Impacts of Covid-19 on Institutions of Higher Education in Jammu and Kashmir

Nadaf, Zaffar Ahmad; Ahanger, Javid Ahmad

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-20425-8_11

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Even Moscaritolo et al (2022) pointed out that during the pandemic, learners suffered from the difficulties with mental health, including being unable to go home, financial issues, dread and academic uncertainties. Nadaf and Ahanger (2023) reported that, similar to other parts of India, teaching-learning processes were chaotic in J&K as well during the shutdown. Besides these, the inadequate number of HEIs, the poor standard of teaching-learning (TL) and the unavailability of timely support services to learners have been another problems in the area.…”

Section: Changing Teaching-learning Scenario and Support To Studentsmentioning

confidence: 64%

Learner support services at distance higher education institutions in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir

Wani,

Asgar,

Srivastava

2023

AAOUJ

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PurposeThis paper presents the features and relevance of open distance learning in the context of the socio-economic conditions of people living in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in India. Although the primary purpose of the present study was to ascertain the effectiveness of the learner support services (LSSs) and different facilities offered by the open distance learning (ODL) institutions in that specific region. On the basis of these findings, few suggestions are made for the improvement in the support services, in order to make the ODL system more responsive to the area-specific needs of the learners, especially those residing in inaccessible areas such as J&K.Design/methodology/approachA survey-based descriptive methodology was applied to conduct this study. The data extracted from primary and secondary sources were analysed to reach certain conclusions. In total, 1,200 distance learners constituted the sample of the research. A semi-structured questionnaire was designed and distributed amongst learners and academics in the region to obtain their feedback and opinion on different aspects of support services and facilities offered to ODL learners.FindingsResults of the study revealed that overall, the LSSs were satisfactory on different parameters, although they slightly varied from institution to institution. However, there was still scope for improvement in certain areas, where institutions further need to make serious efforts to address the identified gaps for improving the LSS and make teaching-learning more learner-centric in view of their specific requirements and local circumstances of J&K.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study focusses on presenting an overview of the only major components of LSS offered by ODL institutions and covers six distance education institutions (DEIs) located in different geographical locations within the limited jurisdiction of J&K. There is still scope to make focused (institution-wise) studies in a more specific situation and context to ascertain the problems in a more realistic way.Practical implicationsAlthough the study has been conducted in a specific territory of J&K, the findings reported in the paper may be equally useful for the other ODL institutions with similar characteristics or located in similar geographical locations, as support services are essential common components of institutions offering distance education programmes or courses.Originality/valueThe study is original research work conducted in the specific context of J&K, and its findings are based on the primary and secondary data collected from learners and other stakeholders of the selected ODL institutions. This work may be significant for the DEIs of J&K to get familiar with the essential components of LSS and develop a mechanism to further improve the academic and administrative support services for distance learners.

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Section: Changing Teaching-learning Scenario and Support To Studentsmentioning

confidence: 64%