Open Schooling
In ancient times, India had the Gurukula system of education in which anyone who wished to study went to a teacher’s (Guru) house and requested to be taught. If accepted as a student by the guru, he would then stay at the guru’s place and help in all activities at home. This not only created a strong tie between the teacher and the student, but also taught the student everything about running a house. The guru taught everything the child wanted to learn, from Sanskrit to the Holy Scriptures and from Mathematics to Metaphysics. The student stayed as long as he wished or until the guru felt that he had taught everything he could teach. All learning was closely linked to nature and to life, and not confined to memorizing some information.
The modern school system was brought to India, including the English language, originally by Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay in the 1830’s. The curriculum was confined to modern subjects such as science and mathematics, and subjects like metaphysics and philosophy were considered unnecessary. Teaching was confined to classrooms and the link with nature was broken, as also the close relationship between the teacher and the student. This pattern of education has been followed religiously for nearly 175 years. The Government of India brought changes in National Education Policy in 1986 and again brought in dramatic changes with National Education Framework 2005.
UGC document on the XI plan profile of higher education in India states that, The only safe and better way to improve the quality of undergraduate education is in the delinking of most of the colleges from the affiliating structure. Colleges with academic and operative freedom are doing better and have more credibility. The financial support to such colleges boosts the concept of Autonomy.
BENEFITS:
- 1) The courses done through Open System save the time of those students who have gap in years of study.
- 2) They do not have to spend long time in classrooms and they can concentrate on the other works simultaneously.
- 3) The people who are working part-time can easily enrol themselves and complete the courses.
- 4) Since some of them are already experienced, the knowledge obtained through the courses will help them to get better jobs or promotions.
