OUSL celebrates 25 years:

Transforming ideology into reality

PROFESSOR Uma Coomraswamy, Vice-Chancellor

EDUCATION: The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) marked the occasion of the 25 Anniversary on July 22, 2005.

In a context where access to higher education is limited due to lack of placements in the conventional university system, the decision, in 1980, to establish the OUSL represented a commitment to the principle of democratization of higher and life long education.

The inauguration of the OU thus empowered the adult population of this country, particularly those who looked for a second chance to gain academic qualifications and others who required continuing professional development.

The philosophy of Open and Distance Learning permits an institution to open its doors to everyone who wants to learn.

The OUSL which is the premier Distance Learning Institution in Sri Lanka thereby attracted a host of learners - youth over 18 years of age to adults in their sixties or more, housewives wishing to train for new careers to intellectuals wanting to widen their horizons, from North to South, East to West, providing them the pathways to success.

Age, vocation, gender, race, ethnicity and religion were no bar in this new mode based on learner-centred, self learning packages.

Today the Open University is a leading national tertiary institution, catering to a demand for access to all levels of education, and providing life-long learning opportunities for all citizens of this country.

The institution has much to celebrate on its 25th anniversary, and it is a perfect time to review the performance in the past and present and reflect on the role for the future.

Growth of OUSL

Since its establishment in 1980, OUSL has worked continuously for the benefit of Sri Lankans and the nation. Enrolment at OUSL has increased from 3,000 in 1980 to over 25,000 today. This represents about 50 per cent of the total University enrolment in the country.

Over the years, more than 150,000 Sri Lankan citizens have studied at this distance education institution, enhancing their knowledge and thereby obtaining degrees, diplomas and certificates of qualifications.

The courses offered have increased dramatically from four in 1982, to over 900 courses offered through forty programmes of study at present. These range from conventional and job oriented programmes to continuing education opportunities for employees of the public and industrial sectors.

Among the notable achievements of the university are its pioneering efforts in establishing the first ever B.Sc in Nursing, Bachelor's degrees in Science and Engineering Technology offered through the Distance Mode and a Bachelor's degree in English Language Teaching.

Postgraduate qualifications include a Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Sciences, in numerous branches of Engineering technology and currently the only MA in Teaching English as a Second Language in Sri Lanka.

OUSL's efforts have not been restricted to local learners but have also included an MA in Teacher Education offered internationally and a Master's degree in Business/Public Administration.

OUSL has also worked in close collaboration with national and international organisations. In this regard, the Commonwealth of Learning, the major initiative for Distance Teaching and Learning in the Commonwealth has been a key partner in many OUSL enterprises.

Since 1980, the OUSL has steadily expanded its network of centres. Currently the University maintains 25 centres throughout the island. Over the years, physical development has been enhanced and a number of centres are now equipped to cope with contemporary means of teaching/learning.

One important feature of the student population of OUSL is that it is different from those of conventional Universities.

Since the OUSL caters to adult learners, a significant number is more senior in age and are mature students. Such learners increasingly demand a type of education that allows them to upgrade their knowledge whenever necessary and to go on doing so throughout their working lives.

Challenges of Distance Education

Among other challenges are the increasing demand for access to educational opportunities to break the cycle of poverty and misery, and demands from the workforce and employers regarding knowledge and appropriate skills for retraining and provisional development.

In addition, the OUSL also needs to devise means of providing effective learning through maximising the use of contemporary educational tools.

This involves the question of integrating emerging technologies into current pedagogy to widen access to education, to raise its quality and to reform it.

In spite of tremendous development there is still many miles to go. The OUSL believes in cost effective education to serve the interst of our country, to provide a responsible account to the state that fosters education and to be relevant in a changing world.

These needs and challenges were taken into account in the developments currently on-going at OUSL, and are described in detail here.

Developments and future trends

The development of OUSL has been enhanced by a new initiative, the Distance Education Modernisation Project.

This 60 million US$ project funded by the Asian Development Bank which commenced in November 2003 will continue till December 2009.

While modernising the OUSL to bring it up to world class standards in distance education, it makes provision for on-line distance education facilities islandwide through the National Distance Education Network.

The Project aside from supporting public-private partnerships to create and deliver new learning technologies, it will assist them to increase educational opportunities for A/L completers in their institutions through distance learning.

Poor unemployed A/L completers using distance learning will be provided with stipends to learn through the distance mode.

Access and equity

The project will also look into a national accreditation program to set standards and allow flexible transfer of credits between distance education institutions.

The University is working towards promoting and encouraging access to distance learning throughout the country in meeting the national policy objective of enroling additional students and reaching the rural poor.

Educational opportunities to the disadvantaged and the differently abled are being pursued through the new Department of Special Needs Education in the Faculty of Education which is the only one of its type in the Sri Lankan University system.

We will augment established mechanisms and devise newer strategies to meet the above said concerns.

In addition, the university is pleased to announce the establishment of 1,000 scholarships annually to OUSL students through the South Asia Foundation Madanjeet Singh Scholarships Scheme and stipends to assist the needy students through the ADB/DEM project.

Community empowerment

The University has developed programs to carry knowledge outside the university to disseminate whatever is relevant to the community at large literacy, health care, agriculture science, rural technology, child rights, human rights and the like.

It aims to provide mechanisms that facilitate interaction between them and narrow the gap between the land and the lab, between the classroom and the classes of people.

The University will also work towards becoming a user-friendly institution by developing a portal, 'My OUSL', for students, tutors and staff allowing access to all of the university's on-line services.

OUSL is an example of success in educational innovation. The university has grown to be recognized for the unique contribution it is making to higher education in this country through open and distance learning because of its dedication and commitment to effective and meaningful learning.

It may appear that the University has embarked on a very ambitious development plan. I have confidence that it is achievable because the resources are now available.

It is only apt to remember the words of the President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam "Dreams float on an impatient wind, A wind that wants to create new order. An order of strength and thundering of fire."

We should dream high, it is only then that we can achieve extraordinary levels and let a thousand academic flowers bloom.