In the year 1980 renowned Indian economist and philosopher Amartya Sen introduced one of the most imperative ideas in the field of human development i.e., capability approach. The focus of capability approach is that every individual has a right to be happy and happiness is a function of his/her capability. Thus, rather than placing sole emphasis on the availability of means to a good life, identifying, developing and utilising an individual's capability to build a life that they value should be the focal point. Thus, in this paper I attempt to correlate Sen’s capability approach with the rapidly evolving significance of open schooling and remote schooling in India. In this study, I contrast the freedom, autonomy, and choices experienced by the students in traditional classrooms vis a vis in open learning environments and online learning platforms. I assert that the flexibility offered by virtual schools and online schools helps the students in enhancing their capability thereby living a life of choice and not of compulsion as proposed by Sen in his theory of capability approach. This paper also talks about the significance of National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) in India which offers immense flexibility to the students regarding the selection of the subjects and the pace of study. Academicians and parents frequently contest the efficacy of open and virtual schooling. In this context, one of the paper's most significant conclusions is to urge parents and students to be open-minded about online and virtual learning environment.

Authors:
Heena Kapoor, Sri Sathya Sai University for Human Excellence, India

About the Presenter(s)
My name is Heena and I have been born and brought up in Delhi, India. I started my academic journey in the year 2012 after completing M.Sc. Economics from Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai. I am a working mother of two.

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