Arts and Culture & Distance Education: The Way Forward

Presentation

by

Dr Santosh Kumar Pudaruth

Senior LecturerMahatma Gandhi Institute

Mauritius

DE Policy Presentation WorkshopTertiary Education Commission

13 June 2013

Vision

To be a leading, multi-faceted educational and culturalinstitution offering full range quality and holisticeducation both at secondary and tertiary levels withspecial emphasis on Indian Culture and Arts, andcommitted to become a full-fledged degree awardingbody.

Mission

To continue to provide a sound academic and cultural base for thepreservation and promotion of Indian cultural traditions andheritage

To continue to strengthen the administrative and academic capacityto enhance teaching, learning and research at tertiary level in thefields of Indian studies, Indological Studies, Mauritian and AreaStudies, Chinese Studies, Performing Arts and Visual Arts.

To continue to instill principles and values for character buildingand good citizenship based on Gandhian Philosophy

To promote creativity so as to develop a culturally innovative nation. To collaborate with the other TEIs and organisations at the national

level in transforming Mauritius into a knowledge-based economy To ensure good governance and quality education at all levels.

Chairman - MGI & RTI Council

Director-General (MGI & RTI)

Director (Schooling) Director (MGI) RTI

Rectors Heads of Schools

(MGI Sec. Sch, 4 MGSSs (School of Indian Studies,& RTSS) School of Indological

Studies,School of Mauritian & Area

Dy Rectors & Studies,Heads of Depts (subject-wise) School of Performing Arts &

School of Fine Arts)Heads of Departments

(Seven Departments)

MA (Performing Arts: Vocal Music/Sitar; Visual Arts; Hindi/Urdu/Tamil; Mauritian Studies)

BA (Hons) (Performing Arts; Fine Arts/Digital Arts; Indian Languages; Indian Philosophy/Sanskrit; Mauritian Studies/ Chinese Studies)

Diploma (Performing Arts; Fine Arts/Digital Arts; Indian Languages; Indian Philosophy/ Sanskrit; Chinese Studies)

Certificate and Advanced Certificate Course in Performing Arts

School of Performing Arts

Department for the (6 other Departments) Decentralization of Music and Dance,Distance Education

and E-Learning

(Ex. Department of Extra Mural Studies,Distance Education and Media Material)

FADIM for some 15 members of staff of the Institute in the late 90s,

Attachment to IGNOU and Hyderabad, Attended Seminars and Workshops on DE organised by

CIIL and VCILT, Diploma, MA & PhD on DE

‘Parlons Hindustani’, a series of Hindi lessons broadcast on Radio One for almost 6 months for the general public

Audio recording of lessons in Hindi and Mandarin used in Beginners’ Course in Hindi and Mandarin

A TV programme on Tabla playing produced in collaboration with Ex MCA

Interactive CD-ROM on Hindi for Beginners (project to be extended to other Asian languages also)

Module of Mauritian Studies, ‘Overview of Mauritian History’ to be converted into DE format

An interactive CD-ROM on a glossary comprising business, legal and administrative terminologies in the Asian languages and their equivalents in English and French

Resistance to change, to shift from conventional to DE mode

Heavy workload of staff, no time to develop and design DE courses

Lack of a DE Policy at national and institutional level Only a handful of staff are trained in DE techniques Fear of losing one’s status as a teacher/lecturer Need for DE subsided as time went by Lack of in-service training programmes for staff Restricted local demands for DE courses in our subject-

areas – Practical-oriented subjects

Proposed Action Steps

Develop an Institutional DE Policy Review the status of the existing DE Section of the Institute Carry out a needs analysis locally and overseas Identify existing and new courses and modules that could be

offered through DE/mixed mode Develop partnership with other TEIs (OU &/or OUM) for DE

course design and development, and degree-awarding purpose Develop appropriate marketing strategies Develop capacity building strategies and schemes for staff Seek and look forward to having a reasonable budget for

starting DE activities

Proposed Programmes/Courses (Mixed Mode)

Short-term Course (Certificate?) on Creative Writing in the Asian Languages

Short-term Courses (Certificate?) on Appreciation of Hindustani Vocal Music/Carnatic Vocal Music/Sitar/Violin/Tabla/Mridangam/BharataNatyam/ Kathak/Kuchipudi

Short-term Course on Devotional Songs and Flute Playing

Certificate/Diploma/BA (Hons) Programme in Performing Arts (Hindustani Vocal Music/CarnaticVocal Music/Sitar/Violin/Tabla/Mridangam/BharataNatyam/ Kathak/Kuchipudi) with three exit points, (Minimum 4 years & Maximum 6 years)

MA Programme in Performing Arts (Hindustani Vocal Music/Carnatic Vocal Music/Sitar/Violin/Tabla/Mridangam/BharataNatyam/ Kathak/Kuchipudi) (Minimum one year & Maximum 2 years)

Becoming a full-fledged degree awarding body

Setting up a Centre of Excellence for Distance Education and Technology-Enhanced Material within the Institute and appointing new qualified staff for its smooth functioning

Reaching out to a larger audience in the region (Reunion Island, South-Africa etc) and elsewhere (UK, USA, Australia, etc) using ICT

Thank you very muchfor your attention