DL in India

I would like information on an online based Masters in Social Work. I will be most appreciative of any information related to this degree.

 

mattyoungs has been banned for spamming

 

Bharathiar University (from India) seems to be offering a Master of Social Work degree.
Bharathiar University - Coimbatore

Dr. Kumar, as per his website (THE INTERNATIONAL TAMIL UNIVERSITY, USA), seems to be representing this university in the USA. Some of our members had success in contacting him. You may contact him regarding costs etc

 

Psydoc - If you decide to pursue this lead I'm sure people would be interested in your experience. Please keep us informed.

 

OK so this is a little bit off-topic but here's a story from the NY Times about how competitive it is trying to get into the top colleges in India.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/world/asia/squeezed-out-in-india-students-turn-to-united-states.html?_r=2

 

YAKSEE - It's a live broadcasting app that's going to be used as a part of DL in India

Live broadcasting app gives distance learning a connect - Times of India

 

If anyone is interested in learning Sanskrit by correspondence, the Rashtiya Sanskrit Sansthan offers a two-year certificate program that's open to people outside India.

RASHTRIYA SANSKRIT SANSTHAN

The Rashtiya Sanskrit Sansthan was established by the Indian government for the promotion of Sanskrit, is a "deemed university" and is accredited by NAAC (the Indian university accreditor) which gave it an 'A' grade. (NAAC actually grades Indian universities!) This school offers degree programs as well, up to the PhD level in Sanskrit, Indian literature and philosophy, but sadly not by DL. (They are apparently thinking about adding two more years to this course, which would make the whole thing something like a four-year BA in Sanskrit.)

The DL certificate program seems to only charge a nominal fee of $50 (US) for students outside India. Instructional materials are extra. These seem to consist of a big set of dvds that you buy from them. They cost several hundred US dollars. Assessment seems to be through ongoing assignments that are submitted by mail, graded and returned. There isn't any big British-style end-of-term exam. There are no admission requirements for the first year, apart from knowledge of English or Hindi (the courses are offered in either language). Admission to the second year is dependent on completion of the first year, or the equivalent.

I haven't had any personal contact with them so I don't know how responsive they are or what they are like to deal with.

My impression is that this might have some special utility for a graduate student or applicant to graduate school who is interested in Indian philosophy, religion or literature, needs to somehow acquire skill in the languages, and is studying at a university overseas where instruction in Sanskrit is weak or nonexistent.

 

Additional information:

It appears that the Rashtiya Sanskrit Sansthan offers degree programs by distance learning as well.

These degree programs have weird Sanskrit titles. There's a 'Shastri' degree that appears to correspond to a 3-year BA, a fourth "bridge" year, and an 'Acarya' degree that is more or less equivalent to an MA. They say that they allow foreign residents to enroll in these, but foreign students must have an Indian mailing address. (I suppose a mail forwarder would do.) Students will also have to visit India every year for 'contact' sessions which include exams, counseling and for meetings with the faculty.

Mukta Sv?dhy?ya P?tham (Institute of Distance Education)

 

From the website"

"Mukta Svādhyāya Pītham (Institute of Distance Education) as recognized by the Distance Education Council (D.E.C.) is an autonomous Institute under Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan. The study centres in campuses of Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan are called Svadhyaya Kendra. The M.S.P. launched distance mode for various traditional programmes. All the programmes offered by M.S.P. are approved by Distance Education Council, IGNOU."

To me it's always interesting to learn about these sorts of programs. In the short time I spent on the site it looks like it's primarily a set of language programs (learn Pali, Sanskrit, etc.) and that they use a kind of "Great Books" model where each course is based on a specific classical Indian text. They seem to offer very basic, starting courses and they go all the way up the line through the degree/certificate world. It could be interesting. I didn't do the currency conversion but I'm guessing it's pretty inexpensive as well.

 

I did, so you don't have to. :smile:

3-year B.A. 3300 Rs. per year. That's about $41 per year!
2-year M.A. 5,000 Rs. per year. That's about $73 per year!

As only Westerners would try to say in Sanskrit... होल्य चोव ! (Holy Cow!)

J.

 

OK, well I guess this is sort of a 'Back To The Future" thing. Sort of.

UGC again bans technical distance learning degrees

 

I think UGC is mainly concerned about Engineering/Technology programs at various levels. Naturally, mot of these programs have a hand-on or lab component.
UGC traditionally allowed and still allowing Computer Science and Applications programs (BSc, BCA, MSc, MCA etc) by distance mode.

 

Not DL but interesting background/context

India Reels Under Attacks On Bastions Of Higher Education

 

more stuff

Distance learning passing through a difficult phase in India: Rash Bihari Prasad Singh - The Economic Times

 

OK, this is a hot mess

Himgiri Zee University replies but still leaves many questions unanswered - Janta Ka Reporter

 

Allahbad University dips its toe in the DL pool

AU to start distance learning in PG courses - Times of India

 

a micro-interview re edX in India

Huge Opportunity For Online Learning In India - BW Businessworld

 

It sure is. Some clarification of the numbers and another article.

110 crore from investors = $16,535,137.30 US (1 crore = 10 million rupees)
70 crore bank loan in alleged "land scam" = $10,522,360.10 US
28 crore in fees for courses said to be unauthorized (791 students) = $4,208,944 US

So, around $30,000,000 US involved. That's pretty huge, for India.

Allegations of tax evasion, unauthorized study centres, unauthorized courses and agreements with other institutions.

Here's another article, same source. Background: Himgiri Zee Group University: Pan India fake degree and land scam - Janta Ka Reporter

Let's see how it all plays out.

J.

 

Actually, 110 crores is not a very big scam in India - it's big no doubt - but there were (and are) bigger scams than this.

The 2G scam is one example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2G_spectrum_scam