ACADEMIC
Academic Department is responsible for fulfilling the institutional goals and objectives of taking education to the door steps of the learners across the country.
Its major function includes development of flexible courses and support systems keeping in view the varying needs of the learners. It designs and produces multi media course materials for academic, vocational and life enrichment courses. It also undertakes research into learning strategies, instructional materials and student support services to make them more effective.
Departmental Set-up The Department is headed by Director, who is assisted by Joint Director (Vocational) and Joint Director (Media) in their respective areas and two Deputy Education Officers in the work of course develop- ment and production of academic courses. The work of course develop- ment is handled by tutors in their respective areas of specialisation. One Deputy Education Officer is supervising the work of course production in respect of Science and Mathematics and, the other Deputy Education Officer in respect of Social Sciences, Languages, Commerce and Business Studies.
The Section Officer (Vocational Unit) and the Tutors in Vocational streams would be reporting to the joint Director (Vocational).
The Accreditation Unit is under the charge of a Section Officer, who is reporting directly to the Director. The work of Senior Graphic Artist, Research and Evaluation Officer and Library is also being directly supervised by the Director.
The Department is organised into the following units:
* Course Production Unit
* The Vocational Education Unit
* Accreditation Unit
* Graphic Unit
* Media Support Unit
* Library cum Documentation Unit
Course Production Unit The unit is engaged in planning, designing and developing multi media packages. The unit has developed three types of courses:
a) Academic Courses
b) Vocational Courses
c) Life Enrichment Courses
Academic Courses The Academic Courses are offered at three levels-the Bridge or Foundation Course, Secondary Course and Senior Secondary Course. Courses offered at each level included the following subjects (Table 1):
Table 1 : Courses Offered
Bridge Secondary Sr. Secondary
Hindi Hindi Hindi
English English English
Mathematics Mathematics Mathematics
Science Science Physics
(Contd.)
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Bridge Secondary Sr. Secondary
Social Science Social Science Chemistry
Economics Biology
Commerce History
Typewriting Geography
Home Science Political Science
Economics
Commerce
Accountancy
Typewriting
Stenography
Secretarial Practice
Home Science
The transaction of the courses takes place through multi-media learning packages prepared for the students. The learning package consist of the curriculum outline, printed self instructional material and the support material. These include essential learning materials such as self instructional material, audio cassettes in languages and students' assignments, practical manuals and practical kits in science subjects.
The support materials comprise of audio-video material, study guide and sample question papers.
Approach for Developing Curriculum During 1992-93, the NOS undertook revision of secondary level curriculum. it prepared an approach paper on the basis of analysis of students needs, priorities listed in the national curriculam framework and discussions with the experts. Feedback received from the NOS students was also taken into account.
A committee of the courses was constituted in each subject. It com- prises of educational technologists, evaluation and media experts and practising teachers. The committees have been given a mandate to use interdisciplinary approach and to reduce content load without affecting quality.
The flow chart (fig. 1) shows the process of curriculum revision:
Development of Printed Self Instructional Material In NOS, emphasis is given on producing high quality self instructional material. Team approach is used for developing it. A team consisting of lesson writers functions under a coordinator called the subject team Chairman. It develops all the lessons of the subject. Draft lessons are discussed jointly in the meetings and suggestions of core lesson writers incorporated to improve the accuracy of the contents and quality of presentation of the lesson material. The following tasks were performed to develop number of learning modules in different subject areas. For each task outlined here, several meetings were held.
i) preparing learning outcomes
ii) orientation of writers in writing of Self Learning Materials
iii) meetings to allocate lessons and discuss outline
iv) review meeting to check the accuracy of written material
v) preparation of second draft
Development of
policy direction
Discussion of the recent
advances in the realm
of knowledge
Examining the feedback
received from NOS students
and practitioners
Preparation of outlines
for the curriculum
Specifying the contents
areas and formulation of
learning outcomes
Exposers of curriculum
and learning outcomes in
meeting of experts
Inter disciplinary approach
in finalisation of curriculum
Fig. 1: Process of Curriculum Planning
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vi) review meeting to improve second draft
vii) finalisation of lesson
viii) content editing by Subject Team Chairman
ix) translation of lessons
x) language editing
xi) preparation of press copies
xii) proof reading and print orders.
In addition, number of meetings were held to:
a) Design and develop prototype kit in Chemistry
b) Exposure of teachers in the AIs to the kit
c) Preparation of the manual for the kit
d) Preparation of student guide and student information sheet
Other Academic Activities These included:
a) Development of a study
b) Translation of the prospectus and the study guide
c) Comparative studies of syllabi of different Boards in subjects of English and Social Science
d) Review of text books of different School Education Boards in English
e) Analysis of question papers and error analysis of answer scripts in English
f) Development of a handbook for the coordinators of the accredited institutions.
g) Report of the Orientation Programme of the Al Coordi- nators
h) Report of the COL Workshop on Secondary level curriculum for English.
i) Development of Foundation Course in English
j) Preparation of Secondary Curriculum
Vocational Education and Life Enrichment Programmes The NOS has been offering skill based courses viz. Typewriting, Stenography and Secretarial Practice as part of general education programmes at Secondary and Senior Secondary levels. During the year, the programme was made more broad based and vocational education introduced as a distinct stream encompassing 17 courses of varied nature and duration at 39 Accredited Vocational Institutions (AVIs).
(a) Courses: Vocational areas of relevance were surveyed and 17 courses identified for the purpose of introduction under broad disciplines of Commerce and Business, Agriculture, Technology, Home Science, Para-medicals and Life Enrichment Programmes. The courses approved were:
i) Stenography and Typewriting
ii) Secretarial Practice
iii) Electrical Trade
iv) Electronics
v) Cutting, Tailoring and Dress Making
vi) Refrigeration and Air-conditioning
vii) Library Science
viii)Plumbing
ix) Health Care and Beauty Culture
x) Jan Swasthya
xi) Paripurna Mahila
(b) Curricula: Curricula for these courses were then developed through preparation of guidelines regarding format and mapping out content area in relation to the skills to be acquired, getting an approval of the vocational course committees of the NOS. An important consideration was that the courses should be relevant and have ready marketability.
(c) Modules: These courses were made modular in nature with varying duration of six months to one year. The number of students in a particular course is restricted in accordance with the facilities available at the AVIs. Other flexibilities of the Open Learning System viz., no upper age limit and two examinations in a year and accumulation of passes have been made available to these students as well.
(d) Pattern: A document titled as Pattern of Vocational Courses has been developed. This provides information on policies and programmes of vocational education and modalities of introduction of vocational courses. Procedures on accreditation, registration, fees, certification are outlined in the document.
(e) Implementation: Implementation involves working partnership with developmental agencies and other institutes which have experience of running vocational courses. These institutions are accredited or approved for the purpose of running these courses. These are called AVIs and undertake tasks similar to AIs of academic courses.
(f) Material: The series of material developed for the courses include syllabus outlines, teaching hints, model and sample question papers, sample evaluation and
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marking schemes. The Unit has brought out publications related to syllabii of courses, course materials for Jan Swasthya and Paripurana Mahila programmes and manual of applied theory in Secretarial Practice. A number of meetings/workshops were organised on different days for the purpose. Additionally, brochures and pamphlets have been brought out for publicity of these courses.
(g) Scheme of Examinations: The scheme of examinations involves internal assessment based on students regular work and external examination based on theory and practicals.
Collaboration with Sister Organisations The NOS has entered into collaboration for academic courses with sister organisations like Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangthan, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, Directorates of Education of various states. Several of their schools have been selected as AIs. The collaboration was continued and strengthened during the year.
For vocational courses, the NOS has entered into collaboration with various agencies imparting vocational education. The partnership agreements were entered into with Shramik Vidyapeeths, Voluntary Health Association of India and Asian Centre for Organisation Research and Development and other non governmental organisations (NGOs).
Accreditation The NOS provides Student Support Services through a network of study centres known as Accredited Institutions(Als) for Academic courses and Accredited Vocational Institutions(AVIs) for Vocational courses.
These institutions carry out activities related to enrolment of students to various courses, distribution of study material, conduct of Personal Contact Programmes, providing counselling and guidance services and assistance in the conduct of examinations and distribution of mark-sheets, certificates etc.
During the year, 109 institutions were granted accreditation to run academic courses and 39 institutions to run vocational courses. The AIs, are located all over the country and numbered 300 as on 31.3.1993. The AVIs are located in 16 States and UTs and numbered 39 as on 31.3.1993. Statewise distribution of AIs and AVIs as on 31.3.1993 was as follows (Table 2):
Table 2: Statewise Distribution of AIs and AVIs (1992-93)
State No. of AI No. of AVI
States
Andhra Pradesh 5 5
Arunachal Pradesh 4 -
Assam 1 -
Bihar 15 3
Goa 3 -
Gujarat 2 3
Haryana 25 1
Himachal Pradesh 10 -
Jammu & Kashmir 1 -
Karnataka 3 1
Kerala 4 2
Madhya Pradesh 11 2
Maharashtra 12 2
Manipur 4 2
Meghalaya 1 -
Mizoram 2 -
Nagaland 4 -
Orissa 3 2
Punjab 6 -
Rajasthan 18 3
Sikkim 6 -
Tamil Nadu 4 3
Tripura 1 -
Uttar Pradesh 35 4
West Bengal 33 2
Union Territories
Andman & Nicobar Island 2 -
Chandigarh 6 1
Dadra & Nagar Haveli - -
Daman & Diu 1 -
(Contd.)
8
State No. of Al No. of AVI
Delhi 76 5
Goa 3 -
Lakshdweep - -
Pondicherry 1 -
Through APO 1 -
Total 300 39
Locations of AIs and AVIs in different parts of the country are indicated in maps of India (Figure 2 and 3).
Recognition of NOS Courses The NOS has been conducting examination at all India level from the year 1991 as per Government of India notification vesting authority with it. It has approached all the Universities/Boards with a request to accord formal equivalence to its courses. NOS has received acceptance from 56 Universities/Boards according recognition to its courses. These are detailed below (Table 3):
Table 3: Statewise break-up of the Boards/Universities
who have recognised the courses
Name of the State/U.T No. of No. of
Boards Universities
Andhra Pradesh - 2
Assam 1 1
Bihar - 2
Delhi 2 2
Gujarat - 2
Haryana - 4
Himachal Pradesh 1 2
Jammu & Kashmir - 1
Karnataka - 5
Kerala - 1
Madhya Pradesh 1 1
Maharashtra 1 5
Manipur 1 1
Orissa 1 -
Punjab - 4
Rajasthan 2 5
Tamilnadu - 4
Uttar Pradesh - 2
West Bengal - 2
Total 10 46