Mumbai: Students who have not secured admissions anywhere can apply to the Institute of Distance and Open Learning (IDOL), claim authorities of the Mumbai University (MU). This year, over 67,000 students have secured admissions for various undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) programmes at IDOL.
Also this year, the university extended twice, the deadline for admissions to IDOL, pushing it from August to September-end. Vinod Malale, spokesperson of IDOL, said, "We want to help students who are still trying to secure admissions. We extended the deadline because we received a large number of applications this year." Over 42,000 students applied for commerce and management programmes.
"We want to encourage students who are are working and want to simultaneously pursue their education," claim teachers. Dani Merchant, a teacher, said, "Students can pursue their education through correspondence at IDOL and continue working at the same time. They just need to take the examination and get that degree."
Low fees and flexibility in pursuing an IDOL degree are the most helpful factors, students reveal. Lara Akbar, a student, said, "The fees for various programmes are comparatively low. We can pursue a two-year master's degree and complete PG with minimum expense."
This is how courses should be designed, students feel. Karen Tilak, a student said, "Some of the full-time courses are expensive. This discourages us from pursuing higher education. There should be more scholarships for working professionals seeking higher education."
