Appendix 1
Learning in Indian Education and Training
Director,
School of Education - Mohan
B. Menon
Indira Gandhi National Open University
Introduction
The origin and emergence of an open and distance learning system in India is probably the most significant development in Indian education in the last century. Its impact on the educational system at all levels will be more evident in the coming decade of the new millennium. Started in the early 1960s in the form of correspondence education initiated to cope with the unmet demand for formal higher education, the focus changed to reaching the unreached with varied courses. Subsequent developments have been both in the higher education and school education sectors.
A national open university and a few state open universities, as well as a national open school and a few state open schools, were established as part of the fast developments that have happened in this field during the last two decades. The system originated as correspondence education, which refers to a system in which the teaching-learning process revolved around a set of reading materials sent to learners by post (which may or may not be supported by non-print media and face-to-face interaction). This led to the origin of single-mode, open learning institutions that combined flexibility and openness in different components, with various communication techniques used in distance learning. This enabled these institutions to reach out to larger number of heterogeneous learner groups with differential learning needs, learning styles, and backgrounds.
Federal structure
The most significant achievements of the free people of India was the preparation of a new Constitution, which came into force on January 26, 1950. The Preamble proclaims the values and idealism the Constitution seeks to establish and promote, and provides a conception of the social order for which we should educate our youth.
The Indian educational system finds its guiding principles here in the words of Justice, Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. There are several special provisions included in the Constitution recognizing equality of status, increasing opportunity by prohibiting discrimination. These include special provisions for backward and weaker sections of the society, provisions to a minority community to conserve its language, script, or culture, enabling it to run educational institutions of its choice. The Constitution envisages free and compulsory education for children up to the age of 14 years. However, this directive principle of state policy is not enforceable by any court. Many feel that this provision should have been incorporated into the main constitution. In the last two to three years, efforts have been made to make elementary education a fundamental right.
The Constitution provides for federal political structure with the Union (Central) Government and the State (provincial) Governments. The different subjects of governance have been placed under three lists viz. the Union List, State List and Concurrent List. While subjects like Defense are the responsibility of the Union Government, subjects such as Law and Order come under the State List. Education was initially considered as a State responsibility. However, the Union Government was given responsibility for financing and managing central universities, institutions of national importance, union agencies and institutions for professional, vocational or technical training, institutions for promotion of special studies or research. It was also provided that the union government will coordinate and determine standards in institutions for higher education or research and scientific and technical institutions.
School education was entirely the states’ responsibility, with the Union Government involved only in recommending curricular frameworks and related changes. Thus, the Union Government has no power to implement curriculum frameworks unless so desired by the concerned State. Although education was accepted as essentially a state subject, it was necessary to make the best efforts possible to build up a working partnership between the Centre and states for the planned development of education.
There has been divided opinion on this issue of whether education should remain a state subject or should be brought under the concurrent list. Even the Education Commission (1964-66) found itself inconclusive in this matter. During the internal emergency in the seventies, education was brought under the Concurrent List. Today it is also the responsibility of the Union to provide free and compulsory primary education.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development manages education-related activities of the Union. Similarly, the Ministry of Education takes care of this responsibility in every state. The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), which is a joint body of Union government and the States, is the highest advisory forum concerned with education. Policy-making normally starts with discussions in CABE, followed by the development of concrete proposals. Law-making is done either by a bill of the Union Parliament or the State Assembly. There are apex agencies under the Union government, which provide professional, technical, and academic support to governments in developing the curriculum framework.
Growth in education and government positions
Universal Adult Literacy and Universal Elementary Education have been major concerns of the country since independence, thus receiving utmost attention and priority funding under all five-year Plans. At the time of independence in 1947, only 14 percent of the entire population in India was literate and only one child out of three had been enrolled in primary school, (MHRD, 1993). In the 1991 census, 52.11 percent of the population was literate, and in 2000 it is estimated that over 60 percent are literate. The primary stage enrolment increased from 19.2 million in 1951 to 109.73 million in 1995 and that of upper primary stage from 3.1 million to 41.01 million. At the secondary/higher secondary stage, the enrolment increased by 1560 percent from 1.5 million in 1951 to 24.9 million in 1995-96. The network of primary and upper primary schools has spread from 223,000 in 1950-51 to 761,000 in 1995.
In addition, gains have been made in the non-formal sector. During the period of the Eighth Five-Year Plan, the number of Non Formal Education (NFE) centres increased to 255,000 (1994) with an enrolment of 6.3 million learners. A significant step for promoting girl’s education during this Plan was to increase the ratio between NFE centres for girls and co-educational centres from 25:75 to 40:60 (MHRD, 1994). In addition to the above, adult education, literacy and continuing education, and education for handicapped and other disadvantaged groups have also contributed to educational developments. In spite of such significant developments in the education sector, however, the major goals remained unattained.
India has implemented a three-language formula. In addition to the mother tongue of the concerned state, English is taught as second language. Hindi is taught as a third language in non-Hindi speaking states and a modern Indian language other than Hindi in the Hindi speaking states.
The Ministry of Education, Government of India has been open to alternative educational systems in increasing access to education and democratizing educational opportunities. A Committee constituted in 1962 recommended the establishment of correspondence directorates as part of Universities, in order to increase intake in higher education, especially at undergraduate level. Since then, irrespective of the party in power, Central government has shown a very positive approach to the use of distance education and open learning for augmenting educational opportunities at all levels of education. This is evident from the recommendations of several commissions and committees set up by the Government during the last forty years. Fro example, the two policy documents of 1968 and 1986 recommend the use of correspondence/distance/open education.
The formulation of the National Policy on Education (NPE) 1986, its subsequent revision in 1992, and the Programme of Action (1992) clearly showed the direction that Indian education was to take. NPE acknowledges that open learning augments opportunities for education, ensures access, is cost-effective, and promotes a relevant, flexible, and innovative system of education. It highlights the initial experience of the Indira Gandhi National Open University and the state open universities, as well as the National Open School and underlines the tremendous potential of open learning. The NPE outlines concrete action plan for open education in the country.
The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) in 1992 recommended establishment of an open university and an open school in every state. It was proposed that national organizations, namely IGNOU and the National Open School, will provide technical and consultancy support to the state governments for this purpose. Both the Eighth and Ninth Five-Year plans had made concrete proposals for open learning systems in the school and higher education sectors. During the Eighth Plan period, the open school system was expected to enroll an additional 600,000 students.
The Ninth Five-Year Plan (1997-2002) emphasizes the following:
• Alternative modalities for providing elementary education to girls and other neglected groups;
• A proposal to make elementary education a fundamental right;
• Increasing enrolment in upper primary level (Grade 5 to Grade 8) through open learning systems, viz. National Open School and State Open Schools;
• Increasing enrolment in higher education using open learning, through IGNOU and the State Open Universities;
• Establishing a network to develop and deliver several programmes of human resource development presently sponsored by various development agencies; and
• Encouraging student mobility through a flexible and modular approach to the design of the programme and structure within the open learning system and between the OLS and conventional system.
Partnerships, alliances and networks
Open learning and distance education in India has evolved with a variety of linkages among institutions within the system, and with governmental and non-governmental institutions and agencies in the formal and non-formal education systems and other sectors of development. An approach of partnerships, alliances, and networks is built into the system, which has ensured emergence of cost-effective and sustainable systems within the resource constraints in a developing context.
In India, correspondence courses in higher education were initiated as part of the formal universities, using a dual mode approach. Similarly, correspondence courses at school level were started by the Departments of Education or Boards of School Examination of a few states, which are also responsible for managing the formal school system and examinations. This required limited initial investment and thus more cost-effective. The physical facilities and manpower within the universities were utilized for the development and delivery of courses. A separate, single-mode institution would have required new infrastructure and support systems, which would have incurred high initial cost. However, the autonomy of these institutions were limited to only the facility to follow a different teaching learning system and learning materials, while the curriculum framework and examination system remained the same as those of the formal counterpart. The comparability and parity of these correspondence courses with the formal ones did help in gaining acceptability of this new mode of education. All students followed the same curriculum, appeared in the same examination, and were awarded the same degree certificates.
The correspondence programme at higher education level became very popular, with many universities going dual mode during the 1970s and 1980s. There are about 65 formal universities offering correspondence courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels today. Such widespread development of correspondence education did not happen in school sector.
The development of correspondence education did increase the access to education to a certain extent. However, many rigidities of the formal system were also inherent in correspondence education, which restricted access for learners from socially and economically weaker sections of the community to education. There was very little scope to deviate from the curriculum and courses of the formal system, and thus the correspondence courses remained as irrelevant as the formal ones for many learners. Quality was another major casualty. Course materials were generally prepared without systematic course development processes and without the access devices for facilitating self-instruction. Moreover, in most cases only reading materials were provided, with very little face-to-face contact and non-print media support. In spite of these issues of quality, these programmes continue to be popular mainly because these are very convenient and affordable to most learners.
The establishment of open learning systems at school and university levels also saw the origin of single-mode distance education institutions in India. The first open school project initiated (1979) in the Central |Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). It was de-linked from the CBSE in 1989 and was made an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. These institutions were given autonomy to have their own curriculum, materials, instructional system, delivery modalities, and examinations. They were visualized as autonomous institutions with required patronage and financial support of the government. The national institutions such as IGNOU and NOS were set up under the Central government, while the state open universities and open schools were established by the state governments. Some of the state open schools continue to be formally linked with formal institutions.
A single-mode institution has the advantage to have autonomy in its structure and functioning, making it suitable to have various elements of openness and flexibility. However, it has to have its own infrastructure, thus requiring high initial investment. A distance education institution will require academics for course material development, facilities for printing and publication, media production, and teachers to provide learner support locally. Both the NOS and IGNOU have developed partnerships and alliances with institutions and people all over the country for various functions. Three major functional areas are taken up here to illustrate the nature of linkages and to show how this helps in optimum utilization of resources in the country thereby increasing the cost-effectiveness of the open learning system.
Course design and material development is an area where academics, professionals and practitioners from academic institutions, industries, business houses, and different sectors of development are contracted for curriculum development, material preparation, editing, and review. A small core faculty coordinates course development activities, and works with experts from outside as a team. This approach has been highly successful, as it is possible to obtain the best available expertise from anywhere in the country or abroad, if needed, in developing courses in any area of study. It is possible to involve subject experts, instructional designers, language editors, media persons, and practitioners in a course team.
Sometimes the whole course development work is contracted to another institution, and a team within that institution develops the materials. For example, premier institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology and the National Council for Educational Research and Training have helped IGNOU in designing and developing courses. Distance education institutions in India do tap outside resources for providing learner support all over the country and abroad. All study centres of NOS and IGNOU are based in outside institutions which may be under the government or otherwise. The physical facilities and manpower are hired by the distance education institutions. It is not mostly a commercial arrangement. The partnerships are seen as mutually beneficial. For example, IGNOU augments the facilities in a study centre by providing audio-video playing facilities, computers, satellite receiving stations, and other equipment, which can be used by students of IGNOU and the host institution. Personnel are hired on part-time basis by the distance education institution.
Another area where NOS and IGNOU have linkages with other institutions is use of technology. IGNOU collaborates with the India Space Research Organization in the use of an entire satellite transponder for teleconferencing purpose. The Education Channel called Gyan Darshan is based in the state-of-the-art studios of IGNOU, which are used by several organizations including NOS and IGNOU. NOS does not have production facilities, getting all of its audio and video programmes produced by freelance producers. It also utilizes the facilities of IGNOU for tele-conferencing and video and audio duplication. The entire printing of learning materials of IGNOU and NOS outsourced.
Partnerships and collaboration help in ensuring quality and credibility of courses, as well as maintaining cost-effectiveness. However, there are problems associated with involving people from outside. Most people from the formal institutions are not familiar with the open learning system and distance education modalities. For instance, most people are not aware of the self-learning materials, and do not possess the requisite skills for self-learning material development. Similarly, there are difficulties in bringing together people from various institutions for a common task and making sure that they complete the task on time and as per the institutional requirement.
Student profiles and needs
While planning for an open schooling system in the country, there were two major challenges. The first was to ensure effectiveness of open schooling (as indicated by the programmes, programme delivery, and quality control). The second major focus of this system was the definition of the target group. In NOS, the programmes and teaching and learning strategies were clearly targeted at marginalized groups, such as rural youth, girls and women, socially and economically weaker sections of the society, the physically challenged, and even the mentally challenged and ex-service personnel
Enrolment in NOS has been registering steady growth since its origin. From about 40,000 students the annual enrolment went up to over 150,000 students in 1999-2000, showing an annual growth rate of over 20 percent since 1996. Over 450,000 students are on the roll of NOS today. This enrolment growth is very commendable by any standards. It also shows the demand for school education existing among out-of-school youth and adults. Most of the enrolment has been in the secondary and higher secondary programmes. In 1998-99, enrolment in secondary programmes was 58.94 percent while that of Senior Secondary programmes was 35.81 percent.
Enrolment in Bridge and Vocational courses was only 0.47 percent and 4.78 percent respectively. The first enrolment registering 1992 students in vocational courses was in 1992-93. Enrolment in subsequent years moved upwards. However, even today vocational courses enrol very few students compared to academic courses. NOS has developed workable model for vocational courses through open learning, by developing linkages with existing workshop facilities in the governmental and non-governmental sectors supported by good training materials. It has been able to utilize the infrastructure available in vocational and technical institutes when their work shops are not in use, for catering to the needs of more students. Students are attracted to get enrolled as they can accumulate credits from vocational courses and academic courses towards secondary and senior secondary certification.
Initially the open schooling mode was considered suitable only at the secondary level upwards, as is evident from the mandate given to NOS when it was set up. A fair amount of educational background and maturity was thought necessary to learn through an open learning system. Probably this is true in a system where self-learning print material is the main instructional component, supported by optional contact classes and minimum use of electronic media. The NOS has made necessary amendments in its regulations to widen its scope to any type of education up to pre-degree level. Basic education of neo-literate adults and primary education of the non-school going children in the school going age group, especially among the weaker sections of the society, are priority areas to be focused on in open schooling in India. The NOS has been able to develop an innovative instructional model suitable for open schooling for basic education.
The percentage of learners in the income (annual) groups of up to Rs. 12000 (US.$ 331) is 36.35 percent and between Rs. 12000-24000 (US $ 331-US $ 662) is 35.00 percent. 16.03 percent learners belongs those families whose income-group is between Rs. 24000-36000 (US $ 662- US $ 993). Only 12.62 percent learners belong to those families whose income is more that Rs.36000/- (US $ 993). Considering the average family annual income of India is about Rs. 34645 (US $ 962), it shows that most students registered in NOS belong to lower section of the society.
The overall enrolment of girls in formal school education in India is 15.6 percent in Secondary education, while the percentage of girls/women in NOS is 35.20 percent. The ideal would been 49 percent, which is the women’s population in the country. Likewise,it is worrying to see that, in almost15 years of its existence, the student profile of IGNOU shows that more than 82 percent of students are from urban areas and less than 30 percent are women. In NOS, an average of 23.24 percent of learners were enrolled in the age group 14-16 years followed by 41.76 percent in the age group 17-19 years and 35 percent in the age group above 20 years. It shows that the majority of the learners (76.76%) in NOS were above 17 years.
Course completion and contents
The examination pattern reflects the flexible nature of the system. Examinations in NOS are held twice in one academic session. After a person enrols in July of a particular year, he/she has to be in the system for one year and can take the first public examination in May of the next year. Following this, the person can appear every November and May for the next five years. This is because he/she is admitted into the system for a period of five years from the date of admission. Until the completion of this five-year period, no learner can be called a ‘dropout’. The system gives learners enough opportunity to pace their studies and to take examinations according to their convenience. However, it has been estimated that about 40 to 50 percent learners in NOS are non-starters in their course for various reasons. However, we cannot necessarily call them dropouts.
In addition to this, NOS also gives learners the freedom to take examinations in one or as many subjects as they desire at a time. Credits keep accumulating until they pass in one language and four other subjects. After passing, a learner has the option to join again if he/she wants to take up study of an additional subject. For a secondary course examination, theory and practicals are considered as one unit and a learner has to pass an aggregate of the two. Hence, a candidate reappearing in a subject is required to appear in both theory and practicals. On the other hand, for the senior secondary course, a student who passes the practical, but fails in the theory of a subject, retains his/her practical awards and can re-appear in the theory examination. However, if he/she re-appears in practicals, the better of the two results will be taken into account. Likewise the part credit of passing the theory but failing a practical is retained. The NOS allows the learner opportunities for improvement of performance in a subject in which he/she has already qualified.
Course materials design and development models and processes
Open learning in India has been meticulously following a systematic course development process using a course team approach. This is evident from the course development strategies adopted by the premier organizations viz. IGNOU and NOS.
The typical course development approach followed by these organizations consist of the following steps:
• Course formulation, comprising need assessment, defining target groups, course identification, course outline formulation, and formulation of objectives.
• Course Design, consisting of outlining content areas, formulating learning outcomes for each area, identifying and integrating media components, formulating module-wise course outlines, and deciding themes for audio/video resources.
• Print Material Development, consisting of meeting of course teams for assigning tasks, unit/module writing, developing illustrations and graphics, reviewing draft material by a course team, content editing, format editing, language editing, and preparing the final manuscript.
• Audio/Video Production, comprising preparing academic notes, developing academic scripts, developing production scripts, producing programmes, and completing post production activities
• Evaluation and Feedback, including previewing and modifying materials, developmental testing and feedback, and field-testing.
It is evident that the course development process followed by open learning institutions is very systematic and meticulous. This has contributed towards the quality assurance of its course materials. Although broadly these steps are followed there has been variations in specific details. In most cases, after initial expert committee meetings, the course team – consisting of an internal course coordinator, external course writers, external course editor, media specialist (mostly internal) and instructional designer (in most cases the coordinator acts as instructional designer) meet, discuss the course outline, and divide the course units amongst the writers.
Units are written in the next two to three months, which are edited for subject correctness and organization. Units are modified or rewritten according to the comments of the course editor. The format editing is done, normally by the internal course coordinator, to make sure that the required access devices for facilitating self-learning are suitably incorporated. The entire course is subjected to final editing by the course editor. Language editing is also done, and the course coordinator reads through the whole course for any errors before it is sent for page making.
Some course coordinators have found that initial draft preparations can be faster, as well as more integrated avoiding overlapping and repetitions if it is done in a workshop mode. The entire course team could meet and work together for eight to ten days with large group, small group and informal discussions, along with individual work. The course editor and course coordinator can read though each part of the unit as and when written, and provide feedback related to subject and format. These can be carried out during the workshop itself. This approach has been found workable for introductory and awareness level courses.
Some course coordinators have been involving practitioners and prospective participants of the programme in course development. This has been found very useful for professional and field-oriented courses. A participatory approach to course development has helped in catering to learner needs more effectively, as a sample group of learners participate in the course development process in course formulation itself.
Strategies for supporting learners
Delivering distance education and providing learner support is crucial for open learning. The open learning institutions have adopted a learner support system that integrates human based support with technology-based support strategies. Academic support services are provided through a network of study centres (called as accredited institutions by NOS) established throughout the country. Each study centre provides tutorial and academic counselling, with provisions for exposure to audio-video programmes, and in some cases facilities for teleconferencing. Study centres are generally located in existing educational institutions and normally function during week-ends or evenings. Other aspects of learner support include television broadcast and radio counselling. Learner support for skill and competency development is provided
Academic programmes and courses
The open learning system in India offers academic, vocational, technical, and professional courses through its open schools and open universities, as well as the correspondence units of the departments of education/boards of examinations and formal universities. Both conventional and non-conventional courses are offered through the system.
The comprehensiveness and wide range of courses and target groups envisaged in the IGNOU Act made it necessary to define its priorities more precisely before initiating its academic programmes and deciding the target groups. Right from its inception, IGNOU has been offering a healthy mix of conventional and non-conventional courses leading to different levels of certification. It has surely been a ‘University with a deference’. However, IGNOU and the state open universities are slowly evolving into urban-oriented elitist institutions contrary to the vision of the founders who wanted open universities to be ‘Ivory Towers Thrown Open’. NOS initially offered secondary and senior secondary courses comparable to the formal system, notwithstanding the flexibility of subject combinations possible. Today it offers courses for basic education of neo-literate adults and children to pre-degree level courses even beyond senior secondary level. Academic and vocational/technical subjects are offered as stand-alone courses or in combination according to the needs of learners.
A perusal of different academic programmes of open universities and open schools shows that mainly two categories of courses exist—market-demand oriented and societal-need oriented courses. Sometimes, the market demand and perceived social need do match and thus such courses turn out to be the most appropriate ones. However, the trend of dichotomizing courses can lead to a very serious situation of double standards in the system.
The market-demand oriented courses become essentially urban-oriented with large enrolment and high prices, while the societal-need oriented courses, considered to be rural oriented and thus only low fees, have low enrolments. It is necessary to take appropriate steps to see that market-demand oriented courses with perceived prospects of job or financial benefit are equally endorsed and enrolled in by rural communities. If this is to happen, innovative modalities to reach people in rural areas will have to be evolved and these courses should be made more affordable.
Course completion
Course completion in the open learning system is universally a major concern. A section of learners is highly motivated, completing studies successfully by taking advantage of the flexibility of course duration provided in the system. However there is another section of the learners who are either non-starters or fail to complete for various reasons. Certain factors which affect completion:
• As many courses offered by NOS and IGNOU are highly subsidized, many get enrolled without serious consideration and fail to sustain their interest and motivation to continue. They turn out to be non-starter or early dropouts.
• As the open learning system provide openness in entry level qualifications in some of its courses, a section of learners gets enrolled but may find that they are not fully equipped to learn through the course. Quite a few drop out as they find it difficult to cope with the course.
• Some course materials are pitched at higher level than required, effecting high dropout
Financing
Presently in India, there is no separate funding for distance and open education systems in the government budget. Both NOS and IGNOU, being autonomous institutions under the Central government, are directly funded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The state open schools and open universities are funded by the concerned state governments. NOS and IGNOU generate a large percentage of their operational costs from student fees and other internal revenue. Government funding comes mainly for infrastructure and development of new programmes.
