NIOS : The Way Forward - The National Institute of Open Schooling

10 / NIOS: The Way Forward
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While focus is on self learning, tutor support, is also provided
Meets the educational needs of differently-abled children
Provides a ‘safety net’ to school drop outs and offers them a second
chance education to equip them to re-enter and meet its demands
The ODL system, using its in-built flexibility, can also offer a variety of life
enrichment and continuing education courses on essential life skills linked to
relationships and communications such as conflict resolution, stress
management, time management; and general awareness courses like rights
and duties of citizens, human rights, arts and crafts etc.. Such courses may
be undertaken by the learners as ‘additional’ subjects or as independent
certificate level courses. There is immense scope and urgency for ODL system
to develop a very large number of such life enrichment courses to meet the
increased demand for additional or new learning or learning for leisure time
activity or for engaging in hobbies and for new type of jobs etc. This is an area
that tends to remain neglected but calls for for much creative attention.
1.3.12 ODLS in the national educational context
In the present era that has moved on from the industrial to the information
and communication age, we witness the emergence of a knowledge society
in which every member will be required, in some measure, to use knowledge
as a resource for life and living. The ODL system provides immense possibilities
for the learners to pursue the goal of becoming knowledge competent, by
pursuing a variety of courses of their choice in order to meet life’s needs.
Because of the characteristics of the new provision described above, ODL
system has been gaining wide popularity over the recent years in India, as it
does across the globe, since it provides an effective alternative channel to
pursue education to all those who cannot or do not want to follow the traditional
system with its rigidities and constraints.
Open distance education, while it offers an open channel with its essential
characteristics of flexibility and relevance, must preserve, at the same time,
quality and equivalence. To prevent alienation of students from reality
conditions, Open Learning must maintain its own clear guiding principles,
adhering to its own distinct set of norms and differences in pursuance of its
goals and objectives. Then, Open Learning will open the hitherto largely closed
doors of knowledge and paths for development to all, without making any
distinction or exclusion.
Promotion of ODLS would thus contribute to national development and will
address the major concerns in the country such as universalization of primary
and elementary education, and consequently democratization of the peoples
of the country, thus empowering people to participate in decisions that affect
their life. The long-term goal is to fulfill the dream of India to eliminate or
greatly reduce the educational divide by bringing education to every citizen,