Download - Open Letter June 2010

IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JUNE 15, 20102

In just four years, IGNOU has, in the face of stiff competition fromboth public and private institutions, almost trebled the number ofstudents on its rolls from 1.1 million to 3 million. Today, we are

the largest university in the world — a fact confirmed by aWikipedia listing of 61 top universities in the world by studentenrollment. Pakistan’s Allama Iqbal Open University is a distantsecond at 1.8 million students, followed by Iran’s Islamic AzadUniversity with 1.3 million. B.R. Ambedkar University, the oldestopen university in India, comes in at No. 9 with 450,000 students.

A close perusal of the list provides some interesting insights.There is only one private institution in the Top 10, and only two in

the Top 20. All the institutions in theTop 10 are from developing nations,barring the University System of Ohio in the U.S. And, most importantly, thereare as many as four open universities atthe head of the list, underlining the factthat the Open and Distance Learning(ODL) system is the best way fordeveloping countries with largepopulations to bridge the knowledgedivide. As a system, ODL is not onlyflexible and innovative but, because it

provides economies of scale, it is also the cheapest way to takehigher education to the largest number of people, many of whomlive on the margins of society with little or no access toconventional education.

Indeed, flexibility and innovation have had a lot to do withIGNOU’s emergence as the world’s largest university. In these pastfour years, we have been able to reach out to multitudes of learnersbecause of our ability to forge unconventional and rewardingalliances. We have collaborated with public and private institutionsin education at the state and national levels, as well as othersectors such as technology, health, IT, management and science.In the social sectors too, we have had fruitful collaborations likethe one with local Panchayati Raj institutions.

Such tie-ups have, among other things, allowed us to optimallyuse state-of-the-art facilities available with these institutions thatwould otherwise have remained under-utilised. It has allowed us toreach the unreached, skilled and unskilled and take education tothe doorsteps of every learner.

There are huge challenges ahead. Having the largest number ofstudents on our rolls is one thing, but it is quite another to ensurethat these students receive the kind of quality education that theydeserve. At IGNOU, we have set out to do this by innovatively usingtechnology and evolving effective management informationsystems to strengthen our processes. We have been on adecentralisation drive so as to ensure that activities that arecrucial to our students are located closer to where they are. Overthe past couple of years, our Student Services Division has beenleading the charge in decentralising the examination process. Thedistribution of study material is now undertaken by the RegionalCentres. And the examination process itself is being computerised.

Clearly, harnessing technology to our purposes is the only way inwhich we will be able to deliver the kind of quality education andskills development that are the need of the hour for India. We areon our way, but a lot more remains to be done.

4

CONTENTS

Knitting A Future

The German Edge

IN FOCUS: The IGNOU-IAM Fashion and DesignManagement Centre andATDC-IGNOU CommunityCollege Schemes are setto create an industry-ready managerial cadrefor the growing apparelindustry

NATURE ZONE ................8

NEWS UPDATES............12

REGIONAL UPDATES .....14

STUDENTS’ CORNER.....15

MILESTONES ................16

GYAN DARSHAN............16

10 SPOTLIGHT: IGNOU, Goethe Institut and University of Vienna, Austria, launch Diploma inTeaching German (DTG) as a Foreign Language indistance mode to bridge the demand-supply gap

IGNOU OPEN LETTER is Printed by Printek Grafix, 148-D,Pocket-F, GTB Enclave, Delhi-110093 and

Published by Ravi Mohan, Chief Public Relations Officer, Indira Gandhi National Open University,

Maidan Garhi. New Delhi 110068.Ph: +91-11-29535924-32; +91-11-29535062-65

Fax: +91-11-29535933; E-mail: [email protected]

Managing Editor: Ravi MohanPhotos: Rajesh Sharma/Amlan Paliwal

Advisory Council:Prof P.R. Ramanujam,

Prof Latha Pillai

Design and Production: IANS Publishing

www.ianspublishing.com

FROMTHE VICE CHANCELLOR

V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai

IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JUNE 15, 2010 3

NEWINSTITUTE

IGNOU and UNESCO’s SouthAsia Regional Office in NewDelhi are going to organise a

Science Olympiad to test thescholastic aptitude of thestudents in the SAARC region.Those enrolled in class XI orequivalent in other SAARCcountries can apply.

“Higher Secondary studentsenrolled in Indian Boards ofEducation or equivalent in the Boards inSouth Asian countries — Afghanistan,Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal,

Pakistan and Sri Lanka — havean opportunity to win IGNOU-UNESCO accredited meritcertificates, prizes and awards,”said Vice Chancellor Prof VNRajasekharan Pillai.

“Students who have scored aminimum of an average of 70percent in Mathematics,Physics, Chemistry and Biologyin the 10th standard or

equivalent are eligible to participate,”announced Dr PT Manoharan, Sir CVRaman Chair Professor in IGNOU and

former VC of Madras University andfaculty of IIT-M and IIT-K.

School principals/authorities arerequested to forward the applications tothe students along with a demanddraft/credit card authorisation of Rs 50.

The successful participants willreceive Certificates of Merit, medals,cash prizes and awards. Top 1,000participants will be given IGNOU-UNESCOaccredited merit certificates.

For details, visit: http://www.ignou.ac.in/ramanchair and www.unesco.org/newdelhi/science olympiad.�

Olympiad to motivate children’s sci-math learning

With the aim of takingvocational education andtraining to people living Belowthe Poverty Line (BPL) in six

backward states in eastern India, IGNOUhas formally launched the RegionalInstitute of Vocational Education andTraining (RIVET).

It was inaugurated by Union Minister ofLabour and Employment MallikarjunKharge on May 27. RIVET is a jointcollaboration between IGNOU and Councilfor Integrated Tribal Research andAwareness Programme (CITRAP), an NGOworking for the welfare of SC/STs inPhulbani in Orissa’s Kandhamal district.

RIVET was created in April 2009 and isbeing coordinated by Prof Pandav Naik ofIGNOU. It provides vocational programmesin both online and offline mode, withjudicious use of technology, to the mostbackward in the country. As part of theinitiative, 16 IGNOU programmes havebeen identified for offer to students.

These will be vocational courses, whichwill supplement the nine programmes incomputers and IT, which are already beingjointly run by IGNOU and SAHAJ, an NGO.

According to Prof Naik, RIVET ismandated to take employability-focusededucation to the people living in the mostbackward regions of the country.

The programmes range from computersand IT, Master's in Tourism Managementand Hospital Administration, Bachelor’s

Degree Programmes in Nursing, FashionDesign, Textile Design, Retailing, etc.

It also offers PG Diploma and DiplomaProgrammes in Community Radio, IT, NGOManagement and Business-ProcessOutsourcing, among others. “The jointendeavour between IGNOU and CITRAP isin line with the National Agenda of SkillsDevelopment,” Kharge said. Srikant Jena,Minister of State for Fertiliser andChemicals, said, “Skills development is

the first step out of the poverty grind... Weneed to train more trainers.”

“In this decade of Innovation, IGNOUtargets to provide skill–based education to50 crore youth by 2020. Vocationaleducation is very important for improvingthe economic condition of the country’sbackward community. IGNOU has beenlooking at skill development in a holisticmanner,” said Vice Chancellor Prof V.N.Rajasekharan Pillai.!

Union Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge inaugurating the RIVET in New Delhi.

RIVET set to train underprivilaged

Dr PT Manoharan

For Jayetta Rohilla, a student at theIndian Apparel Management (IAM),the experience means a lot, as ithas sharpened her thinking abilities

and taught her innovative ways to developnew ideas. Dishank Chibber, anotherstudent at the IAM, promoted by theApparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC)Society for Human ResourceDevelopment, feels that the cutting-edgetraining sessions at the institute havegiven him direction, helping him toexplore new horizons in the burgeoningIndian fashion and apparel industry.

The premier institute of apparelmanagement has made its mark as anindustry-driven institution that offers

professional programmes with promisingcareers in the apparel industry. It hasbeen conceptualised to provide cutting-edge education needed for managing theapparel industry in new, competitive era.

What is the role of IGNOU, the world’slargest university, in all this?

“IGNOU recognises the need to havemultiple models of delivery that canrespond to different situations and indifferent contexts. The challenge is tomerge right and relevant skills withacademia in as many sectors as possibleand the textile and apparel sector holdsout great promise in this regard,” says Vice Chancellor Prof V.N.Rajasekharan Pillai.


Knitting A FutureINFOCUSThe IGNOU-IAMFashion and DesignManagement Centreand ATDC-IGNOUCommunity CollegeSchemes are set tocreate an industry-ready managerialcadre for the growingapparel industry

With this vision of inclusive growth inmind, wherein learners in remote areastoo can take shelter under the umbrellaof higher education with comfort, IGNOUhas joined hands with the IAM to offer arange of vocationally-relevant Bachelor’sand Master’s Programmes that willprovide employment avenues in therapidly growing export and domesticapparel sectors to a large number ofyouth.

Birth of an ideaThis hand-shaking process gave birth tothe IGNOU-IAM Fashion and DesignManagement Centre to prepare nextgeneration professionals who wouldredefine the scope of fashion, apparel,lifestyle, retail and other allied sectors.

From the July/August academicsession, IGNOU will award the B.A./M.A.

degrees offered by the IAM. Not only this,the University and the AEPC haveinitiated the ‘ATDC-IGNOU CommunityCollege’, where Certificates, Diplomasand Associate Degrees will be awardedby IGNOU at AEPC’s Apparel TrainingDesign Centres.

“The AEPC, that has 58 ATDCs acrossthe country, has already started 12Community Colleges and plans to add 13more by January 2011,” informs Dr DarlieKoshy, Director General and CEO,IAM/ATDC.

“Firstly, the idea is to form a bondbetween the world’s largest universitywith the IAM — the multi-varsity ofindustry — to create a new genre ofmerchandisers, apparel productionmanagers and retail managers, etc.”

“Secondly, people associated with thevarious verticals in the $47-billion textileindustry, like logistics, shipping, etc.,would be able to upgrade their skillsthrough IGNOU-IAM programmes.”

“Lastly, the aim is to converge IAMsand ATDCs — people like shop-floorworkers, supervisors, quality/samplecheckers, etc., who are being trained atvarious ATDCs with IGNOU’s help, getenrolled with the IGNOU-IAM Fashion andDesign Management Centre and receivethe most contemporary training in theapparel and clothing sector. The idea isto make them understand the business offashion, not the design of fashion,” addsDr Koshy, former Director of the National


“The idea is toform a bondbetween theworld’s largestuniversity withthe IAM — themulti-varsity ofapparel industry— to create a new genre ofmerchandisers,apparel productionmanagers andretail managers.”— Dr Darlie Koshy, DirectorGeneral and CEO, IAM/ATDC

YEARNING FOR YARN: A student doingpreparatory work on a garment (above); anaspirant keenly eyeing a future in the fashion and apparel industry (right).


Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad.“The Community College Scheme is

indeed a significant step in makingavailable proper certification systemthrough IGNOU’s validation process,”adds Prof Pillai.

Union Textile Minister DayanidhiMaran is happy that IGNOU-IAM-ATDCtrinity is working towards creating skilledhuman resources for the rapidly-growing

domestic and export sectors to bridgethe gap between the garment industry’sgrowing needs and the large pool ofunemployed youth in India.

Huge potentialAn export order of Rs 1 crore generates85 jobs and Rs 1 crore of investment inapparel manufacturing has the potentialto generate 500 direct jobs and 200

THEPROGRAMMESB.A. in Apparel Design& Merchandising (at IAM)Duration: 3 yrsEligibility: 10+2 from a recognised board inany discipline.Career Opportunities: Graduates from thisprogramme are professionally prepared toseek careers in specialised areas and becomeTextile Designers, Fashion Buyers, Selectors,Forecasters, CAD/CAM designers or ApparelMerchandisers.

B.A. in FashionCommunication (at IAM)Duration: 3 yrs Eligibility: 10+2 from a recognised board inany discipline.Career Opportunities: This programmeenables creative individuals to flourish in themedia and cultural industries that deal withthe promotion and communication offashion. It includes product launches, storeevents, catwalk shows, TV magazineprogrammes and exhibitions and relates tovisual imagery, text, information andexperimental. It encompasses areas such asgraphic design, display and exhibit design,advertising and branding specific to thefashion and lifestyle industry.

M.A. in Apparel ProductionManagement (at IAM)Duration: 2 yrsEligibility: Graduate Degree or equivalent fromany recognised University/institution in anydiscipline. A working knowledge of English isdesirable.Career Opportunities: On completion of theprogramme, students would work as AsstProduction Managers/ProductionExecutives/Assistant QA Managers/AssistantManagers PPC. They would be able tounderstand and work within establishedproduction systems according to thecompany’s product requirements and will beable to implement supply chain follow-uprequirement for timely deliveries.

M.A in Fashion RetailManagement (at IAM)Duration: 2 yrsEligibility: Graduate Degree orequivalent from any recognisedUniversity/institution.Career Opportunities: The studentswill work as Asst Store/RetailManagers, Management Traineesin Brand or Supply Chain,Management/ Assistant Buyers.

MBA in Textile Management(at SVPITM)Duration: 2 yrsEligibility: Graduate and above with aminimum 50 percent from a UGC-recognisedUniversity. Those who have appeared for thefinal-year examination can also apply.Admission Procedure: Candidates who havealready appeared for the entrance exam ofCAT/CET/MAT/ATMA/XAT/OPENMAT last yearneed not to appear in the exam. For furtherdetails, contact Prof P.R.R. Nair, OSD, CCETC,Block-11, IGNOU, New Delhi. Tel: 011-29536975Email: [email protected] orvisit www.svpitm.co.in

Industry often complains of lack of trainedmanpower, and educational institutions claimthat their passouts are not finding suitable

employment. It’s clear that the problem is not lackof jobs, it is the mismatch between what industryrequires and what educational institutions supply.

It makes sense then, that industry actually joinsthe educational arena to give a direction toeducational and training. This is what FutureHuman Development Limited (FHDL), the trainingarm of Kishore Biyani’s Future Group, is doing.Since its inception in 2008, it has been focusingon training manpower for retail, hospitality,telecom and other service sector branches.

FHDL has now launched four new programmes

IGNOU, FUTURE GROUP

“The IGNOU-IAMFashion and

DesignManagementCentre willemerge as a

Knowledge Hubfocusing on newareas of higher

education.”—Somesh Singh, Joint

Director, IAM

There is assured placement for the successful candidates at Big Bazaar, Pantaloons and Central.


in association with the Centre for CorporateEducation Training and Consultancy (CCETC),IGNOU, which again is working with the objectiveof developing programmes in corporateeducation consistent with the requirements ofcorporate sector/industry.

The programmes are MBA Retail, BBA RetailServices, MBA Entrepreneurship and BBAEntrepreneurship. The programmes will run fromFuture Group’s campuses at Ahmedabad,Bangalore, New Delhi and Kolkata in case ofMaster’s Programmes, and Ahmedabad,Bengaluru and Kolkata campuses in case ofBachelor’s programmes.

There will be great emphasis on practical

training through projects, internship and on-the-job training. As part of the collaboration, IGNOUwill provide the MBA degree, and Future Groupwill provide Certificate in Field Training.

There’s assured placement for successfulcandidates at Big Bazaar, Pantaloons andCentral.

The advantage that students of theseprogrammes will have is access to Future Group’sinfrastructure, and exposure to various functionsin retail, like sales and customer service and willget to interact with, and learn from, professionalsassociated with the Group.

There’s adequate theory component in eachcourse, and to facilitate the teaching process,

classrooms have LCD TV for presentations.There’s a computer lab with wi-fi. And there’s alsovideo conferencing facility for interaction betweenthe campuses and FHDL corporate office.

MBA Retail and MBA entrepreneurship requireCAT/MAT/XAT/ATMA/CET/Open MAT score. Inthe absence of any of these scores, the candidatehas to appear for an entrance exam.

Admission is based on performance in groupdiscussion and personal interview. The fee is Rs 2 lakh in MBA Retail and Rs 240,000 in caseof MBA entrepreneurship.

In case of BBA Retail Service, the fee is Rs 120,000. In case of BBA entrepreneurship,the fee is Rs 180,000.

LAUNCH COURSES IN RETAIL, ENTREPRENEURSHIP

indirect jobs. The projected valueof the Indian textile industry iscurrently pegged at $47 billion andis estimated to touch $115 billionby 2015 (domestic share: $60billion; and export market share:$55 billion).

“With ATDC-IGNOU CommunityCollege Scheme, we arelooking at filling the gapbetween the vocational andmainstream education,”says Dr Koshy.

According to SomeshSingh, Joint Director, IAM,the new partnership will notonly bring in a newparadigm to the skillsdevelopment mission of theGovernment of India, “butalso begin a new chapterfor skills training in fashion,apparel and textiles ataffordable costs, maximumgeographical reach andproviding education and training for alllevels of managerial cadre.”

“The IGNOU-IAM Fashion and DesignManagement Centre will emerge as aknowledge hub, focusing on new areas ofhigher education, applied research andnew knowledge creation with impartingvalue education to create professionalswith a holistic approach,” he adds.

“Having witnessed the surge in theIndian textile and fashion industry, whichis the second-largest employment sectorafter agriculture, the School of VocationalEducation and Training (SOVET), incollaboration with the IAM, is offering full-time Bachelor’s and Master’s DegreeProgrammes (see box).”

‘We want vocational education to beredefined as professional education andthis initiative will set up a new

benchmark for qualityeducation in the country,”says Prof C.G. Naidu,Director, SOVET.

According to Premal H. Udani, Chairman,AEPC/ATDC, “The flagshipand core courses of ATDC-

IGNOU, with fullbacking of both theexport and domesticindustries assuring100 percent jobs tolearners, will be amajor service todifferentcommunities andapparel clusters. Thisis the right time tojoin ATDC to obtainthe right skills andqualifications to notonly have gainfulemployment but alsoto advance the

careers and lives.”

Career opportunitiesThere are many career opportunities inthe apparel sector, across variousfunctions. After completing the course,one can opt to become a textile designer,a fashion buyer, a forecaster, a CAD/CAMdesigner, a merchandiser, a productionmanager, a QA manager, a store manageror a retail manager, among others.

Rebecca Arora, an IAMite, understoodthis fact early in her career. “IAM hashelped me grow my creative, design andmanagement skills to become a truefashion professional.” For Sahil Jain, theapparel course has helped his design andmanagement skills come to the fore. Theyare knitting a future that will make themtrailblazers. It’s bell to join the force.!

" 3.5 crore people employed in textileand apparel sector in India.

" $29 billion is the size of the domesticapparel market in India.

" 9 percent is the growth rate at which do-mestic retail market is growing per year.

" Apparel export is expected to increasefrom the current 3 percent to 9-10percent and beyond.

" The export of apparel is expected toreach $15 billion by 2015.

" IAM has created programmes in FashionCommunication, Fashion Retail Manage-ment, Apparel Design and Merchandisingand Apparel Production Management tomeet the need for over 20 lakh managers and merchandisers in the next five years or so.

APPARELINDUSTRY

“IGNOU wantsvocational

education to beredefined asprofessional

education and thisinitiative will set up a new

benchmark forquality education.”

—Prof C.G. Naidu, Director, SOVET

The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute ofTextile Management (SVPITM) in Coimbatore

and IGNOU are offering a two year full-timeMBA Programme in Textile Management. TheMBA degree is awarded by IGNOU andCertificate of Field Training is awarded bySVPITM. As part of the collaboration, thefollowing courses are planned to be offered:" MBA (Textile Management)

" PGDM (Textiles and Apparel)

" M.Phil and Ph.D Programmes in Manage-ment with specialisation in Textile and Apparel management

" Short-term Skill Development Courses

FUTUREWEAVERS


In the midst of the urban chaos ofSouth Delhi is the sprawling MaidanGarhi campus of IGNOU — a placeremarkable for its manicured lawns

fringed by seasonal flowers on the onehand, and raw stretches of wilderness onthe other, each complementing the other.The campus also springs surprises likefarmland dedicated to organic vegetables.There’s not just cultivation, but also saleof these products on campus.

The greening of the campus received anew thrust on World Environment Day(June 5, 2009) when Vice Chancellor ProfV.N. Rajasekharan Pillai announced aunique Green Campus Programme.Following this, 2010-2011 is being

commemorated as the ‘Year of BiodiversityConservation’ at IGNOU.

Taking the lead on greening thecampus is IGNOU’s Horticulture Cell, witha series of initiatives. This nodal divisionfor greening of campus has, through itsnumerous drives, striven to maintain theessence of biodiversity. Here are some ofits key projects:

Gardens and lawns: The Universitymaintains around 30 acres of gardenslocated in different pockets on thecampus, including the roadside. Thesegardens have a large variety of flora suchas trees, bushes and flowering plants.During 2010-11, more than 80 percent of

NATUREZONE

The Green CampusThe Universitytakes steps to green its campus,reiterating itscommitment tobiodiversityconservation


the University campus will be madegreen. Since last year, 1.5 acres of thecampus area has been landscaped,grassed and developed into beautifullawns, including two terrace gardens.

These lawns and gardens have beendeveloped using locally-available resources and without any chemicals. Inall these lawns, Selection-1 grass varietyhas been planted. In addition to that,saplings of shady trees and fruit treeshave been planted on several stretches of the campus.Seasonal plants: The University growsseasonal flowering plants such as Phlox,Dahlia, Antirrhinum, Pansy, Petunia,Chrysanthemum, Candytuft andBrachycome in different seasons. Aroundfour acres of land is used to cultivatethese seasonal plants. These plants coverthe ground surface and also add to thegreenery of the campus. Seasonal vegetables: The Cell cultivatesdifferent vegetable crops throughout theyear on 2.5 acres of land on the campus.The vegetables are grown as intercrop in

the orchards during all the three seasons,without the use of any chemicals. Thevegetables are sold at the vegetableoutlet of the university campus.Cover crops: Cover crops have beenplanted on the undulating rocky land. Currently, two cover crops — Ipomoeaand Wadelia — have been planted on 750sq mt. Moreover, these cover crops arealso grown along the roadside so that the land stretch is covered with liveplants. The vegetation has enhanced thegreenery of the campus and is alsopreventing soil loss.Natural forest cover: There are naturalforest patches on the campus.Collectively, these patches account forabout 52 acres of land. The university ismaintaining the natural forest throughgap filling and regular irrigation. There isan effort to ensure minimum disturbancein these areas, which are beingmaintained as a natural habitat. Such agreen area is important for naturalbiodiversity conservation, as it harboursmany species of flora and fauna.!

FLORA FUNDAMENTALS: (Clockwise fromtop), the manicured lawn at the ConferenceCentre; untamed nature; vegetable produceand IGNOU’s greening activity.

52 acres of forest cover

30 acres of gardens

1.5 acres of thecampus area hasbeen landscaped

2.5 acres of landfor vegetables

750 sq mts of cover crop

Nearly 250,000 foreign studentsare currently studying inGermany, of which about 4,200are from India. Back home, the

number of potential young Indians optingfor the German language as their mainarea of study is roughly estimated atbetween 20 and 40 lakhs.

This underlines the fact that thatlearning German — or any other foreignlanguage — is not just a hobby amongthe youth any more. It is mainstream andis helping improve the Gross EnrollmentRatio (GER) in a significant way.

Now, to some important questions:Which institute should one turn to forquality education in learning German,especially if you live in a city that doesn'toffer you opportunities in foreignlanguages? Would you like to teachGerman in a school, college or aprofessional-language institute but don'thave the right qualification? Are youalready employed as a German teacher

but feel lacking somewhere? Come July and you will have answers

to all these questions.In a first-of-its-kind teachers' training

programme, IGNOU, the Goethe Institut(commonly known as Max Müller Bhavan)and the University of Vienna, Austria,have collaboratively launched a Diplomain Teaching German (DTG) as a ForeignLanguage via Open and Distance Learning(ODL) mode to overcome the dearth ofqualified teachers in the country.

The one-year programme starts fromthe July 2010 academic session.

According to Dr Renu Bhardwaj,Director, School of Humanities, and a keyperson behind this unique programme,“India needs many professional teachersto cater to the growing demand in theGerman language sector. The lack ofdemand occurs because we don’t have aprogramme at the B.Ed. level in Germanlanguage. To meet this challenge, IGNOUhas collaborated with the globally-


SPOTLIGHT

The German EdgeIn a first-of-its-kindteachers’ trainingprogramme, IGNOU,the Goethe Institut and the Universityof Vienna, Austria,launch Diploma inTeaching German(DTG) as a ForeignLanguage indistance mode to bridge thedemand-supply gap

From left, Dr Renu Bhardwaj, Director, School of Humanities; Eberhard Weller, Director (Language Department), Goethe Institut; VC Prof Pillai; Sabine Hartert, project coordinator and Prof Dr Hans-Jürgen Krumm, University of Vienna, launching the German course.

recognised institutes like Goethe Institutand University of Vienna for teachingGerman at a more intense level. Thelaunch of this unique distance learningprogramme is a milestone in the Year ofInternational Cooperation, during whichIGNOU has signed almost 100 MoUs withinternational institutes in diverse fields.”

“There is a steep increase in demandfor the German language. It has also beenintroduced as a subject in schools, owingto which more teachers are needed,”says Michael Flucht, Director of theGoethe Institut in Pune.

Adds Dr Bhardwaj: “The Central Boardof Secondary Education and KendriyaVidyalayas have introduced Germanlanguage as a second language in somestates and a third language in others. Itshows the kind of attention German hasreceived in India as a job-oriented tool.”

The one-year, distance-learning programme consists offour courses with 24 credits,each amounting to a practicalcomponent of 60 hours of realclassroom activities atdesignated schools. Thecounselling sessions withtrained tutors will takeplace once every 15 days.At the end of the practicaltraining, the students willshow two demonstrationlessons of 90 minutes eachin the final examination.

In its pilot stage, theprogramme will commencesimultaneously across sixcities, where the GoetheInstituts are located — New Delhi, Kolkata, Pune,Mumbai, Bangalore andChennai.

“Later, we plan tointroduce the programme allover India, including smalltowns and villages,” says ShatabdiGhosh, faculty member and coordinatorfor corporate courses, Goethe Institut,New Delhi.

Dr Stefan Dreyer, Director, GoetheInstitut, feels that the motivation to learnGerman has increased over the pastyears in India. “Till 7-10 years ago,Indians would choose to learn German tobe able to read Kant, Brecht, Grass orGoethe in the original. Today, things aretotally different. We have many youngpeople who want to learn Germanbecause they want to use it to boosttheir chances of success in theirprofessions,” Dreyer says.

“If you observe the crowd in front ofthe Goethe-Institut in New Delhi, for

instance, you may be surprised at howmany young and highly-motivated peopleare coming for the courses — in anatmosphere that one could almostdescribe as jovial,” says Dr Dreyer.

“Now, students in remote areas toocan master German with this advancedcourse and increase their chances oflanding good jobs in the future,” he adds.

Ranjan, a 34-year-old who works for aninsurance company, has been learningGerman for the past three years — forpurely pragmatic reasons.

“I thought if I combine a foreignlanguage with my insurance skills then Iwould have better chances to provemyself and work for a German companyhere in India,” he told Deutsche Wellerecently.

Kirti, a 21-year-old student at MaxMueller, says she has now abandoned her

idea of becoming an Englishlanguage teacher and wouldnow like to teach Germaninstead at the Goethe Institut.“Germany is a new country forIndia, German is a newlanguage. That just improvesour career chances,” she adds.

A tailor-made syllabus andteaching material as per theEuropean standards is beingprepared by a team ofexperienced teachers ofGoethe Institut in India andthe University of Vienna,informs Dr Bhardwaj.

On successful completionof the Diploma course, theparticipants will be eligibleto teach German atsecondary schools andcolleges.

IGNOU’s first foreignlanguage programme in ODLsystem was launched inChennai in 2007 — a

beginners-level Certificate in GermanLanguage (CGL) course. The Certificate-level course was launched in six cities ofTamil Nadu, which has now beenextended to learners in Kerala.

The multimedia course materialprepared by the Goethe Institut for thissix-month course is based on the‘Common European Framework ofReference for Language’ formulated bythe Council of Europe for all Europeanlanguages and leads to the globallyaccepted certificate ‘Start Deutsch 1’.

The distance learning course module isbased on a radio language course and issupplemented by CD-ROMs, videomaterial and traditional books. Studentscan learn in the classrooms and also take

the advantage of online coaching. According to M. Shanmugham,

Regional Director, Madurai, the CGLcourse received good response at theMadurai Regional Centre. Since then, theUniversity has forayed into teachingseveral foreign languages like French,Spanish, Japanese and Arabic.

Starting a career in the Germanlanguage has never been as easy before.Karriere Chance!�

“The Front Office Operation

Certificatecourse has

instilled in me a much-neededconfidence. Now,I find myself atpar with otherprofessionals.”— Dr Stefan Dreyer,

Director, Goethe Institut


! Course starts in July 2010 at the sixGoethe-Instituts — Bangalore, Chennai,Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune.

! Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor’sDegree in any subject. Knowledge ofGerman (B1 Level or higher) fromGoethe-Institut or an equivalentrecognised certification required.

! No teaching experience required. ! Application deadline: June 30, 2010 ! Programme Fee: Rs 1,600! Job opportunities: Interpreters,

translators, teachers across thespectrum

! For details, go to www.ignou.ac.in orvisit www.goethe.de/ins/in/ned/enindex.htm

Course 1: How to work with words andtexts, teaching methodology,multilingualism, learning methodology(methods of learning), internaldifferentiation, working with largegroups, culture and civilisation,intercultural learning, analysis of aGerman language class and of teachingmaterials.Course 2: Teaching vocabulary, reading,listening, speaking, writing andphonetics.Course 3: Teaching grammar, differenttypes of exercises, games in theclassroom, projects in the classroom,classroom observation and assessment,types of communication, visual aids,errors and error correction.Course 4: Lesson planning, teaching,practicum, testing, evaluation andstudent counselling.

THEPROGRAMME

THECOURSES

12

NEWSUPDATES

Journalists working in print or broadcastmedia, making a transition to onlinemultimedia journalism, are getting an

opportunity to learn multimedia journalismskills from the best trainers in the world atthe Indira Gandhi National Open University(IGNOU).

IGNOU’s School of Journalism and NewMedia Studies (SOJNMS) organised a 10-day workshop ‘Beyond Web 2.0:Multimedia Journalism and Social Media’,in collaboration with Deutsche Welle (DW)Akademie, Germany. The trainingprogramme was designed for onlinejournalists seeking to broaden theirmultimedia and social media skills. Itsprimary aim was to acquaint theparticipants with the technologies andconcepts that will be tomorrow’s web.

It focused on providing the participantswith the necessary skills to producemultimedia content and use social mediaplatforms for research, newsgathering,networking and distribution.

The training aimed at teaching theparticipants ways to produce and present a

multimedia project for the web, how toeffectively use social media during theirwhole working processes, new ways ofusing tools such as digital cameras andmobile phones for producing multimedia

journalism and about new online and socialmedia tools that can be practically appliedto journalism.

The programme was conducted by GuyDegen and Marcus Bösch.!

Eminent journalist and Chairperson, Prasar Bharti, Mrinal Pande inaugurating the DW trainingprogramme in multimedia. Others, from left, are VC Prof Pillai, Guy Degen and Marcus Bösch.

DW insight into new media tools

Recycling in learning, agricultural wayLeading agricultural scientists and academics of the country

met recently at IGNOU to share their innovations inagricultural teaching-learning, at a Workshop titled

‘Innovations in Technology-Mediated Learning: An InstitutionalCapacity Building in Re-Usable Learning Objects in Agro-Horticulture’.

The focus of discussions was ‘Re-Usable Learning Objects’(RLO). RLO technology, as a brochure released on the occasiondescribed, is based on the philosophy of ‘Open EducationalResources (OER). “The term OER was first adapted by UNESCOin 2002 as educational resources available freely and openly toanyone who can use, re-use, remix, recycle, redistribute underrestricted or unrestricted manner. RLO is the smallest stand-alone and independent unit of learning designed for reuse inmultiple instructional context,” it added.

This innovative approach is part of a project of NationalAgricultural Innovation Project (NAIP)-Indian Council forAgricultural Research (ICAR), which has brought togetherleading partners in agricultural education.

The School of Agriculture, IGNOU, is the consortium leader,the other partners being the School of Agricultural Sciences,Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU),Nashik; Directorate of Open and Distance Education, Tamil NaduAgricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore; and Division ofKnowledge Management and Sharing, International Crops

Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad. The project period is from April 2010 to March 2012, and the

funding partners are NAIP and ICAR.Prof B.S. Hansra, Director, SOA, described the objectives and

outcomes of the project. Dr Surya Gunjal, Director, School ofAgricultural Sciences, YCMOU; Dr Valluva Paridasan, Director,ODL, TNAU; Dr N.T. Yaduraju, National Coordinator, NAIP; and Dr Krishnakumar, Vice Chancellor of YCMOU, were among thosewho shared their perspective. The event was presided over byPro-VC Dr Latha Pillai.!

Agricultural scientists and IGNOU faculty at the workshop on RLO.



NEWSUPDATES

The School of Gender andDevelopment Studies (SOGDS)recently organised a formalinteraction programme of a

delegation of women leaders fromAfghanistan with the Vice Chancellor ProfRajasekharan Pillai, Pro-Vice ChancellorDr Latha Pillai, Directors of differentSchools, Professors and researchstudents of the University.

The delegation was in India to attend aLeadership Development Workshop,organised by the Institute of GovernmentAccounts and Finance, Government ofIndia, in New Delhi. The delegates hadexpressed desire to visit IGNOU.

Dr Pillai welcomed the gathering andbriefly gave an introduction about IGNOU.The Vice Chancellor described howtechnology, and especially e-learning, wasfacilitating distance education in thecountry. Prof Pillai also discussedIGNOU’s focus on Inclusive Education andInclusive Growth.

The Director of SOGDS, Prof SavitaSingh, gave an introduction about theSchool and its activities, stating how theschool was committed to the promotion ofgender equality in this country through itscurricula and advocacy campaigns.

Looking at the SOGDS priorities and

vision, the Afghan delegates showed theirinterest in initiating collaboration withSOGDS and IGNOU.

The Afghan delegates interacted withthe Directors of the School of Health

Sciences, School of Agriculture, School ofLaw and Research Unit. The delegatesalso visited Electronic Media ProductionCentre (EMPC), where a short film onIGNOU was screened.!

IGNOU’s date with wisdom behind veil

SOGDS Director Prof Savita Singh with the Afghan delegation.

factoids IGNOU and UNESCO are developing a unique programmeon ‘Grassroots Innovation Management.’ The first course

has already been completed.

NEWSSCANCourse in water harvesting

To handle the acute problem of watercrisis in India, IGNOU is now offering

a Certificate Programme in WaterHarvesting, starting July. The six-monthCertificate Programme will impartnecessary skills and expertise tounderstand water-harvesting techniques.The common prospectus can be obtainedfrom the Registrar, SRD, IGNOU, MaidanGarhi, New Delhi-110068. For details,please visit www.ignou.ac.in!

New Psychology courses

In an effort to bring Psychology at parwith mainstream subjects of study,

IGNOU has launched PsychologyProgrammes at Bachelor’s and Master’slevels from the July 2010 session,announced Prof Vimala Veeraraghavan,Emeritus Professor, Psychology, School of Social Sciences (SOS).

For details, please contact ProfVeeraraghavan at (0)9810132735, or log in to www.ignou.ac.in!

Vacancies for consultants

IGNOU’s Centre for Corporate Education,Training and Consultancy (CCETC) is

starting several new skill–basedprogrammes from the July 2010 session.The CCETC requires three full-timeconsultants to look after various academicprogrammes at the Centre. Interestedcandidates may visit www.ignou.ac.in. Theapplications can be sent to: The OSD,CCETC, Block 11, Room No. 6, IGNOU,Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068.!


Mumbai Regional Centre (RC) organised the 21stConvocation of the Universityat the auditorium of VG

Vaze College in Mulund on March 15. Itwas the first time that the Mumbai RCorganised the Convocation Ceremony.Nearly 205 students were handed overDegrees, Diplomas and Certificates at thefunction.

Dr M. Rajesh, Regional Director,informed the gathering that theConvocation was held in closeconjunction with the programme held atthe IGNOU Headquarters with the livetelecast of the speech delivered by the

Chief Guest Prof Shri Krishna Joshi,former Director General, Council ofScientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

Dr M.R. Kurup, an eminenteducationist, was the Guest of Honour atMumbai RC event. He highlighted thesignificance of the emerging trends in theeducation system of the country. Hestated that the new era operates on thenotions of flexibility and multi-tasking,which can be best honed by taking up the versatile programmes offered byinstitutions like IGNOU.

A book exhibition showcasing thestudy materials and other publications ofIGNOU was organised at the event.�

14

Achieving educational heightsNearly 274 students received

Certificates, Diplomas and Degreesat the 21st Convocation Day

celebrated at IGNOU’s Shimla RegionalCentre at Excellence College, Sanjauli, onMarch 16. Ashwini Kumar, Director of theCentral Bureau of Investigation (CBI),was the Chief Guest at the event.

Naresh Chand from Paunta Sahib areaset an example when he received ProfGrover Cash Award despite beingphysically challenged.

Kullu RC and Special Study Centre

Talyana (Bilaspur) were honoured with theBest Study Centre Award.

Isaan Akhtar, a student of Master’s inTourism Management (MTM), andDirector, IGNOU Learners’ WelfareAssociation in Bilaspur, was felicitatedwith a Letter of Appreciation for hiscontribution towards Open and DistanceLearning (ODL) among the masses.

The CBI director, himself an IGNOUstudent in the past, emphasised theimportance of ODL for the learners in theremote areas of the country.�

REGIONALROUNDUP

Mumbai RC celebrates first Convocation

Meet the jewelsfrom Jaipur RC

IGNOU’s Jaipur Regional Centreorganised the 21st Convocation onMarch 15. Dr M.M. Salunkhe,

Vice Chancellor, Central University ofRajasthan, was the Guest of Honour.

About 399 Degrees and Diplomas wereawarded to the students.

Dr Salunkhe talked in details about theproblem of inadequacy of educationalfacilities and inequity in educationalopportunities. He stressed that thesolutions lay outside the conventionaleducation system. He also emphasisedthe need of an economically-viablealternative channel for providingeducation on a large scale.

Dr S.N. Ambedkar, Regional Director,reiterated IGNOU’s commitment to reachout to the remotest possible learner inthe state and strengthening the ODLsystem for making Rajasthaneducationally advanced.�

Dr M.R. Kurup (right) at the Mumbai RC Convocation Ceremony on March 15.

Dr M.M. Salunkhe and Dr S.N. Ambedkar congratulating a medallist.

CBI Director Ashwini Kumar felicitating a meritorious student at the Shimla Convocation.


REGIONALROUNDUP

factoids Prof Shatrughan Kumar, co-ordinator of theFoundation Course in Bhojpuri Language at

IGNOU, has been honoured with the ‘Bihari Asmita Samman’ award 2009.

STUDENTS’CORNER

MVijayan, 42, was in the finalyear of chemistry when he

changed track to join the healthservice sector. The natural corollarywas joining a course in social work,which he did from IGNOU. Thebonanza for Vijayan came when hewas awarded the A.P.J. Abdul KalamAward for Social Work. This healthinspector in the Kerala State HealthServices Department now wants todo a Ph.D. “It’s my deep passion insocial work that helped me in mystudies. If you are passionate,everything falls in place,” he says.

Aijaz AhmadShalla, 40, a

banker with J&KBank, joinedIGNOU’s MBA inBanking (Finance)programme for“career excellence”.

Shalla, who has a B.E. in Electronicsfrom REC Jaipur, is today a member ofthe Indian Institute of Bankers. He isall praise for the use of information-communication-technology (ICT) byIGNOU, particularly the Gyan Darshanand Gyan Vani programmes. “I madefull use of IGNOU’s Internet presence— for filling forms and downloadingassignments,” he says. IGNOUhappened at the right time for him. “Abig boom has come in banking so thecourse will be helpful,” he adds.

Banking uponIGNOU!

Following hisdreams

The IGNOU Institute for VocationalEducation and Training (IIVET),Shillong, held an expert committee

meeting to develop modules on“Destination North East India” recently.

Dr Harkirat Bains, Director, School ofTourism and Hospitality ServicesManagement (SOTHSM), Dr ParamitaSuklabaidya, Programme Cordinator,BAIHA, and experts from all across thecountry participated in the meeting.

The modules are aimed at developingthree hospitality-related programmes —Certificate in Front Office Management,Certificate in Housekeeping and Certificatein Food and Beverages. Initially, theseprogrammes will be implemented inMeghalaya, Assam and Sikkim.

Building blocks of society

The IGNOU Institute for VocationalEducation and Training (IIVET),

Shillong, in collaboration with theNational Academy of Construction (NAC),Hyderabad, held a three-month trainingprogramme in Masonry from November2009 till March 2010. A batch of 20trainees participated in the programme.

“This training has enriched us withtechnical and practical skills in Masonrywhich can be adapted to the modern world.We can now effectively implement what wehave learnt. We also received Certificateson Mason, Assistant Mason from NCVT,NAC and IGNOU,” says WantribookKharnaior, a 51-year-old participant.�

‘Destination N-E India’

Three passouts of B.Sc. (Nursing)Programme have made IGNOU proudby completing M.Sc. (Nursing)

Programme under West Bengal Universityof Health Sciences. Sampa Gupta stood1st and has joined as a lecturer at AsiaFoundation, Kolkata. Nirupama Nayakcame second and is now a lecturer atK.P.C. Medical College. Ruby Giri hasjoined Midnapore Medical College.�

IGNOU has entered into a partnershipwith Ahmedabad ManagementAssociation (AMA). Under this

arrangement, IGNOU has recognised the Post-Graduate Programme inInternational Business Management(PGPIBM) run by AMA for its MBADegree. The first batch of 19 studentscompleted the two-year course during2007-09.�

‘Treatment’ over MBA alliance

SOTHSM faculty and experts at the meeting at IIVET, Shillong.

Dr Carol Stax Brown, National Directorof Community College Initiative

Programmes (CCIP) of the United States,visited IGNOU last month. During her visit,she interacted with the Principles/In-charges of the Community Colleges inDelhi and NCR. She briefed the gatheringabout the initiatives in her country.!


MILESTONESONCAMPUS

HIGHLIGHTS

The International Conference on Disaster Management November, 1999: The Faculty of PublicAdministration, School of Social Sciences,organises an International Conference onDisaster Management: Cooperative Networkingin South Asia.

4th Annual Lecture by the Dalai LamaDecember, 1999: The Dalai Lama speaks on‘Compassion: The Basis for Non- Violence’ at the4th Annual Lecture, organised by the School ofSocial Sciences.

Workshop on parents’ awarenessDecember, 1999: The Centre for ExtensionEducation organises a Workshop on ‘Parents’Awareness in Primary Schooling’.

Gyan Darshan launchedJanuary, 2000: Prof Murli Manohar Joshi,Minister of Human Resources Development,Government of India, launches India’s firstEducation Channel, Gyan Darshan.

IGNOU’s participation in World Book FairFebruary, 2000: IGNOU participates in theWorld Book Fair at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

IGNOU-AIR FORCE joint ventureApril, 2000: IGNOU-Air Force EducationalProject is launched under a single windowoperation scheme.

First edu-channel

FRIDAY June 1806:00: Cyber Crimeand Law09:30: Education:Teacher Education: A Point of View13:00: Science/Environment/Health:Physics of Dance20:00: UGC/CEC:Psychology: Youth Suicide Prevention: A Discussion; Under-standing Dreams; States of Mind

SUNDAYJune 2005:30: UGC/CEC:Music, Arts and Culture: Teejan Bai;Khatamband13:30: IGNOU-UrduProgramme: Phir LautAaye Faiz; Jilani BanoKi Afsana Nigari20:00: UGC/CEC:Technology: Boat Building: A TraditionMarginalised; ScreenPrinting; Computers inDistance Education

TUESDAYJune 2205:30: UGC/CEC:History: Urban Economy in MughalIndia 13:00: Science/Environment/Health:Parmanu Ki Sanrachna— Aitihasik Paridrishti17:00: United Nations:An Experiment To SaveThe World21:00: IGNOU-SOS:Chilka Our NationalHeritage

THURSDAYJune 2406:00: Role of Informa-tion and Communication Technology in Life-Long Learning10:30: NCERT/CIET:Sec and Sr. Sec: Conservation of Waterfor Irrigation

SATURDAYJune 2610:00: IGNOU:Hindi Ke BadhteKadam18:30: NIOS: Conser-vation of Nutrients22:00: IGNOU/Culture: PracticalMusic

MONDAYJune 2805:30: UGC/CEC:Fine Arts: Thangka:The Holy Art of Tibet 11.00: Air Pressure &Wind - I13:00: Science/Environment/Health:The Story of A River

[ Not to be

MissedWatch a special programme on‘Women Empowerment: TheSilent Revolution’ at 11:30 amon Monday, June 28. Women’sempowerment is the biggest social change of our times. Theprogramme highlights howwomen are taking control oftheir life.

]

The School of Humanities recently organised an Orientation Programme forUrdu Counsellors. Prof Naseer Ahmad Khan(extreme left), Vice Chancellor Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, (second from left), andProf Renu Bhardwaj, Director, SOH (thirdfrom left), addressed the gathering.

CCIP Director Dr CarolBrown visits IGNOU

Dr Pankaj Khare is the new Registrar,Student Registration Division, IGNOU.

His responsibilities include overseeingstudent registration in 348 academicprogrammes bycreating, maintainingand implementingadmission processes;data-warehousing andits maintenance forregistration and re-registration ofstudents, and design,development andmarketing of IGNOUprogrammes.

A Doctor of Philosophy in MultimediaEducation from Madhya Pradesh Bhoj(Open) University, Dr Khare is a recipientof Wadia Institute of Himalayan GeologyResearch Fellowship (1982).

Admission date extendedDr Khare has announced extension of lastdate to July 30, 2010 for the followinggraduation programmes: " Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)" Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com)" Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) " Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA).

For details, visit www.ignou.ac.in!

New responsibility

Download - Open Letter June 2010

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