CHENNAI: The enrolment for distance education courses offered by University of Madras is witnessing a steep rise of over 38% this academic year. As per the statistics, as many as 29,883 people have taken admission in various programmes of the varsity’s Institute of Distance Education (IDE).
The number is likely to rise further as the deadline for submitting applications for the courses is only on October 31. In the academic year 2021-22, IDE had enrolled 21,058 students, and the year before (2020-21), the figure was just 12,000. Director of IDE, S Aravindhan, said the MBA course of the institute is much in demand. “For MBA course alone, we have received 15,000 applications so far,” he said.
According to the varsity officials, in the post-Covid-19 period, professionals have realised the value of acquiring additional skills and they are opting for courses in distance education stream to enhance their curriculum vitae. Besides, the online and offline classes offered by the IDE is also attracting many to join the courses, they said. A faculty of the university said in last two years, the varsity saw more professionals from IT industry opting for courses like MBA.
“Many are also opting to hone their English language skills. BA in English is also one of the most popular courses,” he said, adding in the last two years, there has also been a surge in demand of MSc (counselling psychology) course. The faculty said after the mental health issues people faced during the Covid, the demand for counsellors has increased.
“Be it in schools or offices, counsellors are being recruited everywhere and to cash in on the opportunity, more students are opting for the course,” he pointed out. The IDE director hinted that looking at the overwhelming response for the courses, the deadline for submitting applications is likely to be extended by another 10 days.
To further popularise the distance education programmes, the IDE is all set to launch nine online courses next year. “We are currently working on preparing study materials for the courses. Once it is complete, the courses will be launched,” he said. The IDE of the university provides 19 UG programmes and 28 PG programmes.