The Hindu : Distance education a boon to develop learning society

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 25, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Distance education a boon to develop learning society

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE MARCH 24. The Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, N.K. Jain, said today that socio-economic demands could be met by providing access to higher education without neglecting primary and secondary education.

Mr. Justice Jain was delivering the convocation address of Karnataka State Open University here. He said that a large area had to be covered through formal, non-formal, and continuous education, which had been made possible by the emergence of distance education and open learning systems.

He said though the Government was committed to provide primary education for all, the efforts made in the last 50 years yielded little results. There was a need to expand higher education through proper and flexible strategies in the wake of globalisation and liberalisation. If knowledge were to be treated as a powerful instrument of empowerment, education should be the crucial base that could accelerate the process of openness with the intelligent use of information and communication technology. Stating that open and distance learning (ODL) had to be strengthened structurally and functionally to expand the reach of higher education, Mr. Justice Jain said distance education came as a boon towards developing a learning society. Regarding the quality of education, Mr. Justice Jain said the authorities concerned should focus on it. Freedom to authorities in universities with regard to academic issues was essential to maintain academic standards. Besides being places of learning, universities should develop as centres of service and personality development rather than becoming places of conferring degrees and distinctions. Apart from churning out technically skilled and professionally competent candidates, the university education should instil in them the quality of compassion in a democratic spirit, he added.

Lamenting that indiscipline and highhanded behaviour of students was causing problems, he said emphasis should be on disciplining them. Fortunately, students of open universities were not exposed to these ills because only those with the intention of pursuing studies joined them. Mr. Justice Jain said educational institutions and universities should play an important role in highlighting ethical and moral values, and virtues of worthy education. In all, 4,172 students qualified for postgraduate degrees and 5,044 for bachelor degrees in various disciplines. Women outclassed men in both categories. A total of 2,229 women qualified for postgraduate degrees, while 2,713 graduated in various degree courses.

Medal winners

Syed Vasiulla Bakhtiary bagged Dr. Mumtaz Ahmed Khan Endowment Gold Medal, Deepali Sharma (Late Meera Bai Memorial Endowment Gold Medal), Deepa Guptha (Shantha Bai Memorial Endowment Gold Medal), N. Jayaraman (Corporation Bank Endowment Gold Medal), Roshni S. Parkhi (Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd. Endowment Gold Medal), M. Neethu (Corporation Bank Endowment Gold Medal), Sharma Vani Vedkant (Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd. Endowment Gold Medal), and K. Rajeshwar Reddy (Late B.R. Iyengar and Late S.R. Krishnaswamy Endowment Gold Medal).

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