Role of distance education in the development of the nation

A brief introduction on distance education

1. The correspondence system for which the candidates need to meet the required eligibility criteria for enrolling into the specified courses. However, they need not attend the regular classes but they need to attend the classes for a short period of week to ten days as per the time table of the institution.
2. And the other one is the open system and as the name implies, the courses offered under this system are open to all irrespective of their age and qualification. This is mainly meant for those who do not possess a qualification through formal education.

Distance education in the development of nation

1. Distance education - a boon to the rural mass

   In a developing nation like India, literacy and education of the teeming masses of the rural India is the real problem for the development of the nation. These under-privileged masses are the real sufferers of various social, economic and religious barriers. Thus with the introduction of distant mode of education by various universities, education is reachable to the rural mass and helped them in empowering with education. This development in the human resources played a key role in the socio-economic development of the nation. More and more universities are providing wonderful educational opportunities to the rural mass with the main motto of 'reaching the unreached'. And this motto of the educational institutions is gradually increasing the education of the rural mass which in turn helps them in self-empowerment. Thus, there is a boom in the education sector through the distant mode of education. However, still there is much to achieve in this regard and still there are many rural areas to be covered under this motto.

2. Educational empowerment of the jail inmates through distance mode

   Education is made reachable to the jail prisoners through distance mode of education. And this is one of the most important aspect of distance education which helps in the development of the nation. The top distance education university IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) is offering free education to the jail inmates across the country as per the press release of 2009. This is a major step taken by the national open university in view of bringing them back to the mainstream of life with quality education and with a moral development due to educational empowerment. The jail inmates have the freedom of enrolling into various programs through out the year and taking up exams when they are ready for the same. This is one of the important role being played by the distance education universities which helps in gaining self-confidence among the jail inmates and this in turn helps in the socio-economic development of the nation.

3. A golden opportunity to the housewives

   India is a country where majority of the women population remain as housewives after marriage, though they have the basic education. Distance mode of education provides a golden opportunity to the housewives who are keen on improving their educational qualification. There is an overwhelming response for distance education from this particular section of the society who are confined to the four walls of the house yet are much interested on upgrading their knowledge and skills as well. As women education plays a vital role in the development of a nation, distance mode of education made this possible by offering a wide range of courses that are reachable to the most unreached sections of the society and thus tremendously contributing in the development of the nation.

4. Educating teachers to use technology-based classroom teaching

   When there is an increase in the globalization of education with the advent of new technologies, more and more educational institutions are incorporating and insisting on technology-based learning in the formal classroom teaching. And the teachers of various schools across the country need to have the basic knowledge on the technology-based classroom teaching. And with the increasing incorporation of technology in classroom teaching the teachers learn the use of modern teaching aids in the classroom teaching. In view of upgrading their skills, school teachers across the country find distance mode of education more accessible to them in learning and upgrading their skills. Hence, more and more universities are coming up with distance mode of education to reach the teachers across the country and help them in improving their technical skills which they would find helpful in the technology-based classroom teaching. In addition to self-improvement of skills, teachers with upgraded technical skills have better employment opportunities than the teachers who are confined to conventional classroom teaching. On the whole, distance mode of education has revolutionized the education sector and has a great impact on the development of the nation.

5. Helping the employees in upgrading their skills

   In the present competitive world, it is highly essential for the employees to keep continuously upgrading their skills in order to compete with the global trend of the market. Until few decades back, employees with a specific qualification were not finding the necessity to upgrade their skills. But now the trend has changed after globalization and the employees in order to reach higher goals in their career life, they find it necessary to keep upgrading their skills or degrees. Thus distance this particular category of population find distance education very helpful in upgrading their skills. And in turn this is helpful in the socio-economic development of the nation.

Conclusion