Role of universities in globalization

Learning a life long process:

Technical education key to knowledge society:

Text of the speech by Mother Teresa Women’s University, Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu India Prof Aruna Sivakami Ananthakrishnan at South Eastern University Convocation

All Societies in the world to-day want to be knowledge societies. Why? Among modern societies if only 95 percent of the populations are technically qualified to carry on, then those societies have the status of knowledge society. No wonder all nations aspire to be groped among this privileged few as there will be close association and exchange of technical people and knowledge that shall take place.

Prof Aruna Sivakami Ananthakrishnan

All nations want to be the most developed and Westernized or modernized societies. It has been realized that education especially technical education holds the key to knowledge society. All citizens employed and un-employed want further education today and that has made Distance Education a compulsory requirement.

Higher education

If we can adapt Hammers idea Education processes should be re-engineered that is education be made suitable to the skills as demanded by the Industry and the Universities. To quote S M Paul Khurana ‘We have to re-engineer all processes of delivery of higher education’. This process is not to be limited to the ‘administration part but to the entire system’. Today’s Universities do not turn out products that would be demanded or accommodated in industries. So there is gap between the Universities, Industries and Societies that aspire to be Knowledge Societies.

Education for people who are already employed is different from education to young students primary, adolescent, young as well as adults. That is giving education to schoolchildren at primary level and mid-level and secondary level and then collegiate level and then at the tertiary level-research level is different from distant Education or Correspondence Education.

Educating youngsters is no longer radically different from educating employed people in many ways. The first is regular or continuous education fixed hours on daily basis which means face to face education in a specified place. The education also is fixed with time duration for five hours a day during 10+2 years where 10 years cover primary, mid level and the next two years cover higher secondary level of school education. But now the teacher offers maximum scope for other-methods-use of ICT in education with less role for the teacher in every day interactive sessions and not just the teacher doing the teaching and pupils listening. That makes the classes monotonous.

Career prospects

These are the formative period of an individual’s life and is responsible for their character and personality development, so more space is given to the development of individuality of the students. The classroom or blackboard and chalk have given way to LCDs and OHP and power point presentations. E-Learning and Web conferencing are now regular modes of imparting education even in regular collegiate learning. Technology has shaken the beliefs as well as the life-styles and learning styles as boards are normally associated with black but now white interactive boards coming into wide use.

The mode of Distance Education is different as it is meant for adults who are employed but who would like to enhance their educational qualification or get additional qualification that would fetch then promotion as or differ their career prospects. However the various dynamic methods of teaching objectives and experiences needs to be adopted both in formal and non-formal settings of education. Self instructional methods with the support of teaching machines, computers, TV and radio that can make higher education very effective as well as interesting is now supplemented with traditional mode of education.

English language

The atmosphere of dullness, lifelessness, inertia, unattractiveness is now replaced by an environment of agility, dynamism, interest and attractiveness of a classroom. This can be done only by use of different media opening learning uses all forms of technology, from print to computer. The range includes hard print, radio, television, audio, video conference computer aided instrumentation (e-learning/online learning through internet etc. regular mail in exchange of written material).

Mother Teresa Women’s University

In the past 20 years the use of ICT has fundamentally changes the practices and procedures of nearly all forms of endeavour within business and governance. The use of ICT in education lends itself to more student centered learning settings and with the world moving rapidly into digital media and information, the role of ICT in education is becoming more important and will continue to grow and develop in the 21st Century. The role of a teacher is minimized or becomes that of an instructor. The time and place and even proficiency in English language also are not required as in the case of regular classroom learning. So it is highly congenial for students to take advantage of ICT and emerge as more than equals in the pursuit of knowledge. Quality education must be provided at low budget especially professional education with placement opportunities go with it as a package, to-day.

But the objectives of Distance Education is not only for fulfilling the educational gap but also may be for availing first time educational opportunity, get life long and need based education, or get skills for gainful employment or profitably self-employment or just acquire better personality employment. While this is also time bound the space and contact hours differ and there can be face-to-face relationship with the teacher for a limited number of days and hours.

Equitable opportunities

Institutionalized Teaching Vs Flexible Learning, Challenges, pressures and Perspectives has become the hot topic of academic discussions all over the world.

A Woman’s University offering education to women through regular and in distant mode usually caters to the basic needs of women as the needs of the society keeps changing as well as the requirement of the women. When the University is located in the rural areas the aims and objectives of Distance Education also differs. The directorate of distance education seeks to break the barriers which block women from pursuing higher education by taking education to the homes of women who have never been to school or college, also those who were not able to go to regular college.

The goal is higher education for every woman who desires it. The aim is to extend not only equal but equitable opportunities of education who want to pursue education their own place and time simultaneously with the demand for a better job or domestic commitments. The programs are designed to meet social and career needs, as well as parallel and add on courses. Apart from this regular programs are also offered in selected Off-Campuses. Information and communication technologies have become commonplace entities in all aspects of life.

Private colleges

More and more educational institutions are now becoming truly global in terms of emulating and accepting sophisticated standards in providing infrastructure to students.

To be continued