The distance learning market in India had 5.42 million open and distance learning (ODL) enrollments in 2014, which is expected reach 8.79 million ODL enrollments by 2019, growing at a CAGR of 10.16 percent.
Technavio analysts have identified three key reasons why distance learning is becoming a popular choice in India:
Convenient and Quality Education
The employment sector in India is highly competitive with a low portion of fresh graduates adept with industry standard employment skills. As a result, many employees are seeking industry-specific certification programs to enhance their professional skills.
These programs offered in the distance medium enable employees to pursue courses conveniently without study hampering their jobs. These programs are also beneficial for people living in remote areas.
In addition, so-called twining education programs have gained importance over the past few years. Under these programs two institutes collaborate to offer courses at a subsided cost compared to the price of regular courses.
For instance, a MoU was established between Sikkim Manipal University and Edinburgh Napier University, UK to offer the MBA and similar degrees to the former’s students, wherein MBA degree holders of SMU-DDE can opt for an additional degree from Edinburgh Napier University in one-third of the time and at one-third of the expense.
Increased Government Initiatives
The GOI is increasingly taking measures to regulate the standard of education imparted through distance learning and to encourage the widespread introduction of distance learning programs in universities across the country. The government has introduced the following programs to improve the standard of education:
- Meta-universities: the government introduced the concept of meta-universities in 2012. Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi University, JNU, and IIT are a part of this concept in Delhi. The concept was introduced to exploit resources more effectively. The institutions share their learning resources by using innovative technologies to enable students to study via flexible learning platforms
- NPTEL: this project was introduced and funded by the MHRD in India to provide e-learning facilities for the engineering, science, management, and humanities streams. This project is carried out by seven IITs of India, the IISC Bangalore, and other premier institutions as a collaborative project. The project aims to enhance the quality of education by developing curriculum-based video and web courses. Currently, the faculty of the institutes involved in this project is offering 70 courses including BTech, MTech, and Ph.D. programs. Moreover, 140 courses are declared to be in the preparation stage and will be distributed via the internet
- SWAYAM: a MOOC platform launched by the GOI in 2014, is an online education initiative that provides cost-effective and quality education. The courses are available for free, especially for underprivileged students. This initiative aims to provide quality and affordable distance education to 10 million students from different locations and backgrounds. Currently, SWAYAM offers three courses: quantum mechanics and quantum computation offered by UC Berkeley, and two courses on an introduction to computer programming and on thermodynamics by IIT Bombay
Continuous Demand from Corporate Sector
Advances in technologies and competitive business scenarios have led to a surge in the demand for efficient training and learning programs in the corporate sector. Employees are seeking online and distance learning programs to enhance their professional skills. Several organizations have adopted certain distance learning courses such as e-learning for employees to reduce training costs.
Distance learning also helps international organizations deploy training programs across geographies through the online platform. These factors boost the demand for distance learning programs in the corporate sector, thereby propelling the growth of the distance learning market.
The demand for distance learning in this sector has also enabled partnerships between companies and institutes offering distance learning courses. For instance, SCDL offers several distance education programs to IBM, HP, Cognizant, Infosys, and Deloitte through its Corporate Business Administration program. These collaborations also boost the demand for distance learning programs.
