Mapping the Distribution of Distance Education Provision for promoting National Development in India

Abstract

One of the developmental goals of countries like India is not only ensuring literacy for all but also access to education irrespective of geographical disparities. Although India has a literacy rate of 65.38 %, this rate varies from state to state from a minimum of 47.53% in Bihar to a maximum of 90.92% in Kerala. In terms of literacy level, the State of Maharashtra has the highest enrolment in higher education and also the highest number of colleges, while the State of Sikkim has the lowest enrolment and the lowest number of colleges in conventional mode. Interestingly, the state with the highest literacy does not have the highest number of colleges or highest enrolment. In distance education mode, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), with nationwide access to all along the length and breadth of the country, has an enrolment pattern among the various states which fairly closely mirrors the state-by-state pattern in enrolment in conventional-mode higher education. In 2005-06, Jharkhand State had the highest enrolment at IGNOU, while Arunanchal Pradesh had the lowest. Hence there is a need to evolve an educational developmental mechanism that would ensure more equal access to education in the various states irrespective of differences in literacy and conventional infrastructure. In this paper, we present a state-by-state profile of India on the parameters of literacy, higher education and infrastructure - in both modes. Also we present a road map for development of distance education set up in collaboration with conventional mode in the so-farinaccessible areas as indicated by the analysis.