KATHMANDU, Jan. 12: Minister for Education and Sports Devi Prasad Ojha has said that distance education or open learning has become a necessity as an alternative way of educating the majority who are deprived of school education.

Minister Ojha expressed this view while addressing an interactive programme on distance education and open learning organised by the Education Centre at Sanothimi, Bhaktapur today.

The chief task which the Distance Education Centre is undertaking in the present situation is teacher training, he said. The centre has to be developed and activated as an institution for conducting school level education as well as towards developing infrastructure necessary for an open university, he added.

Dean at Kathmandu University Dr. Kedarnath Shrestha said distance education has special importance in an economically poor country like ours for providing the opportunity for studies while holding a job.

Similarly, member-secretary of the University Grants Commission Dr. Hom Nath Bhattarai said that the SAARC framework has pointed out the establishing of an open university as a regional university for all SAARC member states.

Education Secretary Chuman Singh Basnet expressed the view that the Distance Education Centre should play an active role in creating an open environment for the private sector in the development of open learning and Distance Education.

At the start of the programme, director of the Distance Education Centre Arjun Bahadur Bhandari said a draft on Distance Education has been prepared and discussions are being held in order to create additional opportunities for the majority of children who have been deprived of the opportunity of formal training and education.