For Release April 18, 1994
RAJIV GANDHI FELLOWSHIP SCHEME INAUGURATED
NEW DELHI - Shrimati (Mrs.) Sonjia Gandhi, wife of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, inaugurated the
Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship Scheme today at ceremony held at the Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi, India. The Scheme is the latest initiative of The Commonwealth of Learning. Also present were the Hon. Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Arjun Singh; the Vice-Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University, Prof. V.C. Kulandai Swamy; and the President of the Commonwealth of Learning, Prof. James A. Maraj.
The
Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship Scheme is sponsored by The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) in association with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and with support from the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. The Fellowship Scheme was first announced at the 1993 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Cyprus by President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, on behalf of COL. President Mugabe paid tribute to the part played by the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India both in the creation of COL and in the establishment of IGNOU. Those awarded the fellowships will be designated COL/Rajiv Gandhi Fellows.
The
Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship Scheme will enable students from Commonwealth countries to register for post-graduate degree programmes and to pursue their studies at a distance, without having to leave their home countries. In the first phase of the Scheme, 100 Fellowships will be awarded to graduate students from nineteen Commonwealth developing countries/regions to enable them to enrol in the two-year Masters of Distance Education Programme offered by IGNOU in India. The courses will be delivered by distance using a mix of media supported by locally recruited counsellors. COL will meet the course fees for students selected for admission into the Programme.
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The text of the speech given at the inauguration by Professor Maraj follows:
Text of a speech prepared for delivery by:
Professor James A. Maraj,
President of The Commonwealth of Learning
on the occasion of the Inauguration of the
Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship Scheme
April 18, 1994 at the Ashoka Hotel, Delhi
Madam President
Vice Chancellor
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is a privilege for me to be here today at the inauguration of this innovative Scheme with which the name of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is associated. We are, all of us here assembled, honoured by the gracious presence of Shrimati Sonia Gandhi, and the Hon. Minister for Human Resources Development, Shri Arjun Singh.
Many of you will know that one of the principal reasons that lay behind the creation of The Commonwealth of Learning was the fact that, with the introduction of high economic fees in the metropolitan centres, students from developing countries, who normally went to such centres for higher education, could no longer afford to do so in anything like sufficient numbers. As an alternative strategy, it was thought that courses should be taken to students in their home countries by making use of the techniques and technologies associated with learning at a distance. Over the past five years some progress has been made in that regard and a variety of related activities has been initiated in various parts of the Commonwealth ranging from training course developers and other specialists, through licensing and leasing materials, on to installing and strengthening delivery networks with telecommunications facilities. And the programmes which have been developed have also been extended to include, not just higher education, but other levels and sectors starting with literacy and encompassing continuing professional education.
In conceptualising and implementing the programmes so far, the emphasis has been on developing capabilities locally so that within "home grown" institutions, so to speak, the needs can be met and the skills and competencies required for the social and economic development, obtained in the local situation. Such efforts will continue but it is evident that not all the programmes required can be mounted locally, especially in the smaller and less developed countries, and that access to more highly developed institutions abroad had to be provided, at least, for certain specialisations. It was thought that if some institutions in the developing world could be identified as "centres of excellence" perhaps those needs which could not yet be met locally may be satisfied through such "centres of excellence."
At the same time that these plans were being laid, it was becoming increasingly clear that the demands for increased access, for equity and for good quality education and training, were growing rapidly and that those demands as well as the need for upgrading and updating those who had qualified earlier could not be met by the conventional systems, using traditional approaches only. Moreover, many of those who had earlier missed out and, especially women, now wanted opportunities to improve and enrich their lives and contribute to national development. Distance education appeared an attractive option but in most places there were not enough people skilled and experienced in creating and establishing open learning/distance education systems, in implementing them and in delivering high quality programmes through these modalities.
The programme we are about to inaugurate today picks up the three strands to which I have just referred. Students from overseas will pursue courses, not available in their own countries, through the Indira Gandhi National Open University (a COL designated Centre of Excellence in a developing country) level. They will initially focus on a masters degree in distance education thus building up the cadre of people required to enable distance education techniques and approaches to be employed in a wide variety of programmes aimed at promoting social and economic development, be they scientific and technological, professional or in the realm of adult and continuing education.
In the first phase, 100 fellowships will be made available to students from the following countries: Bangladesh; Barbados; Eastern Caribbean States (Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis); The Gambia, Ghana; Guyana; Maldives; Mauritius; Nigeria; Papua New Guinea; Solomon Islands; Tanzania; Tonga; and Zimbabwe.
The academic aspects of the programme will be delivered by IGNOU, through its Institute for Research and Development with COL taking responsibility for the local arrangements in concert with local institutions. Assessment and certification will be IGNOU's prerogative. In due course, as the programme develops, other fields of study, other countries and other institutions will be added as additional resources become available.
I would have done less than justice, Madam President, if I did not publicly thank Vice Chancellor Professor Kulandai Swamy and his colleagues for their generosity and helpfulness in getting this scheme underway. They did not seek to make a profit in monetary terms and will not do so, but they agreed, as a gesture of Commonwealth Co-operation and as a tangible expression of sharing their expertise with other developing countries, to embrace the Scheme. We are also indebted to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and to Dr. Abid Hussain, of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies for his enthusiastic endorsement of the Scheme, for a measure of financial support and, most of all, for securing the necessary approvals including your own, Madam President, for associating the young leader's revered name with this imaginative endeavour.
When President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe announced the Scheme, at our request, at the Heads of Government Meeting in Cyprus, it was warmly commended by the Leaders. President Mugabe recalled his own first hand experience of obtaining several degrees at a distance while he was imprisoned (or more euphemistically, detained) and remarked that it was a fitting tribute to Rajiv Gandhi and his unbounded faith in education. We who are gathered here know that the late Prime Minister played a key role in the creation of COL and in the establishment of IGNOU. Indeed, the story is told that when he announced India's generous pledge at the Vancouver Summit, his officials sitting behind him thought he had misread his brief and put in one zero too many! India has renewed the original pledge made by Mr. Gandhi and we are grateful to you Mr. Minister and the present Government led by Prime Minister Narasimha Rao for your continuing commitment and support.
On behalf of our new Chairman, Dr. Ian Macdonald and our Board of Governors, I am pleased to present to you for transmission to IGNOU a cheque in the sum of C$40,000 to cover the fees for the first 100 fellowships and while it may be more blessed to give than to receive, COL has itself received so much from your Ministry and from IGNOU that I hope you will permit us this small measure of reciprocity.
And finally, as a token of our appreciation, as a gesture to mark this occasion, indeed, as a mark of our affection and profound esteem may I, Madam President, with deep respect ask you to accept this small memento from us all in commemoration of this event.
The Commonwealth of Learning is an international organisation established by Commonwealth Governments in September 1988, following the Heads of Government Meeting held in Vancouver in 1987. It is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada and is the only Commonwealth intergovernmental organisation located outside of Britain.
COL has a mandate to create and widen opportunities for learning, through Commonwealth co-operation, with a particular emphasis on utilising the potential of distance education and the application of communication technologies to education. The overall aim of the organisation is to help strengthen the capacities of Commonwealth member countries to develop the human resources required for their economic and social development.
April 18, 1994
For further information contact:
Dave Wilson,
Public Affairs Officer
The Commonwealth
of Learning
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Canada, V6H 3X8
Tel: (604) 775 8200
Fax: (604) 775 8210