Studying Political Science under Open and Distance Learning: Students' Support Services in Indian Universities

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The present publication is a revised version of the outcome of a research project entitled Teaching Political Science through Open and Distance Learning: A Comparative Study of Students' Support Services in Indian Universities. It is one of the pioneering attempts in exploring the teaching- learning process of a particular academic discipline being taught under distance mode. It may help one to understand not only the present scenario but also to identify the gaps between the promises and performances in this regard. In spite of certain limitations in absence of a broad-based empirical investigation, it definitely brings out the current status of the teaching-learning process in the discipline and provides 'clues' which may be regarded as 'eye opener' to many among us. The fruits of the research may also be found very helpful to other social science disciplines and to the practitioners of the ODL as a whole. As such, the present work may be regarded as the starting point to refurbish all our attempts at quality assurance in ODL in India particularly in the field of social sciences and be treated as helpful to the students, teachers, researchers and policy-makers in general.

Dr Debnarayan Modak (b.1956) is presently Professor of Political Science at Netaji Subhas Open University (NSOU). He had been the Director, School of Humanities & Social Sciences and School of Social Sciences respectively for nearly six years. Earlier, he taught Political Science at Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, for about eighteen years. Dr Modak was also engaged in teaching Political Science at Nabadwip Vidyasagar College, Nadia, for almost a decade. Major Publications :Dynamics of National Question in India: The Communist Approach (1942-64); Contemporary India: State Formation and Political Process; রাজনীতি ও ভারত ভাবনা বিবিধ প্রসঙ্গ: ভারতীয় সমাজ ও রাজনীতি: জাতীয়তা, সাম্প্রদায়িকতা এবং দলিত প্রসঙ্গ; সাহিত্য ও সমাজ প্রগতি বঙ্গ মণীষার আলোকে। Edited Volumes Terrorism: Concepts and Problems; Open and Distance Learning: Future Perspectives (Anirban Ghosh); Women in Contemporary India: Aspects of Participation and Empowerment (Eyasin Khan); পরশমনির প্রদীপ তোমার (দ্বিভাষিক রবীন্দ্র শ্রদ্ধার্ঘ্য) [Manan Kumar Mandal]; Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Memorial Lecture Series, Volume I (Chandan Basu); Teaching Social Sciences through Open and Distance Learning: A Twenty-First Century Perspective(Chandan Basu) [Names of Co-editors figured in brackets]

The volume entitled Studying Political Science under Open and Distance Learning: Students' Support Services in Indian Universities is the outcome of a UGC-DEB sponsored research project entitled Teaching Political Science through Open and Distance Learning: A Comparative Study of Students' Support Services in Indian Universities. It covers not only the national level open university, viz Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the State Open Universities (SOUs), but also the Distance Education Directorates (DDEs) of conventional universities. For the purpose of delimitations of study, only the DDEs of West Bengal are included. Be it noted that, among the five DDEs, viz DDEs of Vidyasagar University, University of Burdwan, Rabindra Bharati University, University of Kalyani and North Bengal University, the DDE of University of Kalyani is excluded as it does not offer any course on Political Science through distance mode.

Considering the very scope of the present study, as well as the availability of time and resources, it may be pointed out, at the very outset, that no attempt any broad-based empirical investigation. As such, has made for the researcher had to depend extensively on the information available in the websites of the respective universities, the available documents-both primary and secondary-and also on the data received directly through the administration of a structured questionnaire. The researcher is very much grateful to those university authorities who have extended their co-operation in the process of data collection.

In this connection, it may be said that several attempts were made to develop collective wisdom in order to fulfil the research objectives and in the process a National level Seminar on a broader theme Teaching Social Sciences through Open and Distance Learning: A Twenty First Century Perspective was organised on 03 March, 2017 as one of the functional aspects of the research project. An edited volume with the same title was also published earlier (NSOU, Kolkata, 2017) with the contributions made by eminent scholars, ODL functionaries and others.