The OUSL, always pioneering change for the better
View(s):The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, but due to COVID-19 commemorating this milestone has been rather subdued. The Education Times team got the opportunity to have a candid chat with Prof. S. A. Ariadurai, Vice Chancellor and Senior Professor at the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL); regarding the progress and development of the university and how best they are tackling this global pandemic in order to continue educating its students.
Prof. S. A. Ariadurai, Vice Chancellor Pic credit. Duleep Samarasinghe
The OUSL pioneered the distance learning efforts in the country, which functions through a network of Regional and Study Centres, with knowledge disseminated through multiple media.
According to Prof. Ariadurai the university is one that is dynamic, keeping par with the technological developments taking place in the education sector always looking at avenues to expand learning opportunities provided. The OUSL provides online support to their students through their Learner Management System, video conferencing which is linked to the Regional and Study Centres across the country, state-of-the-art library facilities with e-services and access to numerous journals, and open educational resources.
Prof. Ariadurai notes that the annual conference organized by the Asian Association of Open Universities was to take place in Sri Lanka this year – “The conference was to be the pinnacle of our celebrations but was postponed to June of 2021, cutting down on what was initially planned due to the unfortunate circumstances”. He went on to note that the OUSL is one of the founder members of this association which was started in 1986. Scholars from across Asia will participate in this conference to share the progress of the universities, good practices and discuss what the future holds and how best they can move forward, and distributing awards for the universities which have performed well. Despite the difficulties faced all around, the university has taken steps to go green in order to commemorate its 40th anniversary.
The OUSL has added new courses to its plethora of already existing study options in the last two years: These include-
Bachelors in Psychology Bachelors in Library Sciences Bachelors in Youth and Community Development Masters in Science for Energy Engineering Mastersin Structural Engineering and
Bachelors in Primary Education Teaching.
Getting enrolled at the OUSL has its unique advantages. Students have the opportunity to study while employed therefore enabling them to a career of lifelong learning and advancement, students can study at their own pace, non-requirement of prior qualification for entry at Foundation level enabling anyone above 18 years to pursue their higher studies.
Further, the university recognizes prior qualifications the candidate holds through credit exemptions and credit transfers, multiple entry and exit levels, paving the way for students to have opportunities unlike many other universities. The flexibility in the curriculum promotes acquiring of knowledge, where learning does not necessarily have to take place at the university premises but through the medium the student prefers with endless online support.
In discussing the benefits and difficulties of distance learning, and online education, Prof. Ariadurai stated that there’s always two sides to anything. While the benefits include flexible study methods, cost effectiveness and accessibility, there are difficulties too which is not common only to Sri Lanka. In terms of accessibility, owning a device and having the necessary means to join an online classroom is limited in the rural areas of Sri Lanka; across the country only around 40% of students have this privilege. Accessing the internet is costly through any network offered and having frequent power outages in several areas in the country seems to be another difficulty.
Apart from technological challenges, there are incompetency difficulties as online teaching is new and mastering the art of delivery is one that is yet to be achieved. However, the OUSL tries to address many of these issues through various interventions such as providing voice and internet access to students through the computer centres situated in the Regional and Study centres of the university which are there in every district of Sri Lanka.
This led to Prof. Ariadurai noting how Sri Lanka can improve the system of education by establishing a content repository, like most countries, which will allow a student, no matter where he or she is in the countrycould access. These resource materials or online courses which are developed by the best subject specialist in the area of study and can be made available in the system for all the universities in the country, in other words a National Content Repository.
Prof. Ariadurai then went on to note that the members of the Presidential Task Force for Educational Services are developing proposals and plans to reform the way education is offered in the country, in the hopes of improving and getting the system up to date, moving away from age old methods of testing knowledge of students and updating curriculums in schools.
When we stated how we were looking forward to these changes, Prof. Ariadurai mentioned a quote from C. S. Lewis noting that “progress means not just changing, but changing for the better” which made the Education Times team, look at The OUSL with much deeper admiration for always being a pioneer of change, for the better.
Devuni Goonewardene