development agenda
Ode to the ODL Guys Indira Gandhi National Open University has instituted an award to celebrate the success of 100 achievers who owe it to the open and distance learning system
By Dr K D Prasad
I
GNOU jointly with Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Vancouver, Canada is organising the Sixth Pan Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF6) at Kochi during November, 2010. The theme of this year’s conference is “Access and Success in Learning: Global Development Perspective”. Befitting with the Silver Jubilee Year, IGNOU is hosting the PCF6. It is organised biannually by the Commonwealth of Learning to help developing nations improve access to quality education and training. PCF6 brings together 71-countries to explore applications of Open and Distance Learning in widening educational access, bridging the digital divide and advancing the social and economical development of communities and nation at large. The Conference will mainly showcase the experience of IGNOU and other Indian and international universities including distance education and open schooling to the world. It will also be an opportunity for the organisers to demonstrate its stake in expanding the human resource base in the country and abroad by producing the best pass outs in building the nation. The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in its Silver Jubilee year has created and achieved significant milestone in the field of education. The University has set new standards in democratising higher education and further reaching to those, who still have no access to formal conventional education. The University is known by its outreach and its role in reducing disparities in education by extending educational opportu-
34
www.digitalLEARNING.in
nities to the people at remote areas and marginalised sections of the society. The Open and Distance Learning (ODL) System has shown a tremendous growth during the past few decades due to its unique feature of being a userfriendly system. In this system, learners are free to learn at their own pace and convenience while being placed away from their institutions. This uniqueness and ease of gaining knowledge have a pivotal role to play in facilitating today’s emerging knowledge society. Today, almost half of the students enrolled in higher education are receiving education through the distance mode. In the wake of the millennium developmental
goals, which emphasise on education for sustainable development, there is a need and demand for assigning the need based quality knowledge and skills to the large and diverse communities in the country for their overall development. The Programme Chair of PCF6 on the recommendations of Honourable Vice Chancellor of IGNOU had constituted a sub-committee for identifying 100 ODL Achievers. The terms of reference for the