Relevance of Open Distance Education: A Retrospection

This paper examines the concept of quality assurance (QA) from different aspects and makes an attempt to deal with some critical issues related to QA in distance education based on theoretical understanding. This study analyses various issues and also suggests certain parameters of service performance indicators for ensuring QA in the system. This study concludes that quality should govern both the ‘spirit and essence’ of what is expected of the institution, how it performs and what is actually achieved in the process of providing education. ODL institutions must bear these facts in mind while developing its programmes. It attempts to throw light on how QA and governance practices can be improved. As QA is increasingly becoming an important aspect of higher education, institutions would be mainly preoccupied with developing QA policies and systems comparable to international standards. Hence, they may rely on external expertise to do so. Efforts are also to be made to find answers to questions like why do people go for distance education, is it worth doing distance learning, etc.