How has the evolution of Community Colleges in India been different from that in the West?
In India many non-governmental organisations and training institutions have been offering skill based programmes relevant to community needs at the Certificate and Diploma levels. Similarly, ITI`s and polytechnics offer skill-oriented programmes. Through IGNOU Community Colleges, the effort is to institutionalise the mechanism by offering multiple entry and exit levels with due certification. In the West, particularly in the US and European countries, Community Colleges have been in existence for more than 50 years and have very large and diverse programme offerings. In the US for example the total enrolment in Community Colleges is estimated to be around 12 million. These two-year colleges, the world over are known as `technical colleges`, `junior colleges`, `fachhochschulea` or folk high schools, `workers colleges` and `short-cycle institutions`. Could you elaborate on the IGNOU scheme of Associate Degree Program through Community Colleges? What are the objectives and goals that IGNO
