University of Jammu Celebrating ‘Foundation Day’ of DD&OE

The Directorate of Distance & Online Education, University of Jammu, is celebrating its ‘Foundation Day' on March 3rd. Popularly known as DDE (Directorate of Distance Education), it was renamed as DD&OE recently as it started offering ONLINE programmes. 

The Directorate was established on 3rd March 1976 in the University of Jammu to cater for the educational requirements of those who cannot afford higher education in conventional mode. The Directorate offers Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Diploma programmes with an enrollment of around 10,000 students in each academic session. The Directorate has also established a network of learner support centres at Government Degree Colleges of Rajouri, Kathua, Udhampur, Bhaderwah, Poonch, Doda and Kishtwar to provide effective academic, administrative and information support services to distance learners at the undergraduate level.

Close to 50 years of its existence, the Directorate provided space to lakhs of students to attain various degrees. As one of the oldest distance education institutes in India, it pioneered the spread of Distance Education to far-flung areas of the Jammu region. Continuously updating its infrastructure and investing in educational technologies, it is striving to provide a hassle-free environment for students and other stakeholders. The Directorate has well-qualified faculty in most of the disciplines in which it offers degrees. Due to this, most of the academic activities are carried out by an experienced in-house faculty. 

Recently, the DD&OE has taken different initiatives to spread its educational services. It has started offering Online MA programmes in two disciplines, English and Commerce from the academic session 2023-24. This is an important milestone for the University of Jammu's academic profile since very few universities in India are offering Online Programmes. The Directorate is planning to offer more Online Programmes in forthcoming academic sessions. The Programmes and courses delivered through Online learning will maintain the same quality standards as the Conventional mode. The dynamism and flexibility of Online programmes open opportunities to creatively pool scholarly excellence from the entire globe. The Directorate is establishing an Audio-Video lab to produce high-quality multimedia content for Online learners.  The DD&OE is pooling all its energies to bring the best talent to produce e-study material and video content. It is also hiring the services of experts to provide real-time clarifications to students’ queries.  

Significantly, the commencement of Online Programmes in DD&OE is a step toward the University’s commitment to allowing students to opt for the dual degree. The UGC issued Guidelines in 2022 allowing students to simultaneously pursue two degrees. The dual degree provision fosters the unique capabilities of students who want to walk the extra mile in their pursuit of knowledge and acquire degrees in two different streams like Science and Arts, enabling the NEP goal of enriching multidisciplinary in India’s academic echo system.

Apart from Online Programmes, the Directorate of Distance and Online Education (DD&OE) has also taken many other initiatives recently. To promote women's literacy, education, and employability, a Board called “Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board” (NCWEB) has been established under the Directorate of Distance & Online Education, University of Jammu as part of its Outreaching and Community Engagement Programmes. The NCWEB acts as a platform for women interested in seeking higher education, enhancing their knowledge levels, acquiring newer skills, interested in some hands-on experience, and looking for some training to build their capacities.

The Directorate is celebrating its ‘Foundation Day’ to showcase all these efforts and achievements to large stakeholders of the Jammu region. It is also a day for its faculty and employees to reflect upon technological advancements and their impact on higher education.

This year, the Keynote Spear, Prof. R. C. Sharma, Director HRDC, Dr. B R Ambedkar University, New Delhi, an internationally renowned expert on Education Technologies, will speak on how to integrate the tools of Artificial Intelligence into online and distance education mode. 

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jammu, Prof. Umesh Rai will be the Chief Guest on the occasion and Prof. Bechan Lal, Vice Chancellor, Cluster University of Jammu as Guest of Honour. The Directorate is also honouring all its former directors, teachers and employees of the Directorate who served the Directorate.   A cultural bonanza will also be presented by the  students of the Directorate, reflecting the cultural diversity of Jammu and Kashmir. The Directorate is also undertaking a plantation drive on this occasion.