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B.A Distance Education Program – Eligibility, Course Details, Streams, Scope & Opportunities

Distance Learning B. A Programs – Eligibility, Course Details, Streams, Scope & Opportunities

Overview of Bachelor of Arts:

Bachelors of Arts aka B. A is an undergraduate course concerning subjects either in Humanities, Liberal arts or science or both. Earlier, all disciplines (including core science subjects) were studied and thought under one umbrella generalized as B.A degree. Later, Science and Arts were put under separate departments and B.A degree in science was renamed as B.sc (Bachelor of Science). Even today, old universities like Oxford University offers B. A in science (unlike regular B.A degree, these universities offer courses in core science subjects. They are nothing but what has been recognized as B.Sc in the recent years).

There is not much difference between regular B.A & Distance Learning B.A programs, the subjects, eligibility and everything else remains the same whereas the course duration will be different and the degree certificate you might be getting after completion of Distance or Correspondance B.A will be from an open university. Also, Exam centers will be allotted and you have to visit the allotted exam centers to attend the examinations.

Subjects/Curriculum:

Although the degree can be pursued in various diverse subjects, the all but ‘Liberal arts’ steals the limelight. Liberal arts is the soul of the B. A degree. It primarily deals with skills and knowledge one needs to acquire in order to take part in civic life (that includes participation in public debate, military services, etc).

The main agenda was to educate and equip people the with skills that were considered essential to living as a free man. Subjects dealing with Logic, rhetoric, and grammar were given the utmost importance as they were the basic and essential skills required to express oneself more clearly. Today, it includes literature, social science, philosophy, mathematics, and physical science.

Typically, the curriculum requires students to study 5 subjects, Out of which 1 or 2 are mandatory and others are electives (elective subjects can be changed at the beginning of a new semester/year). Mandatory and Elective subjects vary from university to university. Besides subjects relating to language, humanities, and social science various other niche subjects relevant to today’s world, like Media & Mass Communication, Business, Computer science, Informatics and technology are also given equal importance.

Streams for B.A Distance Education:

There are a total of more than 20 streams in Distance B.A programs, I will be listing some of the top ones. The course duration for all the streams mentioned below will be 3 years and the mode will Distance Education on yearly exam basis.

Distance B.A general with Life Skills
Distance B.A English with Life Skills
Distance B.A Political Science with Life Skills
Distance B.A Sociology with Life Skills
Distance B.A Homescience with Life Skills
Distance B.A Philosophy with Life Skills
Distance B.A Business Economics with Life Skills
Distance B.A History with Life Skills
Distance B.A Education with Life Skills
Distance B.A Public Administration with Life Skills
Distance B.A Police Administration With Life Skills
Distance B.A Geography with Life Skills
Distance B.A Work Education with Life Skills
Distance B.A Tourism Management with Life Skills
Distance B.A Hotel Management with Life Skills
Distance B.A Fine Arts with Life Skills
Distance B.A Music with Life Skills
Distance B.A Dance with Life Skills
Distance B.A Sports Management with Life Skills
Distance B.A Maths with Life Skills
Distance B.A Economics with Life Skills

Note:The course mentioned above may or may not be provided by some of the universities, always get all the information about the course, materials, assignments and every other detail from the open university before enrolling into a course.

Now, since you have decided which stream to pursue in B.A Distance Education program(if you have, in case if you have any doubts regarding anything related to Distance Education, you can always contact us, we are here to help you out) Let’s talk about the other important aspects of Distance Learning courses.

While I talk about these aspects I talk generally and try to cover the process that every open university adopts in regard to Distance Education Programs in the whole of India, My main focus would be on Distance Education Programs in Bangalore.

Course Material & Online learning for Distance Bachelor Of Arts Programs:

The open university you have enrolled in will provide you with all the course material that you might require such as notes and other things. The course materials would be specifically designed keeping the self-study aspect of Distance learning in mind. Course materials are sent by post from most of the universities but then again, it’s better to check how your open university provides them. Apart from the course material provided, you are as well expected to study the textbooks suggested by the open university as well.

Apart from course materials, the lectures will be streamed online on the website or the URL will be provided by the university itself. This helps student clear any doubts they have regarding the topic. The streaming will be in either live or in recorded formats. Getting your doubts cleared, submission of assignments are among the important learning activities online.

You might ask, did you just mention the submission of assignments? Well, it’s a Distance Education B.A program, how on earth are we going to submit assignments and all. I hear you, we are going to cover that in the next segment, Patience.

Assignments:

Assignments are as important as the exams themselves when it comes to Distance Learning B.A programs. Open Universities give weightage to your assignments while calculating your final grades. How much weightage is given to the assignments depends on the open university you have been enrolled in.

Coming to the actual question “How are you going to submit your assignments?”

Well, the short answer is you’ll be given a link from the open university itself where you can submit your assignments or there sometimes might be an option to post your assignments during the sessions. If you fail to submit your assignments on time, you might not qualify for the degree.

Examinations for Distance B.A Programs:

The examination centers will be allotted to you by your respective universities if fulfill the criteria’s required to appear for the exam. The main condition is that your registration for Distance B.A is valid and you have completed the minimum required time to pursue the course. You have to register for all the subjects in the first attempt in any year of study.

The best thing about Distance Learning Bachelor of Arts programs is the fact that you can appear for the examination in a course as per your choice. Irrespective of the result, you will be promoted to the next year of the program of study.

Duration of Distance Bachelor Of Arts Program:

The duration of the course depends upon the university and the subjects being studied; generally, it is 3 or 4 years. The 4-years course comes with the title ‘Bachelors with Honors’ abbreviated as ‘BA hon’, whereas the 3-years course is either called ‘Minor Bachelors’ or just B. A without any additional title to it. More often than not, the term ‘Honors’ is confused with the award ‘Honours’ that is awarded to students who graduate with distinction score, written as ‘honors Bachelor of arts degree’.

Though the course duration is 3 years for Distance B.A programs, a candidate will have a maximum time of 6 years from the year of enrolment to complete the course and get a degree(this facility is available in only some of the colleges, so you might want to check it out with college before enrolling).

Eligibility Criteria’s and Admission Procedure:

The potential candidate should have passed 10+2 examinations (or equivalent) with minimum 50%. Like every other course, the first step to is to research and shortlist the colleges that fulfill all your needs (academically, placement opportunities, financial budget, travel convenience, etc) and apply to them all as early as possible. Few colleges accept applications even before the results are out. Most top colleges set a cut off percentage to filter out students based on merit. To make the selection round even more tough and competitive, few top universities and colleges conduct their own entrance exam and several interview rounds.

Scope and Job Opportunities:

B.A, despite being called the general degree, is also the Jack of all trades. Here’s why B. Graduates can set their foot into almost any field. Their communication and soft skills are excellent. Also, they are creative and critical thinkers. More often than not, it is these skills that are given the top priority and are more important than the technical subjects studied. You may ask, what can you do with a Bachelor of Arts degree? “Anything you want.”, says a faculty of arts from the University of Prince Edward. if you don’t believe it, see it for yourself. The jobs roles mentioned below might give you a glimpse of a wide range of job opportunities open for a B. A graduate.

Media and Mass Communication: Students graduating with Media & mass communication as their specialization mostly work as journalists, copy editors, publishers, content writers, online content managers, social media managers, etc. With the growing popularity of the internet, the demand for content writing and social media management is more than ever before. Experienced social-media managers earn no less than professionals like software engineers, perhaps more than them. In today’s era, excellence and the kind of value one offers is all that matters in the uphill battle of any career for that matter.

Educational Institutes: BA graduates with specialization in a particular language are the most sought-after language teachers and tutors by educational institutes. They are also qualified to teach any liberal arts subjects. Besides teaching and tutoring, B. A graduates are also in demand for other jobs roles like student support services and counseling in schools and colleges.

Govt jobs: A graduate is eligible to work in various fields like Civil services, Railway, Postal, Navy and almost any department (except for technical) under government upon clearing the respective competitive exams conducted by the government.

Leadership and Management: The broad knowledge they possess in various fields gives them an edge of having a bird’s view. For job roles like management and executives involving leadership skills, it is very essential to grasp the bigger picture of the situation to solve complex problems. Along with excellent communication skills they possess, BA graduates fit perfectly into such job roles.

Others: There’s some or the other job opportunity for a B. A graduate in almost every field – You name it, they’ve got it! It is simply impossible to list them all here. Here’s a list of few other job roles that aren’t mentioned in the above list: Economist, Humanitarian, psychologist, translator, Tour guide or consultant, Social worker, Researcher, Policy Support, Advocate, Fund Raiser, Customer care executive, etc.

Mode of Education/Learning:

Attending regular classroom-lectures is one way of bagging a degree certificate. Let’s face it, not everybody has got that luxury of time or whatever it takes to opt for this traditional mode of education. Thanks to “Distance Learning” for coming to the rescue of those potential students (full-time/part-time employees, House-makers, Patients, those located in remote places or just anyone) who can’t afford to go to college for whatever reason. This incredible alternate education system allows the students to learn and gain all that a college-going student does. Perhaps, they get more things done by parallelly doing other productive work at the same time.

Distance education aka correspondence education, allows students to study at home (anywhere for that matter) without having to go college. It all started up by mailing study materials to students. As the technology evolved, the education system also evolved along with it. Today, the distance-learning is mostly done through the internet, highly dependent on sophisticated tools like an online Learning Management System (like Moodle and Google Classroom) and online training platforms (like Udemy and Coursera).

Pretty much everything can be learned through distance education. Unlike technical subjects, studying B. A through distance education is hassle-free and way less complicated as it doesn’t involve anything much other than study materials and a PC in working condition with high-speed internet.

Here’s a list of open universities and institutes in Bangalore that offer distance-education courses in B. A.

Karnataka State Open University
Bangalore University
GITAM University
Bright International Education Trust
Mahatma Gandhi University
Mysore Correspondence College
Sri Sai Correspondence College
Global Shiksha Institute of Education
Systems Quest Private Limited
Spark Correspondence Institute

If you think I have missed out on any information, feel free to point it out in the comments, I’ll try and update it. In case of any doubts regarding any aspect of Distance Education Programs, contact us and our career counselors will help you out.

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Bachelor of Arts Distance Education Degree

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