Specially Abled Students Excel In Online Courses: Report

College Vidya, an online platform that compares distance and online colleges & universities, has recently surveyed over ten thousand students shedding light on the achievements of specially-abled students in online education. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the survey found that with every ten thousand students enrolling for online courses 11.3 per cent identify themselves as differently abled.

The survey further revealed that programmes like BCom, BBA, MCom & MBA are these students' top four choices, along with new age courses like Cyber Security, Data Analytics, Generative AI and others. It also highlighted the lack of infrastructure for specially-abled students in regular colleges and thus most of them opt for online education which offers a more viable option to them, providing a platform that accommodates their needs and fosters inclusive learning environments.

The survey also revealed that most of these students hail from tier I and II cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and others, reflecting online education initiatives' widespread reach and impact. Additionally, the male-to-female ratio among differently-abled students stands at approximately 70:30, indicating that there is a lot of scope for female learners who can benefit from online education.

One of the most encouraging findings is the high rate of course completion, with nearly 92 per cent of specially-abled students successfully finishing their online courses. It also showcased that the implementation of financial aid and inclusive learning materials is one of the most important reasons for them to take up online higher education.