“Education means enabling the mind to find out that ultimate truth which emancipates us from the bondage of dust and gives us wealth not of things but of inner light, not of power but of love. It is a process of enlightenment. It is divine wealth. It helps in realisation of truth.”
Rabindranath Tagore
Education is a Chariot which takes the nation to the path for overall development. It is considered to be the powerful movement of bringing desirable changes for the betterment of the society and the world. Hence, it is indispensable to individuals and society.
India is a country which is leading in youth power globally. Unless we are self-reliant and progressive we cannot lead the knowledge society. Creating a good teaching- learning environment and bringing innovation and new ideas through open and distance mode in schooling and certificate/ diploma vocational skill- oriented courses is the need of hour.
Dr. Radhakrishnan considered the whole world as school. He believed that only through education, the human mind can be properly utilised. Therefore, the world should considered education as a single entity.
In 1986, the national policy education suggested the meaning of the ‘Open Schooling’ system for extending open learning facilities in a phased manner at secondary level all over the country as an independent system with its own curriculum and examination leading to certification. The basic idea is to-
1. Universalisation of education,
2. Establish greater equity and justice in society
3. Evolution of a learning system.
In this direction since 1991, the West Bengal Council of Rabindra Open Schooling being a ‘open school’ to cater the needs of a heterogeneous group of learners up to pre-degree level. It is the alternative for those who are deprived from getting formal education at the proper age. Hence, its mission is to promote the cause of education among millions of disadvantage learners, school dropouts, unemployed and self-employed young men and women, whole time and part-time workers of different organisations, peasants and elderly men and women, and successful learners of formal system, mentally challenged slow learners and other weaker section of the people. Thus, it aimed at providing secondary and higher secondary level of education. Even the female members from the weaker sections are coming out of all social barriers to take the unique opportunities offered by the West Bengal Council of Rabindra Open Schooling(WBCROS) and are getting themselves educated.
Open schooling is an educational approach that is flexible, accessible, and inclusive, focusing on making education available to a wide range of learners, often outside the traditional classroom. It emphasizes self-paced learning, learner autonomy, and the use of technology to facilitate learning. It aims to make education more democratic, allowing individuals to access learning opportunities regardless of their backgrounds or circumstances. Therefore, it is our duty to spread and create awareness among the people about the open schooling system, so that everybody will get the opportunity to enlighten themselves with the light of the knowledge.
