IGNOU’s Vice-Chancellor VN Rajasekharan Pillai has praised UK Open University. Citing its example Pillai has said that IGNOU too would give emphasis on quality research. “Many Open Universities in the world, like the UK Open University, the Open University of Netherlands and Hong Kong Open University support extensive doctoral and post-doctoral research. They have excellent research portfolios and vibrant research communities which are enhanced through collaborations with top-ranking research institutions worldwide”, said Pillai in a release issued by IGNOU. However, he has not given any roadmap for Indian model for research through distance education.

However, he has said that strict enforcement of quality criteria, following international benchmarks in research, is the only way to curb these undesirable practices. He further added that, ”We cannot take a stand that the Open University and Distance Education system will not be able to provide the facilities and ambience for High quality research. State-of –the –art research laboraties, even in sophisticated science and technology areas, are available in the Open University system”.