India, Jan. 29 -- In that watershed year of 1989, I was posted in Kashmir with a key education responsibility on my shoulders.

Back then, Indira Gandhi National Open University was still a new idea in the country. But the concept of an open university felt right straight away.

Education that came to people, instead of asking them to leave home, seemed designed with places like Kashmir in mind.

But even at that early stage, I sensed that the idea was not reaching the valley in the way it was meant to.

IGNOU had been created in November 1986 with a clear social intent. It spoke about reaching people who had stayed outside formal higher education because of distance, money, or circumstance.

It began with diplomas in management and di...