Education at your doorstep
Jamia Millia Islamia’s Centre for Distance and Open Learning aims to provide access to education to all the segments of society.
With an aim to provide opportunities for higher education to those who are not able to benefit from a formal system of education, Jamia Millia Islamia started the Centre for Distance and Open Learning in September 2002. “In a country like India, access to good-quality higher education is not available to everybody. There are various constraints such as cost and distance. Even if some students have these means, they are unable to get admissions due to high cut-offs and limited seats. Everybody cannot get 100%, so does that mean education should be denied to them? No. This is where distance learning comes in and provides the right to education to everybody,” says Mirza Tariq Beg, director, Centre for Distance and Open Learning.
The centre is approved by ministry of human resource development, government of India and all the programmes are approved by joint committee of DEC, AICTE, UGC/NCTE. It has established 31 study/programme centres. These centres are located at various places in UP, Rajasthan, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Orissa and Maharashtra.
Jamia Millia Islamia recently opened its admission window for distance learning courses. The centre offers a range of undergraduate, postgraduate and postgraduate diploma courses in English, political science, sociology, human resources management, public administration, international business and finance, geoinformatics, etc. There are entrance tests for a few programmes like BEd, diploma in electrical engineering and diploma in power generation engineering. Fee range is from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 40,000 for all the courses.
“There is a perception in India that more recognition is given to a regular degree as compared to open and distance learning degree. In Jamia Millia Islamia, we maintain the same standards in distance and regular courses. Both the degrees have their own value,” adds Beg.
The centre also runs an Urdu certificate course. The purpose is to teach Urdu by means of different languages (English and Hindi) through distance mode. The certificate programme is offered free of cost. However, the candidate needs to pay Rs. 100 by post for the dispatch of books and correspondence.
“I was working as an English trainer to support my family financially but I didn’t want to put my studies at stake. That’s why I chose open and distance learning and did MA in English from Jamia Millia Islamia’s Centre for Distance and Open Learning. I miss attending regular college but distance learning helped me manage my job and studies simultaneously. Teachers were cooperative and study material was adequate. However, there were tiny specks in the armour such as communication gap and delayed results. I hope they will be resolved in the near future,” says Kiran Kashyap.
The centre facilitates a learner to study from his/her own chosen place and allows the student to determine his/her own pace and convenience. The distance education programme delivery system includes the multi-media approach, i.e. self-learning print material which contains both theory and practical components, audio and video programmes. There are tutor-marked assignments, counselling sessions include clarification required in the print material and other related difficulties through active interaction with students. Also, the centre has recently launched an SMS alert service, wherein a student gets connected with centre by receiving/sending messages. Students get messages about academic activities related to his/her programme.
Looking ahead to the future, Beg says, “We have plans for growth. This is comparatively a new centre. BEd is our flagship programme, earlier we had only 100 seats and the number has now been increased to 500. We now have a proposal to increase it to 1000 because there is an acute shortage of teachers in India.”
Important dates for admissions
August 13, 2013Bachelor of education August 19, 2013Diploma in electrical engineeringDiploma in power generation engineering September 11, 2013MA in EnglishMA in HindiMA in sociologyMA in historyMA in human resources managementMA in public administrationMA in political scienceMaster of commerceMA in educationSeptember 12, 2013Bachelor of arts - generalBachelor of commerceBachelor of international business and financeBachelor of business studiesSeptember 20, 2013Postgraduate diploma in guidance and counsellingPostgraduate diploma in geoinformaticsDiploma in early childhood care and education Certificate in computer hardware and network technology Certificate in computer and information technology