CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
In the light of our discussions and keeping in view the policy precursors and requirements of the 8th Plan, the following concluding observations and recommendations can be made about the Open Learning System :
1. OLS has a tremendous potential for the fulfilment of the 8th Plan objectives of `Education for All', vocationalization of secondary education, training and retraining for wage-em- ployment and self-employment of the rural population and urban workers, along with academic advancement of learners, in accordance with their requirements. Open education, therefore, can play a significant role in spread- ing relevant education in a big way and help gear up rural and urban economies by increasing productivity.
2. Action to expand OLS channels during the 8th Plan need to be pursued by (a) making use of available organizations in the Education Sector, and (b) exploring the possibilities of involving commerce, industry, the service sector and rural development organizations in OLS in suitable ways.
3. The National Open School, already established, would have to be strengthened for meeting the educational needs of (a) Open Secondary Education (b) Open Higher Secondary Education, (c) Open Vocational Education and (d) Open Upper Primary education, the last on an experimental ba- sis. Focus on out-of-school urban, rural and tribal youth, adolscent girls, women, and the rural farming communi- ties in general is essential for linkages between education and development.
4. State Boards of Secondary / Higher Secondary Education have accepted the need for an open channel of education. Each State / UT may be required to set targets in accord- ance with needs, available facilities and facilities to be newly provided.
5. At present, there is a National Open University (IGNOU) and four State Open Universities. Some more may come up in the near future. Mass- oriented State Universities like Yashwant Rao Chavan Maharashtra Open University, Nashik (YCMOU), have already started well-designed courses for locale-specific agricultural / horticultural edu- cation in specific market oriented produce like oil-seeds, pulses, grapes, mangoes, etc. The existing Open Univer-
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sities may consider innovative programmes on the lines of YCMOU for accelerating the pace of rural productivity in their region.
6. Since the involvement of Open Universities in innovative programmes for promotion of self- employment for rural productivity is important, Planning Commission may con- sider inviting the Vice-Chancellors of Open Universities for a meeting to be addressed by Dy.Chairman where implications of such involvement may be discussed further to prepare a concrete Plan of Action to be launched in the 8th Plan.
7. The Shramik Vidyapeeths under the Department of Educa- tion have been imparting skill-improvement training and life-skills to urban industrial workers in the organized sec- tor and their families. To the extent possible, SVPs have also been giving market-oriented job-training to youth and women in the needy urban groups. In the 8th Plan the Shramik Vidyapeeths should be guided to shift their atten- tion much more to the organization of self-employment training for youth and women in the urban informal sector, relating to technical skills, marketable arts and crafts, ur- ban services, and so on.
8. Business, industry and professional organisations may be called upon to set up their own Education and Training Units with a view to training, in collaboration with open education institutions, the manpower required according to their own emerging demands. The Chambers of Com- merce and professional organizations like Builders' Asso- ciation, Engineers' Association, etc., should be encouraged to interact with educational institutions at vari- ous stages to provide job-oriented training in keeping with market demand. Their course-materials and techniques of training may be guided by Open Universities and Open School Organizations, under appropriate contracts.
9. Various Ministries involved with imparting training and providing sectorwise manpower need to interact and build linkages for evolving open education and training pro- grammes. These programmes would need standardisation, modularisation an gradation so as to ensure their effi- ciency and market acceptability. Eventually, they should aim at getting accrediation for which organizational ar- rangements would have to be made. Each Ministry may contribute from its budget an appropriate percentage for this purpose to the Open School/ Open University selected as collaborator. In view of the complexity of the task of
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coordination, it is best to entrust it to the Planning Com- mission.
10. The design and development of a variety of location-spe- cific courses bearing on agricultural, agro-based industries and related services such as processing, storage, transport, marketing, accounting and so on may be looked upon as an essential aspect of micro-planning for area-develop- ment. Agricultural Universities in collaboration with Open School and Open University structures should under- take this activity and build practice-networks through Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Community Polytechnics, other Rural Development Organisations and programmes such as KVIC, Khadi and Village Industries Boards, TRYSEM and so on. DRDA's should be involved in this pro- gramme.
11. The specific recommendations in relation to KVK's can be stated as follows : New KVK's should be run either by NGO's or Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Indus- trial Trusts and the fertilizer industry in particular. The KVK's may concentrate upon new thrust areas region- wise and crop-wise.
12. Resources and cooperation of voluntary organizations may be enlisted for extension of the Open Education Channels especially for employment oriented courses in health and sanitation, agriculture, horticulture, livestock develop- ment, artisanship, construction sector, etc.
13. There should be a large OLS teacher training programme, especially for meeting the urgent requirements for trained primary and secondary teachers in the predominantly tribal education programme of the North-Eastern States. Also, teachers at all levels including instruction in AE/NFE pro- gramme should be required to understand the need, pur- poses and processes of OLS. IGNOU and NOS may prepare a programme for the induction training of teachers in remote geographical areas where the need is most ur- gent.
14. The possibility of establishing a dedicated TV channel for education aimed to benefit the clientele identified in this Report (Girls, Women, SC/ST, Rural and Urban Poor, Unemployed Youth and so on), as recommended by the
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Working Group on Satellite Services for Education, should be seriously explored.
15. The normative directions of operation enumerated in para. 8.04 should be kept in view by the OLS organizations.
16. Open Education channels may be developed in a decentral- ised manner. The functional autonomy of Open Education institutions should be protected. At the academic-technical level there may be a National Consortium of Open Educa- tion which could facilitate networking and oversee stand- ardisation, accreditation and maintenance of quality through a process of mutual dialogue.
17. Since the Open Learning System consists of a cluster of innovations as regards planning, management, financing, networking, contact- centres, packaged materials contain- ing both print and electronic media, localized supervision of implementation and achievement effort through Educa- tion Complexes, use of the dialectic method of teaching- learning incorporating the basic principles of andragogy, community Support and so on, all the personnel engaged in the planning and process of these varied innovations would require intensive training. These training programmes should be planned and organized by the NOS, IGNOU, YCMOU and other organizations who have acquired the capability of launching and managing educational innova- tion and change. Adequate financial support for this pro- gramme would have to be provided without delay, by pooling the financial resources of government and inter- ested agencies.
18. At the Policy and Programme level, a Standing Committee of CABE, under the Chairmanship of Member (Education) should continually monitor and review various aspects of OLS, including new initiatives as and when they come up.
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