Posted on Friday, November 13, 2009
The Distance Education Council (DEC), established in 1991 under the Indira Gandhi National Open University Act, 1985 determines the standards of distance education in India. It is an organisation that works towards the promotion and coordination of Open and Distance Learning System (ODLS) in the country.
In the last few years, ODLS as emerged as a significant medium for imparting education to the diverse sections of society. The flexibility, ease and the affordability coupled with the application of latest technologies have bought ODLS to the center stage with every fourth student of higher education enrolling for a distance learning programme. The number of dual mode universities offering programmes through the distance mode has also shown a substantial growth; currently there are more than 140 Distance Education Institutions (DEIs) in India. It is indeed encouraging to note that a large number of private providers also offer distance learning programmes.
The Distance Education Council (DEC), as an apex body for ODL system in the country, in its mission to promote and enhance the culture of quality has launched the scheme of Assessment and Accreditation of ODL institutions.
DEC: Duties and responsibilities
- The Council consults the state government and other agencies to find out primary areas in which distance education programmes could be arranged. It is the primary duty of the Council to support such programmes.
- The Council recognises specific customer groups and identifies programmes that can be arranged for them.
- The Council promotes novel education systems at the University level that are flexible and open.
- The Distance Education Council defines the eligibility criteria for enrollment to various programmes
- The Council is instrumental in collecting and sharing information regarding the different programmes offered by various open universities.
- Another major responsibility of the council is to assign Review Committees at the proper time to study and evaluate the performance of DEI.
- The Council is in charge of promoting the arrangement of HR development programmes for the distance education system.
- In discharging its responsibility, the DEC also provides development funding to open universities and DEIs from the funds placed at its disposal by the Central Government.
- And finally, it is in charge of collaborating among the various universities across India.
Assessment and accreditation
DEC accredit institutions as a mark for quality. Accreditation is grading an institution on the basis of various quality indicators by evaluating the mechanisms and outcomes of the programmes being offered by it.
The ODL institutions desirous of accreditation prepare a self-assessment report in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the DEC where it will be peer reviewed before the peer team goes in for site visit.
The DECs scope of accreditation covers institutions offering programmes primarily by the distance mode ranging from Certificate level to Doctoral level programmes. It has been supporting all the State Open Universities (SOUs) since the eighth plan, and DEIs of conventional universities since the ninth plan.
Accreditation by the DEC is of two types:
- Institutional accreditation: This comprise of the following framework of reference regarding distance and online education offerings. Performance indicators, benchmark statements and their evidences in all aspects of the institution’s functioning will be collated.
- Programme accreditation: Focuses on understanding Programme outcomes through the effective use of ODL. The Programme Appraisal Report then conforms to the above criteria, taking into cognisance benchmarks from discipline experts and Professional Councils.
Criteria for assessment
The following criterions serve as the basis of assessment of ODL institutions for accreditation:
Open University Network (OUN)
The DEC has developed the Open University Network. The programmes developed and produced by IGNOU are extensively used by the SOU in the country. They have evolved common standards for products and processes (programme structure, credits, examination, grading, etc.) to facilitate student mobility across programmes as well as institutions through systems of credit transfer. They also have norms and standards for the design development, and delivery of programmes in specific fields to ensure their quality.
List of programmes approved by DEC
Presently, there is one National Open University - IGNOU, 11 SOUs, and a number of DEIs in different states.
For more information, visit www.dec.ac.in/