ABSTRACT OF THE PAPER

Distance education has gone a long way in the last one-century, presently, there is hardly any country in the world, where it is not practiced in one or the other form. Initially, it started from developed countries but off late third world countries have also realized its importance. In most of Asian countries, it is become an integral part of overall educational system. SAARC countries have also developed a sufficient experience in this field, however, in the absence of proper mechanism of coordination, huge wastage of resources has been noticed through duplication, poor study material etc. In the 14th SAARC submit at Delhi, it was decided that SAARC University will be set-up in New Delhi and if Directorate of DE is created in it through coordinating the various DE institutions of all SAARC countries, it is going to be a major milestone in the history of these nations. Since the ever-growing needs of these countries for higher education cannot be met with conventional system of higher education and moreover meagre financial resources and limited academic and technical expertise of these countries; further highlight the importance of DE for South Asia. Present study is an attempt to bring-out the model of an apex body, which can act as a nucleus of DE for SAARC countries.

MANAGEMENT AND POLICY PERSPECTIVE FOR HIGHER DISTANCE EDUCATION AMONGST SAARC NATIONS

Prof Kulwant Rana[*]

History of education is closely connected with the history of human civilization. Over a period of time, it has noticed both quantitative and qualitative changes. The institutions like Takshila and Nalanda of India are known to the world right form the ancient period. In the medieval period, various educational systems were developed in the different countries. In the post Industrial Revolution period, modern colleges and universities were developed in Europe. The idea of distance education started to conceive during nineteenth century and it got fully matured in the 20th century.

The term distance education (DE hereafter) is known by variety of names viz-correspondence education, home study, independent study, external study, off campus study, open learning, open education etc. (G. Ram Reddy 1988). Various scholars like Wedemeyer, Holmberg, Mooore, Peters, Keegan etc. tried to formulate theoretical premises for DE. According to these studies the salient features of DE are, separation of learner and teacher, support services are provided by the institution, two way communication, use of technical media etc. (Desmond Kegans 1986). DE is considered as one of the biggest innovation in the field of education, which has totally revolutionized the society. It is characterized by non-conformist and non-traditional approach and primarily designed to overcome the inherent limitations of convention system of education, which is based on rigidity, non-flexibility and meant for few only. The growing egalitarianism, information revolution and population explosion further multiply the length and breadth of DE.

Although, DE started in developed countries but off late, it has penetrated in every nook and corner of the world. Third world countries have realized that their transformation into developed societies is not possible without providing education to the entire society and where DE has to play a vital role. In Latin America, Africa and Asia various countries have started to make experiments with DE and in the 2nd half of 20th century. It has emerged as an integral part of overall educational system of these countries.

Asia is generally known as continent of contrast. On the one hand, some countries of Asia can be considered as most developed nations of the world, while some are the least one. Similar analogy can be noticed amongst SAARC nations. Largest number of illiterate, and poor people of the world is in these nations but at the same time, according to Forbes magazine, pace of growing richer in fastest in India. Obviously, SAARC nations comprised of vast variations but at the same time, these nations have so many things in common also. The most important commonality is, that all these nations have been part of ancient oriental societies and experienced colonial past in different forms.

South Asia is a huge contiguous and mass criss-crossed by mighty rivers, with a wealth of natural resources, a variety of climatic conditions and a common history and heritage, as also shared languages, literature and religions (Muchkund Dubey 2007). The Indian sub-continent, which constitutes the bulk of region, has also inherited from the colonial period common institutional infrastructure of roads, railways, inland waterways and educational infrastructure. SAARC was created of south Asian nations in 1985 to have on association on the pattern of European Union to enhance cooperation in economic, social and cultural fields. In 1995 south Asian Free Trade Association (SAFTA) was launched for free movement of goods and services amongst these nations, however, because of political hurdles, substantial results in South Asian integration could not be achieved. Initially, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangla Desh, Sri Lanka and Maldives were its members but in its 14th submit in New Delhi in 2007, Afghanistan also joined this group.

Socio-Economic Profile of SAARC Nations

In the last 5 decades, drastic changes have been noticed in the socio-economic structure of South Asian nations. Nevertheless, because of intra-regional conflicts, these countries have yet to break the vicious cycle of under-development. Because of low level of literacy, largest chunk of illiterate people of the world lives in these countries. The average literacy rate in these nations is around 65 per cent. The per-capita income is around $600. The life expectancy is 66 years. The share of SAARC nations in global market is less than 2 per cent (world development report 2007). Employment opportunities are unable to match the growing population and hence, international community consider these nations as major source of human trafficking. The total population in these countries is around 1.4 billion, which accounts for one/fifth population of the world. Because of poor medical facilities, and weak infrastructure, in terms of human development index, these countries are on the lowest side of the world.

Here it is important to mention that off late these countries have shown outstanding achievements in some areas. India has emerged as a world power in software, BPO and ITES industries; similarly, Pakistan and Bangladesh have shown good progress in textile industry while Sri lanka has shown good progress in education where literacy rate is more than 90 percent. In scientific and technical manpower, India has emerged as the 3rd largest country in the world. Obviously, if 21st century has to be a century of Asia, then definitely SAARC nations have to play a crucial role in it, because after China, it is going to be the biggest market in Asia.

Here it is important to mention that present enrolment in higher education in SAARC countries is around 7 to 8 per cent and these countries have fixed this target to 15 per cent by 2015 which means that demand for higher education is going to multiply many times in the next decade (The Tribune 23 June 2007). Further, in developed counties, this ratio is more than 30 per cent. If these countries have to transform themselves into developed nations by 2020, then the demand for higher education will further increase. By seeing the level of poverty, deficit financing, resource crunch etc. In these countries, DE is the only via media to transform these nations in the category of developed ones.

Objectives of the study

The pinpointed objectives of the present study are as under:

  1. To study the socio-economic profile and DE in SAARC nations.
  2. To estimate the demand for higher education through distance mode in these countries in the near future.
  3. To study the policy perspective for coordinating DE institutes of SAARC nations under unified command.
  4. To work out organizational, financial and managerial structure of DE institute for SAARC nations.

Hypothesis

Potential of SAARC nations in DE has been fully exploited through coordination.

Methodology

In the present study, data has been collected mainly through secondary sources, however, some primary information have also been collected through discussion and observation methods with the experts available within North India. Various sites of ICDE, IGNOU, DEC etc. were also surfed. Analytical and descriptive methods have been used for analysis and interpretation. On the basis of present study, a model has been suggested by taking experiences of various countries into consideration.

Growth of Distance Education in South Asia

With the ever-increasing demand for higher education, most of the Asian nations have introduced various modes of DE. Presently, there are 40 open universities in the world, of which majority of them are in Asia. Open and distance institutions are as diverse as the system they innovate and follow (Venugopal et al. 2000). Apart from open universities, which are also called single mode distance teaching institutions, dual mode distance education institutions have also started by various Asian countries where a directorate of DE is created to impart DE. Recently yet another category of DE institutions has come up. Which are providing education through cyber space, commonly known as virtual universities.

Growth of DE institutes and open universities

Total number of institutes / Open universities
1996 / 1999 / 1998
Asia / 107 / 122 / 21
World / 986 / 1133 / 40

Source: 1. The Figures given above are cited from the book by V. Venugopal Reddy (ed) The World of open and distance learning p. 4.

It is expected that by 2007 total number of DE institutions is likely to cross 200 and there will be more than 40 open universities in Asia. Similarly, there has been a tremendous expansion in DE in South Asian countries.

In South Asia, largest network of DE is in India. It has already emerged as the leading nation in the world in the field of DE. Presently there are 12 full-fledged open universities and 106 DE institutes affiliated with conventional universities ( Asia one world) the total enrolment of students in these institutions has crossed 2 million (DEC 2004). The largest university in DE in India is Indira Gandhi National Open University, which has created its study centres in almost all parts of the country. In the filed of development of audio, video and print material, it is being ranked as one of the best intuition in the world. The high quality of learning material produced by IGNOU, which has also been acknowledged by International Council of Distance Education. It has also opened its centers in number of countries of the world. Apart from this central university, most of the Indian states have gone for open universities or DE institutes. These institutions have developed their own print material in local languages and meeting the peculiar needs of various sections of the Indian society.

In Pakistan, in 1974 first Open University was created named Allama Iqbal Open University. This university offers more then 60 programmes. Apart from academic programmes, it also offers a wide variety of non-formal programmes in the area of agriculture, technical, computer literacy, management, social sciences, community education and hotel services. Apart from print material university also producing audio/video-learning material (Venagopal Reddy 2000). Number of other Pakistani universities are also using distance mode for offering various courses. Apart from English, majority of the learning material is developed in Urdu language.

In Bangladesh, Open University was set up in 1992 by an Act of parliament with the help of Asian Development Bank. The main objective of the university is to expand all levels of education knowledge and science by a diversity of means including the use of technology. Apart from print-material, university is also using audio/video material and there is a continuous assessment system. It has 12 regional centers giving countrywide coverage with 80 local centers and 800 tutorial centers. More then 2 lakh students have been enrolled with this university. According to Shsmshal Haque, the organization and management of the university is quite poor and quality of the learning material and students support services are also not up to the mark (D. Bhaskra Rao 2001). Therefore, there is a lot of scope for quality improvement and expansion of DE in Bangladesh.

In Sri Lanka, full-fledged Open University was established in 1978 for providing higher education through distance mode throughout the country. The main purpose was to develop human resources to strengthen the efforts in nation building. This university is offering 35 academic programmes in social sciences, natural sciences and in engineering and technology. University is using multi-media approach where print media is supported by audio/video aids. Its regional centers are spread in Colombo, Jaffna, Kandy and Matara and also have 19 study centres. (Handbook of Open University of Sri Lanka 1997-98). The university has tied up with commonwealth of open learning Canada, where it shared some courses developed in Canada.

Out of 8 countries of SAARC, the above four countries, i.e. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have developed sufficient network of open universities and DE institutes. At the same time the rest of 4 countries i.e. Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan are still in the stage of infancy as for as the DE is concerned. These countries have no full-fledged open universities but some form of work has been initiated in these countries to promote DE. In Nepal Radio Teacher Training Programme was launched in 1978 through radio in Nepal. It covers social sciences, mathematics and education. Similar efforts were also initiated in Maldives and Bhutan, however, Afghanistan, has yet to jump in this field.

Need of the study

Large number of studies has been conducted in the feed of DE, which provides very valuable insights for formulating a basis of new research. Plenty of studies are there those deals with conceptual and applied parts of DE. Most of these studies deal with historical and contemporary issues. There are very few studies, which deals with SAARC countries particularly with futuristic perspective. James Taylor and Moti Lal Sharma (1989) highlighted the significance of regional cooperation amongst South Asian countries however; the study does not include sector-wise details of socio-economic cooperation. The only major study conducted in this area was sponsored by Asian Development Bank (1999) in the form of round table conference and hosted by Allma Iqbal University Pakistan in 1989, which was attended by number of countries of South Asia. Although, number of formulations were discussed and suggested however, in the absence of any follow-up mechanism, hardly any tangible results were achieved. Since then no worthwhile study has been made in this direction and hence present study is fully justified.

Rationale for coordination in DE amongst SAARC nations: There are number of reasons for developing coordination amongst the DE institutes of these countries.

  1. Ever-Growing Demand: As it has already been pointed out that one/fifth of world’s population is living in these countries. Moreover, average growth rate as population is around 2 per cent. In other words, every year more than double the population of Australian continent is added, which has more territory than whole of South Asia. Moreover, in the last two decades, literacy rate in these countries has increased and it is expected that by 2020, all South Asian countries are likely to achieve 100 per cent literacy. Moreover, with the liberalization of economies in these countries, large number of international and national educational institutions and private universities has entered these countries. Moreover, with rapid expansion of secondary and territory sector, in these countries, there has been a tremendous increase in the demand for higher education, which cannot be met with conventional system of higher education.
  2. Financial Crunch: Further, with the ever-growing financial crunch being faced by the respective governments of these countries, higher education has been a major sufferer. Number of institutions of higher learning in these countries is at the verge of closure. There is no fresh recruitment and financial cuts are being imposed on the various branches. Therefore, through coordination, of DE institutes, a lot of costs can be saved and duplication can be avoided and entire region can be benefited with the limited resources.
  3. Lack of expertise: In least developed countries of SAARC, there is hardly any technical expertise in the development of learning material. It has been found in number of studies that learning material being supplied is of poor quality. This is mainly because of lack of technical and academic expertise. If available technical and academic resources of these countries are pooled together then definitely this problem can be overcome very easily.
  4. Useful in Achieving SAARC’s objectives: Apart from financial and technical gains, the coordination will also be useful in achieving the spirit of SAARC by which people of these nations can come closer to each other through social and cultural unification where DE can play a decisive role. Moreover, regular interaction will also be useful in learning and sharing from the experiences of various member countries to overcome the peculiar problem being faced by them.

Existing Level of Coordination Amongst DE Institutes of SAARC Nations