Tagore’s Innovation in Open and Distance Learning System: Lok Siksha Samsad

Rabindranath Tagore’s Vishwa Bharati, established in 1901, is a well-known innovation in the education system. What is perhaps less known is his innovation in the open and distance learning (ODL) system. A few years into his establishing Vishwa Bharati, he realized the pressing need to take education to the doorsteps of the unreached. He observed, “Universities here are like a lighted railway compartment in a train passing through the countryside which is enveloped in darkness.” His goal was to empower those people, who never had the opportunity to get a formal education, with necessary knowledge and skills. In 1939, he was inspired by the ideas to establish the Lok Siksha Samsad or the Peoples’ Education Council, which was the foundation of the first open ODL system in India and perhaps in the world. He ensured that the students of this ‘non-formal’ system received all the educational facilities necessary for their knowledge and skill development through a network of the resources available at Vishwa Bharati and Sriniketan. This paper draws upon some of the original articles of Tagore to understand his philosophy behind this innovation. The paper further attempts to elucidate the innovative aspects of Lok Siksha Samsad with reference to the parameters of innovation, such as novelty, meeting specific needs, feasibility, scalability and cost effectiveness. The findings of this paper are expected to throw light on the potential of Tagore’s innovation to introduce new ideas and practices into the present ODL system for skill development.