Distance Education and Open Learning in a Developing Country like Bangladesh: Philosophy and Reality

Distance education is thought to be an effective way of educating people of all sections in society. The delivery system in distance education is different than that in the conventional on-campus teaching. However, distance education is considered as close substitute for the conventional on-campus teaching keeping in mind the premises that different types of media (print, audio, video, telephone, computerbased communication system, etc.) are synchronized in the delivery process in distance education and open learning system. Of course, in this age of information super high-way, nobody can challenge the possibility that effective and quality education can be offered through different types of modern media - without any real class room. Real class room can be substituted by virtual class room environment. Now a question frequently strikes our mind: "Is the realities in the developing countries like Bangladesh, where access to modern technologies is very limited, meet the philosophy of distance education?? This paper aims at examining whether there is any gap between the philosophy of the distance education and the reality in the developing countries like Bangladesh and identify the factors lies behind this gap. Then suggests some measures to be taken to minimize the gap. In the paper, we have analysed the data derived from a survey on the Secondary School Certificate programme of Bangladesh Open University.