The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Visakhapatnam News : ‘Distance education should not be restrictive’

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Sunday, Nov 08, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

‘Distance education should not be restrictive’

Special Correspondent

VISAKHAPATNAM: The Distance Education Council (DEC) is hopeful that the University Grants Commission (UGC) will reconsider its decision to confine the jurisdiction of a distance education institute to the State in which it is located, its Chairman and Vice-Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open Uuniversity (IGNOU) V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai said here on Saturday.

“Confining the operation to the State is against the concept of distance education,” Prof. Pillai said while talking to reporters after inaugurating the Distance Learning Centre of GITAM University.

Online courses

Students in India were receiving online courses from other countries and institutes in India were offering online courses to students not only in India but also outside and wondered if it was possible to limit the online education to a certain area.

Quality control

“However quality control is necessary in distance education,” Prof. Rajasekharan Pillai said.

“The DEC is offering its courses to student from outside the country, he said.

There are 13 open universities in the country now along with distance education centres being run by 150 universities and other educational institutions.

About 20 per cent of total students in the country are in the distance learning method, Prof. Rajasekharan Pillai said.

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