Education has and will always remain the most vital necessity in a world governed by capitalist values. Whether it’s basic, intermediate or higher forms of education, the very importance of it with regards to survivability in a corporate society stands widely recognized and accepted. However it’s impossible to construct thousands of schools and colleges and equip them with supporting infrastructure to cater to the ever increasing population. Under such circumstances the challenge for most developing countries remains in providing education for all. This is where distance education comes in and is the only viable medium available for study today.
Distance education as we know refers to distance learning that involves learning at one’s own time and pace. Students can avail these courses anytime from anywhere. Take the case of India as an example. Out of a population of 1.2 billion, more than half a billion are in the age group of 18-30 years. Barring a few lakhs, the rest will not get seats at any institute since we have the infrastructure to educate only a few lakhs every year in regular colleges. So what do the rest of them do? Surely then can’t wait another year as by then a new bunch of individuals will add up.
In distance education mode lies the real future of education. Scores of students can avail this and so can on the job people who want to increase their degrees or skill sets. Courses are relatively less expensive as compared to regular colleges thus giving opportunity for economically weaker segments of the population to avail the same. Breakthrough technologies in the field of distance education Like EduNxt by Sikkim Manipal University has only added to the academic rigor and interactivity of courses offered in this mode thereby negating two most voiced concerns by industry professionals in the past. Apart from regular courses, working class can go in for development of specific skill sets as needed in the concerned industry leaving out aspects which will never be needed in their career.
Presently in India we have Sikkim Manipal University, Symbiosis and IGNOU as the most prominent institutes offering distance education. However, IGNOU is often the last preference as their courses are at a basic level with minimal emphasis on skill sets. Symbiosis suffers from a lack of interactivity between students and faculty. Sikkim Manipal University-Distance Education programmes (SMU-DE, www.smude.edu.in ) leads the wave in this field with their range of courses, practical training and EduNxt platform that has virtually erased problems of interactivity between students and faculty.
