Which are your best options for open education in India?

Ever since its inception the, the concept of distance education has created a lot of confusion and doubts in minds of students. Some of the questions that every student who considers distance education finds himself asking are:

  

·         Whether it is recognized by other universities for further education?

·         Does it hold relevance for employers?
·         Do employers recognize distance education as a valid form of education?

Such and more questions trouble the mind of aspiring candidates who due to some reason or other take up distance learning courses. Well, comparing distance education with regular courses is indeed very unfair. Both have their own set of advantages. With regular classes you get to interact with instructors and other students and participate in community activities which are otherwise not possible in its distance counterpart. However, we must not forget that open education system was introduced mainly for students or working people who due to their other obligations cannot attend regular classes. In that case, distance education serves them best as it provides them with option of pursuing higher education either from the comfort of their homes (online mode) or at weekends without having to leave their jobs.

Without delving too deep into the never ending debate of which is better of the two, let us discuss the top education institutes that offer courses in open mode. It is a matter of great pride that India has a lot of good distance education options, as it exhibits that our education system has evolved a lot since the pre-independence era.  The institutes discussed have been unanimously accepted as the best by experts.

·         Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi

·         Mahatma Gandhi University, Mumbai

·         Sikkim Manipal University, Karnataka

·         Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning, Pune

·         Maharishi Dayanand Univeristy, Rohtak

All of the above educational institutes are known for their excellence and expertise in delivering top quality education through distance mode. These institutes have an exhaustive list of courses that can be pursued as and when required by the candidate.