalanda Open University, Yashwant Rao Chavan Open University in 1989, Rajabhoj Open University in Madhya Pradesh and one more in Gujarat. IGNOU has been entrusted with responsibility of promoting D.E. system in the country and determining the standard of teaching, evaluation and research. IGNOU plays many more roles. They are:

1)      It offers diploma in distance education, management, rural development, computer science, creative etc to large no. of distance learners in and outside the country.

2)      It. Functions as a research centre and help the distance teaching institute in maintaining high standards of education.

3)      Ignou guides the state government who either wishes to establish their own Open University and want to take advantage of the faculties offered by the National Open University.

4)      Affiliation and recognition is one of the important role of IGNOU like many conventional universities IGNOU can affiliate any educational institute located both inside and outside India.

5)      It also allocates and disburses grants to distance education institutes of the country for development purposes.

6)      Specifically it works as a pace setter for the promotion of distance education.


In the year 1969 a move was made for establishing Open University in United Kingdom. This led to a movement for opening an open university also here in India. It was then, the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and broadcasting and the UGC, organized a seminar on the open university system in December 1970, to which expert from the U.K. open university were invited.

Seminar on Open University, 1970:

    In the seminar, Prof. V.K.R.V Rao, the Minister of Education then, pointed out in his inaugural address stress on the importance to cover not only the university students but also the drop-outs, to highly motivated adults lacking the necessary formal qualification and at the same time, the Open University was to be designed as a quality institution. It’s outstanding feature was to be its openness to new ideas and schemes of operation. It was also to have the choice of the best in curricula from all the existing university in the country and abroad. The method employed in the Open University was to be an approach including multi-media approach using postal communications, the radio and television programme and also individual and guidance.

 

Parthasarathy Committee Report, 1975.:

In 1975, a committee was formed under the chairmanship of Prof. G. Parthasarathy , to start a national Open University. The committee which submitted it’s report in 197 5 stated that there was a great demand of higher education in the country. The committee surveyed the scene of higher education in India and stated that due to the functioning of new colleges there were lowering of standards and other undesirable results. The committee suggested for an Open University and stated that the Open University should raise the academic standards and provide quality education.

Dr. Madhuri R. Shah Committee:

In 1983, the proposal for national university was revived again with Dr. Madhuri R. Shah as its chairperson. The committee recommended that practical steps be taken towards the launching of a national university of distance education without delay as a step towards encouraging off-campus education and to reduce the pressure on admission to full-time formal institution.

Other efforts was taken by Prof. S. Nurul Hasan , during his tenure as Education Minister called for the establishment of National Open University. He held that only such an institution could reach the poorest and the most neglected section of the society.

Establishment of the first Open University in India:

With the proposal for establishing an Open University in India was being discussed a t the National level, the State Government of Andhra Pradesh went ahead and established the first Open University in India. The Andhra Pradesh Open University (APOU) which was later renamed Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU), was set up. It was soon followed by state like Bihar, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, Nalanda, Kota and many other. Today we have distance education centres like Osmania University, Allamalai University Madurai Kamaraj University Sikkim Manipal University, Centre of distance learning by JNU and NEHU and also IGNOU.

Open University at the National Level : IGNOU

 On November 14th 1964, Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister Stated: “ We must bring education to all parts of our country and all sections of our people, especially the weaker sections and those who have so far been underprivileged ”.  On September 20th 1985, a University (IGNOU) was founded in her name to fulfill her desire to provide education to all those who for one reason or the other are not in a position to get the benefits of the conventional system of education.

The Political Context:

On his assumption of office as Prime Minister of India in January 1985, Shri.  Rajiv Gandhi established the IGNOU in the year 1985. Shri. Rajiv Gandhi emphasized on the programme which are relevant to the life and work of the people.

Objectives of IGNOU:

The objective of IGNOU, as passed by the IGNOU ACT, 1985 by Parliament consists of the following:-

1.       To provide learning and knowledge by a diversity of means, including communication technology.

2.       To provide higher education to a large segment of the population.

3.       It promotes the education wellbeing of the community.

4.       It encourages the Open University and distance education system in the educational pattern of the country.

5.        It provides the degree, certificates and diploma courses related to the need of the employment.

6.       It provides education to those people living in remote areas, working people, housewives and other adults.

7.       It provides opportunities for upgrading knowledge, training and skills.

8.       It provides flexible and open, combination of courses, age of entry, and conduct of examination with a view to promote learning and encourage excellence in new fields of knowledge.

9.       It contributes to the improvement of the educational system in India by providing a non-formal education equivalent to the formal system of education.

10.    It acts as a leader for the rest of the distance education center in India.

 

Academic programmes and course structure.

 

1.       Bachelor degree programmes in different disciplines.

2.       Master degree programmes in different disciplines.

3.       Diploma and Certificates programme in general and vocational courses.

4.       Advanced diploma programmes in irrigation, management and also construction.

5.       Post graduate diploma in journalism.

6.       Post graduate diploma in Mass Communication.

7.       Bachelor degree in Nursing.

8.       M. Phill and doctorate programmes.

9.       Refreshers course and teacher training programmes.

10.   Provides courses in all Indian Languages.

11.   Offers Courses for in-service training in various areas such as, teacher’s education, management engineering and technology, women’s education, law and others.

12.   Professional development programmes in engineering and technology (Construction management, water resources and maintenance management).

13.   Health services (Community health, nursing-child development, food and nutrition).

14.   Computer application.

15.   Master development courses in library science and distance education.

                     Thus, it can be concluded that IGNOU provides education to a large no. of people, especially women. It also promotes a network of Open University and distance education institutions to extend their reach to cover a large number of people. It designs, develops and delivers a large number of courses which are useful to meet the employment needs of the people. It with its various courses establishes close linkages with industry, trade, commerce and other employing sectors in the design and production of courses. It makes education a lifelong process. It upgrades knowledge and brings education to the door steps of the learner. It helps the drop-outs to come back to the education system. It also uses both print and non-print medium and makes learning successful. It plays an important role in removing the illiteracy problem of the country. It prepares the student through its various methods like counseling, assignments and also multimedia approaches and results in the development of personality of the students. It is a solution to the have-nots and at the same time prepares the students to face the technological society.    





















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