Meeting of Vice Chancellors of State Open Universities on Reforming ODL system in India
Meeting of Vice Chancellors of State Open Universities on Reforming ODL system in India
New Delhi, 15/12/2015: The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and Commonwealth of Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) are mandated to help governments, institutions and organizations expand the scale, efficiency and quality of learning by using appropriate open, distance and technology-enabled learning. As COL-CEMCA embarks on its new strategic plan (2015-21), being a world leader in ODL and OER, it continues to build on its commitment to promote lifelong learning, leading to sustainable development. CEMCA has conducted survey on the Status of State Open Universities in India which was commissioned under the Higher Education initiative at CEMCA. In order to provide a forum for the sharing the findings of status study and to discuss the different emerging issues of ODL system in India for reformation a meet of the Vice Chancellors of State Open Universities was organised on 14-15 December 2015 by CEMCA. The objectives of this meeting were to: share and discuss the report “Status of the State Open Universities in India” to update and forward the recommendations; share the best practices of the open universities on ODL system; and Identify possible action oriented recommendations for the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Four: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030”. A total of 15 participants, comprising Vice Chancellors and their nominee of State Open universities including Dr. B K Bhadri, Assistant Education Advisor, MHRD, Govt. of India and Prof. H C Pokhriyal, SOL-Delhi University participated in the meeting. Prof. Manjulika Srivastava of IGNOU was the facilitator for the meeting.
The meeting began with an introductory by Dr. Manas Ranjan Panigrahi, Programme Officer, and CEMCA. He also explained the objectives of the meeting. Prof. Manjulika Srivastava of IGNOU presented the “Status of the State Open Universities in India” survey report and New Agenda, Economic Goals and Open Universities. Supplementing to both the presentation Prof. Pokhriyal highlighted on the New Education Policy special concerns to the Open and Distance Learning.
A detailed discussion took palace on the report with a view to updating the contents and forwards the recommendation for the development of ODL system in India. Participants discussed in groups on different emerging issues of ODL system such as Curriculum (focusing on skills and competencies), Support Services, Accreditation of Open Universities, ICTs in programme design and delivery, and Staff Development . Participants also highlighted and share the Best Practices of their own open university which will lead to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the end of this meeting a set of recommendations and suggestive actions were made by all the participants. The Vice Chancellors agreed to send a resolution to the MHRD Govt. of India regarding placement of mechanism for effective flow of plan funds to State Open Universities. The meeting was concluded with summarising of the discussions by Prof. Manjulika Srivastava and Dr. Manas Ranjan Panigrahi. Mr. R. Thyagarajan, CEMCA proposed the vote of thanks appreciating the contribution of all participants and overall success of the meeting.
