Maharashtra: Distance edu varsities see dip in admissions

A staggered admission process that has lasted over six months and unemployment due to the economic slowdown over the past 11 months has led to a significant impact on those who want to continue their studies through distance education.

The Institute of Distance and Open Learning (IDOL), the distance learning wing of University of Mumbai (MU), recently recorded a drop in admissions for the July session of the 2020-21 academic year. IDOL’s admission process has been delayed, and the University Grants Commission (UGC) finally allowed IDOL to begin the process in October 2020. One reason for the delay was that the summer 2020 exams could only be held in September and October, when they were conducted online across state public universities.

From 67,000 students enrolled in the 2019-20 academic year, the number has come down to 58,500 admissions for the 2020-2021 academic year. “Confusion over the status of summer 2020 examinations followed by delay in conducting admissions for the new academic year together seemed to have discouraged some students from opting for distance education this year,” said an IDOL official.

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) received more pre-admission registrations for their July session compared to last year. However, the eventual confirmed admissions were lower — from 543,000 students for the July 2019-20 session, IGNOU has 508,000 students for the July 2020-21 session. Admissions for the January session is currently in process across distance learning universities. “There has been a slight dip in admissions for the July session this year compared to the July session in the last academic year. While there can’t be one specific reason for this drop, we have received inquiries and emails from interested candidates who have shared that their current financial status is discouraging them from opting for a degree this year,” said a senior official from IGNOU.

“We hope the situation changes for good soon,” he added.

Several sectors have been hit by the economic slowdown, leading to job losses as well as loss of regular income. Several education institutes had to introduce the option of fee payment in instalments to their students in order to ensure that students don’t drop out of completing their education due to lack of funds.

“With no job in hand, most youngsters are currently focussed on finding a job first, and not thinking about pursuing education. This could be one reason for the drop in admissions in distance education universities,” said the official from IDOL.

As per information shared by the admissions department of Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU), 620,000 and 627,000 students enrolled in 2018-19 and 2019-20 academic years, respectively. However, for the 2020-21 academic year, the enrolment stands at 572,000.

“Distance education is mostly opted for by those who have a job and wish to continue their undergraduate or postgraduate degree in a way that does not hamper their work schedule. However, the fact that classes across colleges and universities have been online since last year, there’s a good chance that students opted for regular colleges over distance education this time round,” said Professor Ashoke Vibhakar, a faculty member of YCMOU.