Reaching the rural drop-outs: Capacity building through mobile learning

Abstract

This paper tries to answer two questions: How to bring the school drop-outs into the mainstream graduate study? How does mobile learning enhance the learning capacity of those learners? In India nearly half of the students enrolled in the schools dropped out and the pursuance of higher
 education is very low when compared with developed countries. Still, India remains a largest higher education sector next only to USA and China. This study explains how a preparatory course helps the rural drop-outs to qualify themselves to pursue graduate programme through
 distant education. It also explains how mobile learning helps them to enhance their capacity in learning despite their rural background and other disadvantages. This study finds a significant increase in their learning capacity and mobile learning seems to be a viable alternative where
 conventional system could not reach the rural drop-outs. This paper explains these issues out of the study conducted among the distant learners of Vinayaka Missions University located at Salem in India.