Towards Inclusive Education: A Case Study of IGNOU

Authors

  • S. V. S. Chaudhary Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi
  • Pankaj Khare Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi
  • Sanjay Gupta Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi
  • Suresh Garg Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56059/jl4d.v3i3.143

Keywords:

Inclusive Education, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Castes (OBCs), Socially Marginalised Groups

Abstract

Towards the end of the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007 -2012), India catered to about 20 per cent of the youth in the age group 17 to 24 years. However, to achieve the threshold level of about 30 per cent by 2020, and address concerns which perpetuate inequalities in opportunities to higher education, Government of India (GoI) formulated positive discrimination policies. Establishment of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) was one such positive step in this direction. Since 1987, IGNOU has been striving for inclusive education and reach all groups till the last mile. As a result of its dedicated efforts, at the end of 2012, it had reached 639 out of 659 districts in the country, including those in the red corridor (infested by Naxalite and Maoist extremists) passing through States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, and West Bengal. IGNOU has been successfully imparting education and training to socially, economically, physically and/or geographically disadvantaged, in addition to women, minorities and jail inmates. Our results show that participation of rural women is particularly encouraging in all programmes but the dropout rate of these groups is rather high and success rate comparatively low.

Author Biographies

S. V. S. Chaudhary, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi

Professor of Education, School of Education, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi

Principal Author

Pankaj Khare, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi

Deputy Director, Planning and Development Division, Indira Gandhi National Open University.

Corresponding Author

Sanjay Gupta, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi

Asstt. Professor, School of Sciences, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi

Suresh Garg, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi

Retd, Professor, School of Sciences, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, presently associated with Himalayan University of Arnachal Pradesh.

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Published

2016-11-10

How to Cite

Chaudhary, S. V. S., Khare, P., Gupta, S., & Garg, S. (2016). Towards Inclusive Education: A Case Study of IGNOU. Journal of Learning for Development, 3(3). https://doi.org/10.56059/jl4d.v3i3.143

Issue

Section

Research Articles
Received 2016-03-29
Accepted 2016-08-13
Published 2016-11-10