open letter april 2010

IGNOU OPEN LETTER | APRIL 15, 20102

As a pioneer in Open and Distance Learning (ODL), IGNOUhas been at the forefront of taking education to thedoorsteps of learners for the past 25 years. It has been

instrumental in reaching the unreached in the remotest partsof the country. Its inclusive nature, as well as the vital andempowering role it plays in helping millions of people reskilland upskill themselves, is well known.

What is not so well known, however, is IGNOU’s impressivetrack record in delivering quality atthe upper end of the learningspectrum — in high-end research andstreams such as engineering,medicine, technology and the naturalsciences.

How does a primarily distancelearning institution like IGNOU dothis? By forging innovative alliancesand networking with institutions inboth the private and government

sectors which helps us to optimally utilise the often state-of-the-art facilities that are available with them. Such inter-sector collaboration has also given us access to top-notchinfrastructure that exists outside the education sector.

For instance, in engineering and technology, we havecollaborated with the Madhya Pradesh Council for Science andTechnology and a host of other institutions. In medicine, asyou will read in our cover story this month, we have tie-upswith 44 institutions across the country, including leading ones such as Escorts and the National Heart Institute. In the frontier areas of sciences, we have tie-ups with suchprominent institutions as the Indian Institute of Astrophysicsin Bangalore (a Department of Science and Technologyinstitution) for a residential M.Sc. Astrophysics Programme,and the Pusa Institute of Delhi, for a full-time M.Sc.Programme in Nutrition and Dietetics.

IGNOU is also the key implementing institution for theambitious National Programme for Technology-EnabledLearning (NPTEL), under which some 300 IIT and IIScprofessors are creating content modules that will help improvethe capabilities of engineering teachers across the country.Also on the cards is a SAARC-level Science Olympiad that weare undertaking in collaboration with UNESCO, that will helppopularise science among school children.

With such smart networking and cross-sectoralcollaborative ventures, IGNOU helps overcome the problemscaused by a scarcity of seats in the higher educational sectorand ensures a significant increase in the national pool oftrained and employable workforce. This is a national mission,and at IGNOU, we are proud to be playing a crucial part inensuring its success.

4

CONTENTS

Healing Hearts

Learners’ Day at RCs

IN FOCUS: IGNOU’s PGDiploma in Clinical Cardiology provides intensive training in cardiac care to doctors from the ruralhinterlands so that theycan go back and savethousands of lives

NEWS SCAN....................7

SPOTLIGHT .....................8

PASSING BY....................9

21ST CONVOCATION.....10

NEWS UPDATE..............12

STUDENTS’ CORNER.....15

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

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

10 21st Convocation: 18,000 learners received Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates at the Regional Centres across the country in a ceremony joined by 43 RCs via video-conferencing

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

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FROMTHE VICE CHANCELLOR

V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai

IGNOU OPEN LETTER | APRIL 15, 2010 3

GOINGGLOBAL

IGNOU’s 1st European PI in London

Charting a new education route toEurope, IGNOU has signed anMoU with TASMAC (Training andAdvanced Studies in Management

and Communications), London School ofBusiness, to open its 61st internationalPartner Institution (PI).

TASMAC is the first foreign directinvestment (FDI) in the education sectorby an Indian institution in the UnitedKingdom. TASMAC is the trading name ofTASMAC-UK, a wholly-owned subsidiary ofTASMAC India, with its headquarters inPune and offices in Mumbai, Bangaloreand Kolkata.

According to Dr Giri Dua, ManagingDirector of TASMAC, the institution is thefirst wholly-owned Indian subsidiary inUK’s education sector and is accreditedby the British Accreditation Council(BAC) and licenced by the UK BorderAgency (Home Office).

TASMAC London is also a member ofthe European Council for BusinessEducation, Study UK and the Associationof Collegiate Business Schools andProgrammes, USA.

About two dozen of IGNOU’s academicprogrammes would be on offer at this PIthat would not only benefit learnersamong the Indian Diaspora but also

trans-national students interested in theUniversity’s programmes.

The MoU was signed at an eventpresided over by Vice Chancellor Prof V.N.Rajasekharan Pillai, Pro-Vice ChancellorProf D.K. Chowdhry, Director of IGNOU’sInternational Outreach Division, Dr SilimaNanda, academics from various schoolsand senior officials at the University’scampus in New Delhi on March 30.

The University’s Registrar, Dr UdaySingh Tolia, signed the MoU for IGNOUand Dr Dua for TASMAC.

Prof Pillai appreciated TASMAC’sefforts at imparting quality educationusing the innovative need-basedprogrammes offered by IGNOU. He saidthese would immensely help learners toreceive application-oriented courses andenhance their employability.�

(From left) Dr Giri Dua of TASMAC; Dr Silima Nanda, Director, International Outreach Division: VC Prof Pillai; Registrar U.S. Tolia; and Pro-VC Prof D.K. Chowdhry with the MoU.

IGNOU is planning to start anInformation Communication Technology(ICT) cluster in five South Asian

countries for capacity-building ineducation sector.

The University has already given apresentation outlining the details of theplan to Parliamentarians of Bangladesh,Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal and SriLanka, at the first-ever contact groupmeeting of Parliamentarians on educationorganised by the United NationsEducational, Scientific and CulturalOrganisation (UNESCO) recently.

“We have given a presentation ondeveloping an ICT cluster in thesecountries. India will lead the action andIGNOU will be the nodal body to

implement and operate it,” ViceChancellor Prof V.N. Rajashekharan Pillaiannounced on March 28. “This will boosteducation, help in capacity-building andgenerate education content across theregion,” Prof Pillai added.

Earlier, Union Human Resource

Development Minister Kapil Sibal told theParliamentarians that such a cluster wouldhelp in the creation of wealth, skilldevelopment and employability.

“Once implemented, IGNOU will develope-content, facilitate virtual class-roomfacilities and enhance access to millionsof students. From teachers’ training tomaking students get quality andcontemporary education, everything canbe done efficiently. With ICT, the countrieshave come closer and here, India andIGNOU can lead,” Prof Pillai said.

He added that Edusat, the educationsatellite of India, had the potential to playa role in facilitating this effort. “Anenlarged footprint of Edusat can help thecause in a major way,” he concluded.�

ICT cluster in five S. Asian countries soon

Edusat can help in the formation of an ICT cluster in a big way, says VC Prof Pillai.

For Dr Neelesh Khandelwal, IGNOU’sPost-Graduate Diploma in ClinicalCardiology came as a blessing indisguise. Fresh out of R.N.T.

Medical College in Udaipur, Rajasthan,Khandelwal joined a government hospitalin Dungarpur, a city situated at thesouthernmost fringe of the state.

Aghast at the absence of specialitycare in hospitals in the rural hinterland,Khandelwal, an MBBS, decided to pursuea course in cardiology.

When he heard about the IGNOUprogramme that offered exhaustivecourse material and training at some ofthe country’s best cardiac care facilities,he applied straight away.

Now a second-year student of theprogramme, the young doctor says thetraining is actually better than the

learning an MD acquires in cardiology.“This programme is exhaustive in nature.An MD gets around three-months’ trainingin cardiac care, but in this course wespend two years at some of the bestheart institutes in the country. I feel weare better placed than any regular MD,”says Khandelwal.

“The doctors at the governmenthospital in Dungarpur do not have basicknowledge about speciality care in fieldslike cardiology. On top of it, the hospitallacks medical facilities to cope with anyemergency,” he laments.

After completing the programme at theEscorts Heart Institute and ResearchCentre in New Delhi, Khandelwal wants togo back and work in Rajasthan. “I amwilling to serve the needy in the remotevillages,” he adds.


INFOCUS

Healing HeartsIGNOU’s PG Diplomain Clinical Cardiologyprovides intensivetraining in cardiaccare to doctorsserving India’s ruralhinterland. Theyreturn to remotevillages to savethousands of lives put in danger forwant of lack ofspeciality treatment

Dr Ashish Dave, right, at the National Heart Institute in New Delhi. Having completed a PG Diploma in Clinical Cardiology from IGNOU, Dr Dave, who hails from Bundi district, Rajasthan, now wants to serve patients in remote areas.

Dr Asim Parvez from Patna shares hisviews. “After completing MBBS, I foundthis programme a unique one from thetraining and practice point of view. Thereare very few doctors who know how todeal with heart cases and the coursetaught us those details — from basiccardiac anatomy to cardiovascularsurgery,” says Dr Parvez, who was doinghis residency at the All India Institute forMedical Sciences (AIIMS) in emergencymedicine before joining the programme.

Each year, around 15 lakh people diedue to coronary heart diseases in India.

While in 1960, the prevalence of heartdiseases among urban Indians was 1percent, in 1995 it had increased to 9.6percent. The figure today stands at aprevalence rate of 12.5 percent,according to the figures provided by theMinistry of Health and Family Welfare.

“It has been estimated that India lostabout 9.2 million potentially productiveyears of life in 2000, due to prematuredeaths caused by cardiovascular diseasein the age group of 35-64 years,” saidPrime Minister Manmohan Singh whileaddressing a conference of heartsurgeons in New Delhi recently. It was1.6 million years in the United States and6.6 million years in China, he added.

Productive years are the number ofworking years a country is deprived of

when a citizen dies before age 60. Despitethese fatal numbers, there is dearth ofheart specialists in the country and Indiaproduces merely 150 qualified doctors incardiology each year.

Most of these trained specialists getemployed or start practising in Metros orTier-II cities. This deprives a hugepopulation from getting benefits ofcardiology expertise.

The IGNOU Clinical CardiologyDiploma, which is now being successfullydisseminated at 44 cardiac care centresacross the country, aims at bridging themassive treatment gap the country isfacing, especially in rural areas, says Prof A.K. Agarwal, senior professor at the University’s School of HealthSciences and Programme Coordinator.

“The situation in our country atpresent is such that only 100-125students qualify for the cardiology super-specialisation. There is a great demand,but the specialised doctors prefer tosettle down in Metros. This leaves around70 percent of patients at the district


150 heart specialists aretrained in India annually

1 out of 1,000 children inIndia suffers from rheumaticvalvular heart disease

15 lakh people die in the country every year due to coronary heart diseases

20 million is the number of people expected to die in the Indian sub-continent by 2015by cardiovascular diseases, says World Health Organisation

THEINSTITUTES

Dis-heartening facts

“The IGNOUclinicalcardiologyDiploma aims to bridge thetreatment gap

the country is facing,especially in rural areas.”

—Prof A.K. Agarwal

Dr M.L. Chawla (centre), Programme Coordinator Fortis-Escorts, New Delhi, with doctors during the meeting of PGDCC Programme at Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre.

Here is the list of Programme Study Centresfor the PG Diploma in Clinical Cardiology:

New Delhi/National Capital Region!Escorts Heart Institute and ResearchCentre!Max Heart and Vascular Institute!National Heart Institute!Batra Hospital& Medical Research Centre!Fortis EscortHospital & Research Centre!Metro Groupof Hospitals and Heart Institute!FortisHospital!Delhi Heart and Lung Institute!Shri Balaji Action Medical Institute

Jharkhand!Abdur Razaque Ansari Memorial!Weavers Hospital (Ranchi)

Karnataka!Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Heart Centre!M.S. Ramaiah Medical College and Teaching Hospital!St. John’s Medical College Hospital!A.J. Hospital & Research Centre!Vikram Hospital & HeartCare!Narayan Hrudayalaya Institute ofCardiac Sciences (all Bangalore)

Kerala!Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences(Thiruvananthapuram)!Pushpagiri HeartInstitute (Cochin)

West Bengal!Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences!B.M. BirlaHeart Research Centre!Apollo GleneaglesHospitals & Education Trust (all Kolkata)

Andhra Pradesh!Care Foundation!Andhra Mahila Sabha Durgabai Deshmukh Hospital andResearch Centre!Apollo Hospitals.!Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (all Hyderabad)!City Cardiac ResearchCentre!Usha Cardiac Centre (Vijaywada)

Tamil Nadu! International Centre for Cardio-Thoracicand Vascular Diseases (Chennai)!G. Kuppuswamy Naidu Memorial Hospital(Coimbatore)

Maharashtra!Asian Heart Institute! Jupiter Hospital (Mumbai)

Assam!Assam Medical College!Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (Guwahati)

Madhya Pradesh!Bombay Hospital!Bhopal MemorialHospital & Research Centre (Bhopal)

Punjab!Satguru Pratap Singh Apollo Hospital(Mohali)!Fortis Hospital (Ludhiana)

Orissa!Aditya Care Hospital (Bhubaneswar)

Gujarat!U.N. Mehta Institute of Cardiology & Research Centre (Ahmedabad)

Rajasthan!Fortis Escort Hospital (Jaipur)

level or in rural areas deprived. It is withthis intention that we welcome studentsfrom rural areas or governmenthospitals,” adds Agarwal.

Dr Ashish Dave, who left London topursue a PG Programme in ClinicalCardiology, agrees with him. “I would liketo serve rural patients. I could have had settled down abroad but serving your countrymen is the best form ofphilanthropy. Kudos to IGNOU for craftingsuch an intensive course,” says thedoctor who did the programme at theNational Heart Institute, New Delhi.

For this two-year programme, studentsmust have secured good marks in theirMBBS programmes and convince a panelof distinguished cardiologists andprofessors during a selection interview.

IGNOU launched the PG Diploma inclinical cardiology in 2005 and operatesout of prestigious institutions like theNational Heart Institute, Escorts, Maxand Fortis Hospitals (in Delhi) andseveral other institutions across thecountry (See box).

The core objective of the course is to train medical graduates in clinicalcardiology to deal effectively with theearly recognition, management andprevention of common cardiovasculardiseases (non-Invasive cardiology) andassociated diseases, particularlydiabetes mellitus.

“The clinical diploma programme hastied up with reputed institutions. We hadreceived demand from various state

governments for such programmes. Weunderstood that we had to make optimaluse of the existing resources in theprivate sector as well,” says VC Prof V.N. Rajashekharan Pillai.

According to Dr D. Kahli, seniorconsultant at the B.M. Birla HeartInstitute where 10 students areundergoing training, says that, with anincreasing number of cardiac patients inIndia, “timely interventions from traineddoctors is the need of the hour”.

“No doubt that the majority of MBBSstudents are brilliant. They opt for an MDand go for general medicine. But we needgood heart doctors. The country is facingan acute shortage of specialist doctorswho can ensure timely intervention incardiac cases,” adds Dr Kahli.

As part of the training, the studentswork as full-time doctors, on rotation, atvarious wings like Echocardiography orPaediatric Cardiology, etc. They are givenextensive training by the best professorsusing state-of-the-art equipment.

Even students like Dr R.K. Jain, amedical veteran of 30 years, have optedfor this specialised course. “Havingworked with hospitals like AIIMS andMoolchand, I am now into privatepractice. I was interested in cardiologyso I joined this course. It is a phenomenalattempt on part of the University to beginsuch a programme,” says Jain.

Soon, these IGNOU students will bebusy saving lives in areas where cardiaccare is lacking.�


Some of the doctors who pursued PG Diploma in Clinical Cardiology from the Escorts HeartInstitute and Research Centre, outside Escorts in New Delhi.

Eligibility: MBBSSelection process: Interview

(subject to change)Duration: Two years

(maximum four years)Intake: July

Fee: Rs 39,600 per yearSeats: Maximum 10 per centre

(There are 44 centres)

Training scheduleWard+OPD: Six months

ECG/Stress Testing:Three months

Echocardiography:Three months

Special Observation:One month

ICU/CCU: Two monthsPaediatric Cardiology

(Ward+OPD): Three monthsCommunity Posting:

Six months

THEPROGRAMME

“There are veryfew doctors whoknow how todeal with heartcases and thecourse taught

us those details — frombasic cardiac anatomy tocardiovascular surgery.”

—Dr Asim Parvez, Student


IGNOU and the Department ofInformation Technology, Governmentof India, hosted a one-day Curriculum

Review Workshop on Capacity-BuildingProgrammes for Common ServiceCentres (CSC) Operators and TelecentreManagers at the India Habitat Centre inNew Delhi on March 22.

The workshop was a precursor to acertificate course for telecentre

managers, to be offered by the Centre ofExtension Education (CEE), from thisacademic session. It also discussed themodules needed to enhance thecapacities of CSC operators forsustainability. The objective of theworkshop was to ensure that thecurriculum being developed by CEE, withtelecentre.org, is consistent with theexpectations of the stakeholders.�

NEWSSCAN

Curriculum Review Workshop

IGNOU’s National Centre for DisabilityStudies (NCDS) has announcedadmission for various special

education programmes for the Julysession. These programmes are beingconducted in collaboration with theRehabilitation Council of India (RCI). Onoffer are M.Ed. and B.Ed. programmesin areas of hearing impairment, visualimpairment and mental retardation, aPost-Graduate Diploma Programme(PGPD)and a Post-Graduate CertificateProgramme (PGPC) in HearingImpairment, Visual Impairment andMental Retardation. The applicationforms are available till April 30. Formore details, log on to www.ignou.ac.in.

Disability courses

Dr. M.C. Nair, Director, CEE, addressing the gathering at the workshop.

NEWPROGRAMMES

IGNOU has announced the launch oftwo new programmes — B.A. andM.A. (Psychology) from the July

session. The University invitesapplications for Bachelor’s andMaster’s Degree, Post-GraduateDiplomas, Advance Diplomas,Diplomas, Professional Certificates,Post-Graduate Certificates, AdvanceCertificates, Certificates, Non-creditand Appreciation programmes.Students awaiting Class 10/12 resultsand those who have appeared or areappearing for Degree programmes canalso apply. The last date for submissionof applications at the Regional Centresfor the July session is April 30.

M.A. in Psychology

IGNOU has fixed the maximumduration of management programmesat eight years. The existing 3.81 lakh

students, enrolled in Managementprogrammes, have been asked tocomplete all the requirements to getDegrees/Diplomas by the December2010 term-end examination. TheCircular in this regard can bedownloaded from www.ignou.ac.in(Students’ Zone). Re-registration for theJuly 2010 session is now open. The lastdate for submitting the re-registrationform, with late fee, at the respectiveRegional Centres is April 20.

VC Prof Pillai, Prof Sunaina Kumar (second from right) and other officials at the meeting.

IGNOU will facilitate a month-longtraining at publishing houses forlearners pursuing a PG Diploma in Book

Publishing, during which they will be paida stipend of Rs 2,500.

This was announced at an orientationprogramme for course apprenticeship atthe University campus in New Delhi. Forthe learners, IGNOU will also providestudy material in several ways — print,

audio and video, teleconferencing andface-to-face interaction — and on-the-jobtraining at a publishing house.

IGNOU has tied up with the Federationof Indian Publishers (FIP) and the traineeswould get a joint certificate on completionof the programme. The last date forsubmission of application is April 30.Students may contact Prof Sunaina Kumarat (011) 29533657 for further details.�

Stipend for learners in book publishing

Course duration fixed

They have the infrastructure andtheir students have the burningdesire to partake of the learningthat takes place in those brick-

and-mortar classrooms. Yet, conventionalhigher educational institutes, despite theavailability of facilities (at least in theevening hours, known as “idling time”),are constrained to keep the number ofstudents under control, because theaffiliating university, and the guidelinesthat the university adheres to, want it tobe so. Which inadvertently means a capon the number of students who can enrolfor higher education.

In this scenario, how does the countryachieve the Eleventh Five Year Plan goalof increasing the Gross Enrolment Ratio(GER) by 15 per cent?

Surely, innovative thinking is required,and that is what IGNOU has done in theselast two years, by allying withUniversities and higher educationinstitutes to make use of their resourcesin the “idling time” to run IGNOUprogrammes. This arrangement is thecalled ‘Convergence Scheme’.

Speaking at a recent meeting on thetheme ‘IGNOU Convergence Scheme: AnInitiative for Enhancement of GrossEnrolment Ratio’, Vice Chancellor Prof

V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai said: “Toincrease GER, we have to think radically.A large number of students can’t getadmission to affiliated colleges. Schemeslike Convergence help in running anadditional shift.”

The Convergence Scheme, conceivedjointly by the University GrantsCommission (UGC), IGNOU, the DistanceEducation Council (DEC) and All IndiaCouncil for Technical Education (AICTE),is indeed radical. It envisages a rarecollaborative approach between twodifferent university systems, to offeradvantages to students in myriad ways.

Under the system, the PartnerInstitutions have the following options:

� Enhanced Access Programme: Thepartner may offer any undergraduate orpost-graduate programme of IGNOU, asper IGNOU guidelines.

� Value-added Programmes: Thepartnering institute can enrol itsundergraduate/postgraduate students orboth for certificate and diplomaprogrammes offered by IGNOU as a value-added programme.

� Dual Degrees: Students enrolled inpartner institutions might be given thechoice of simultaneously enrolling for adegree of the same level in IGNOU.


SPOTLIGHT

Confluence of MindsIGNOU’sConvergence Scheme bringsto the table the best features of the conventionaleducation systemand Open DistanceLearning

VC Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai and Pro-VC Dr Latha Pillai during the meeting at the University campus in New Delhi.

� Joint Degrees: There’s the possibilityof IGNOU offering a joint degree with apartnering university. Here, the academicprogramme will be jointly formulated bythe two universities.

The partnering institute has to providethe infrastructure, including classrooms,labs, furniture and equipment and alsofaculty, among other responsibilities.

IGNOU provides the study material.Among IGNOU’s responsibilities arefinancial grants under recurring and non-recurring heads (including an initial grantof Rs 1 lakh for setting up an office);training the partner institute in ODL andICT, and study material.

The ground coveredThe scheme, which is still in its teethingstage, has currently got 441 PartnerInstitutions across the country, and hasreceived 45,000 students in itsfold. It has 19 PG programmes,27 PG Diploma programmes, 15Bachelor Programmes, 15Diploma Programmes and 29Certificate Programmes, popularcourses being certificateprogrammes Lab Technician,Teaching English, FunctionalEnglish and Business Skills,and PG Diploma inJournalism and MassCommunication, amongothers. Diploma in PrimaryEducation, PG Diploma inHigher Education and PG Diploma in DistanceEducation are popularcourses.

Miles to goThe scheme, by makingavailable infrastructure ofcolleges and institutes forIGNOU programmes, is agood first step towards to increasing GER.Particularly if students are given theoption to answer questions in their ownlanguage, as Prof Pillai announced duringthe meeting. Of course, members present

at the event felt the schemewould have even greater impactif, going one step ahead, not onlywere question papers madeavailable in regional languages,but study materials also!

A point that both the Vice Chancellor and Pro-Vice

Chancellor Dr Latha Pillaihad discussed was that theConvergence Scheme wouldmark a transition for theUniversity.

Classroom interaction willbring into focus problemsthat students might befacing. But then, the bigquestion is that ofavailability of faculty. Will the existing faculty ofcolleges take on the extraworkload of the secondshift?

Manjoo Phadke, Director,Indira Group of Institutes, Pune, whichoffers MBA and MCA programmes, saysthey invite visiting faculty for the courses.“These are all senior people and take up alot of case studies. The classroom

interaction is such that the distance taggets negated.” Dr Latha Pillai, whileclarifying that the faculty in thepartnering institute need not be the sameone as for their own programmes, says,“They can make good use ofteleconferencing and webcast facilitiesmade available by IGNOU.”

Some partners are more proactivethan others. Dr Nirmala Vaz of Jyoti NiwasCollege, Bangalore, said that her tie-upwith IGNOU was smooth because “I workwith heart and soul... If there’s anyproblem with study materials, I pick themup from IGNOU whenever I come to Delhi,and have photocopies circulated tostudents.”

Prof Y.S. Chauhan, IGNOU Coordinator,Christian Eminent College, Indore, saidhis institute took printouts from e-Gyankosh, gave it to the counsellor, andleft the option of taking printouts open to students.

The cost of study material is in-builtinto the fee structure and, as Dr Bishwajit Purkayastha of CacharCollege, Silchar, Assam, says, “It is ourjob to provide the learners with the study material at any cost.”�

“The visitingfaculties take up

a lot of casestudies. Theclassroom

interaction issuch that thedistance tag

gets negated.”— Manjoo Phadke, Indira

Group of Institutes


A section of the audience at the ‘IGNOU Convergence Scheme’ meeting.

PASSINGBYPROF MARGERY FEE,UNIVERSITY OF BRITISHCOLUMBIA, CANADA

Margery Fee, Professor ofEnglish at University of

British Columbia, Canada,visited the School of Gender

and Development Studies recently to deliver thelecture on ‘Intellectual Property, Women &Aboriginal stories of Contemporary Canada.’

DR JOHN DAYAL, MEMBER,NATIONAL INTEGRATIONCOUNCIL OF INDIA

IGNOU’s Dr B.R. Ambedkar Chairon Social Change and

Development organised a lectureon ‘Issues of Dalit Christians”

recently. The lecture, delivered by Dr John Dayal ofthe National Integration Council of India, dealt withproblems Dalit Christians face today.

PROF M.J. MODAYIL, AGRICULTURAL SCIENTISTRECRUITMENT BOARD

The School of Agriculturerecently invited Prof M.J.

Modayil, a member of theAgricultural Scientist

Recruitment Board, to deliver a lecture on ‘TimeManagement’. He told the gathering of activitiesthat can be avoided to manage time effectively.

12 IGNOU OPEN LETTER | APRIL 15, 2010

21STCONVOCATION

On March 15, the University’sConvocation Day, nearly 18,000learners received Degrees,Diplomas and Certificates at 43

Regional Centres (RC) across the country.The RCs joined the ceremony via video-conferencing. In all, 1,33,628 studentsreceived Degrees, Diplomas andCertificates this year.

The Bhubaneswar RC, honoured with theBest Regional Centre in the plains awardduring the Convocation Day celebrations atthe IGNOU Headquarters, awarded 650students Degrees, Diplomas andCertificates. The Chief Guest, Debi PrasadMishra, State Higher Education, Tourismand Culture Minister, praised IGNOU foroffering innovative programmes to a largesegment of the population.

Another distinguished guest, Prof. P.C.Mohapatra, highlighted the contribution ofIGNOU in national development in generaland Orissa, in particular.

In Madurai, nearly 470 learners from 17districts received Degrees, Diplomas andCertificates in person. Delivering the 21st

Regional Convocation Address of MaduraiRegional Centre, Prof. S.M. Ramasamy,Vice Chancellor, Gandhigram RuralInstitute, said even as the country gallopsfaster in hi-tech sectors like biotechnology,food science and geo-spatial technologies,the fast growth had not percolated down toreach people living at the margins,especially in rural areas. IGNOU wasrendering yeomen service by providing high-tech education in all possible disciplines, headded.

Presenting the report card of MaduraiRegional Centre, Regional Director Dr. M.Shanmugam said the centre has theprivilege of having maximum learnersupport centres in the entire country forthe B.Ed. Programme, registering an 18 per cent growth in enrollment in 2009compared to the previous year.

Nagpur Regional Centre organised theConvocation Ceremony for the first time.Prof Ved Prakash Mishra, Vice Chancellor,Datta Meghe Institute of Medical SciencesUniversity, Nagpur, was the Chief Guest atthe event. He emphasised that the ODL

18,000 learnersreceived Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates at the Regional Centres (RC)across the country in a Convocation Ceremony joined by 43 RCs via video-conferencing

AT AN ASTRONAUT’S HOMETOWN:A learner receiving a degree from Banarsi Lal Chawla (second from right), father of late astronaut Kalpana Chawla; Dr Arvind Sharma; and Dr Ashok Sharma at the Convocation Ceremony held at Karnal Regional Centre. (Photo Top Right) Prof S.M. Ramasamy (right), VC, Gandhi-gram Rural Institute, handing over a degree to a student at Madurai RC. (Photo Right) Dr B.N. Suresh, Director, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, and Regional Director B. Sukumar handing over a degree to a student at Thiruvananthapuram RC.

10

RCs Celebrate

Learners’ Day

form of education was the best option inmeeting the constitutional guarantee ofeducation for all.

Karnal RC awarded 314 studentsDegrees, Diplomas and Certificates inperson. Dr. Arvind Sharma, MP, was theChief Guest and Banarsi Lal Chawla,renowned Industrialist and father of thelate Kalpana Chawla (NASA astronaut whodied when Space Shuttle Columbia disinte-grated) was the Special Guest at the event.

At the Cochin RC, renowned economistProf Michael Tharakan delivered theconvocation address to a packedauditorium of learners, academics andexperts.

Bangalore University Vice Chancellor Dr N. Prabhu, Guest of Honour at theBangalore RC, said: “One must make adistinction between a University and acollege or a training centre. The latter areimportant places of learning but aUniversity is something more. It must be aplace where knowledge is imparted andacquired.” IGNOU is the torchbearer of thisdream, Dr Prabhu added.�

KEEP PACE WITH TECHNOLOGY(Photo Below Left) Bangalore University Vice Chancellor Dr. N. Prabhu delivering the keynote address at the ceremonyheld at Bangalore Regional Centre. He emphasised on the need to continuously update their knowledge to keep pace with the changing environment. (Photo Below Right) Debi Prasad Mishra, State Higher Education, Tourism andCulture Minister being honoured at the Convocation Ceremony organised by Bhubaneswar RC.

REACHING THE DOWNTRODDEN(Photo Above Left) Prof Michael Tharakan at the Convocation Ceremony at the Kochi Regional Centre.(Photo Above Right) Santosh Kumar, IAS, Chief Administrator, Kalahandi Balangir Koraput (KBK), withAbhilash Nayak, Regional Director, lighting the traditional lamp to inaugurate the Koraput RC’s Convocation Ceremony. Nearly 155 learners received Degrees and Diplomas at the Koraput event.

EDUCATION FOR ALL(Photo Above Left) Prof Ved Prakash Mishra, VC, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences University,Nagpur, handing over a degree to a learner at Nagpur Regional Centre. (Photo Above Right) Learners atNagpur RC with Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates.

HALL OF FAME


Open Letter will cover the Convocation Ceremonies of other RCs as and when we receive information.


NEWSUPDATES

factoids To reach as many students as possible, IGNOU has developed a database of 4,00,000 learners for its SMS

Services that will provide any kind of ODL information.

In an effort to give an impetus to thefuture of optical astronomy in India,two novel astrophysics projects —Astrosal and Tauvex — would be

launched in the next two years that wouldprovide precise results in the field ofastrophysics and astronomy, said ProfSiraj Hasan, Director, Indian Institute ofAstrophysics (IIA), Bangalore.

Prof Hasan was speaking at the two-daySilver Jubilee seminar on ‘Recent Trends inAstronomy and Astrophysics’, at the IGNOUcampus in New Delhi on March 22. Jointlyorganised by the School for Interdisciplinaryand Trans-disciplinary Studies (SOITS) andStudent Services Centre (SSC), the seminarwas presided over by Vice Chancellor ProfV.N. Rajasekharan Pillai.

Tauvex is a collaborative project withIsrael, said Prof Hasan. “Setting up largetelescopes is beyond our capacity. Itrequired huge funds. A consortia of severalcountries should be created as it is notpossible to create a 30-metre or 40-metre

long telescope on our own,” he added. Two special lectures were part of the

seminar. The first, titled ‘Galileoscope toHyper-telescope,’ was delivered by S.K.Saha, chairman of the Board of GraduateStudies at IIA, and the second, titled‘Discovering the Universe’, was deliveredby T. Prabhu, an IIA researcher.

Referring to the fact that even as

the West was caught in a sort ofideological mess in astronomy, Pro-ViceChancellor Prof K.R. Srivathsan saidthat though astronomy and astrophysicswere avowedly pursued by students inIndia, the quality of teaching in thesecore sciences was poor. “We need tonurture excellent teachers inastrophysics,” added Prof Srivathsan.

“India needs to strengthen itsefforts in creating huge data;developing physical models for teachingand learning processes; creating novelalgorithms and developing state-of-the-art computers,” he added.

IGNOU’s MSc-PhD Programme in Physics and Astrophysics, incollaboration with the IIA, is targeted atproviding a proper orientation tostudents from the post-graduate level,said Dr C.K. Ghosh, Director, SSC. TheUniversity is mulling more programmeson astrophysics and astronomy, saidSOITS Director Prof Nandini Sinha Kapur.�

Prof Siraj Hasan, Director, IIA, at the seminar.

‘India needs quality physics teachers’

24,000 rural youths on telecom, BPO radar

NIS-Sparta, a learning solutionscompany in the private sector,has joined hands with the IndiraGandhi National Open University

(IGNOU) to train and place24,000 youths from poor familiesin the telecom and BPO sectors.

The project is part of aMinistry of Rural Developmentinitiative to increaseemployability of youngsters frombelow poverty line (BPL) families.

“It is an honour to sign an MoUwith IGNOU for the Ministry of RuralDevelopment. The focus will be to helpyouth upgrade their skills and findsuitable employment. This initiative is anexample of NIS-Sparta’s commitment

towards the skill-building requirements forIndian youth,” said Gautam Roy, vicepresident of NIS-Sparta.

IGNOU said the agreement will

channelise efforts towards ensuring youthare trained and employed. NIS-Sparta willsource and train candidates in 15 statesfor placement in the telecom and BPOsector. They will be using information and

communication technologies extensivelyfor blended technology-based training andto manage and control the project on apan-India basis and train 24,000candidates in the first phase, and placethem in private sector, with the rightopportunity.

For the next phase, NIS is gearing upto meet a target of 100,000 beneficiariesper year under this project, covering alldomains.

“The training is conducted in twosectors — IT and telecom — and is a veryuseful scheme for the rural population.This programme will help thousandsacross the country,” noted C.G. Naidu,Director, School of Vocational Educationand Training, IGNOU.�

“The focus will be to help youth upgradetheir skills and findsuitable employment.”

— Gautam Roy, NIS-Sparta


NEWSUPDATES

Our democracy may be in danger,but democracy in literature isthriving. Literature does notrecognise caste, gender or colour

or follow the rules of society.Stressing these ideas, Prof Namwar

Singh, a noted litterateur and a recipientof the Sahitya Academi Award, deliveredthe fourth Silver Jubilee Lecture, titled‘The Democracy of Literature: Place of theMarginalised,’ at the University’sConvention Centre on March 30.

Prof Singh presented several examplesfrom the writings of prominent Hindi writers

like Nirala and Sudama Pandey ‘Dhumil’. Heread out poems to illustrate how theyplaced Dalits in their compositions. AProfessor Emeritus of Hindi at JawaharlalNehru University, Prof Singh said themarginalised, paradoxically, have beenleaders in mainstream literature and Hindiliterature is no exception to the rule.

Prof Shambhu Nath Singh, Director,School of Journalism and New MediaStudies, said: “However much marketsinfluence the writings, literature for themarginalised is and will be an importanttopic of deliberation.”�

Prof Namwar Singh delivering the fourth Silver Jubilee Lecture in New Delhi.

Democracy in Literature thriving: Prof Singh

The key to rejuvenating the writtenform of literature lies in a judicioususe of web-based technologieswhere the written text is

supported by visual/video form that keepsthe interest of a young audience alive.

In the process, the art of translationalso benefits and the bond betweentranslation and literature matures, saideminent scholar Prof G.N. Devy whiledelivering the keynote address at a two-

day national seminar on ‘Translation andLiterature’ at the Lalit Kala Akademi inNew Delhi on March 20.

Dr Deo Shankar Navin, Director, Schoolof Translation Studies and Training thatorganised the seminar, welcomed thespeakers.

In a session titled ‘Translation and theIdea of Indian Literature,’ Prof Indra NathChoudhry, a noted scholar and formerSahitya Academi Secretary, emphasised

the need to re-invigorate Indianlanguages through appropriateadaptation of the best thatforeign languages offer in theirliterature.

In another session titled‘Translation and the Idea ofWorld Literature’, well-knownHindi poet Ashok Vajpeyi calledon litterateurs to help transformthe Hindi language into a pool ofworld literature.

Writer Vishnu Khare discussedboth the European and Indiantrends in the modern period inliterature.

On March 21, a brainstormingsession on ‘Translation andColonial Encounters’ wasorganised. “English has, on onehand, helped the marginalisedraise their voice at internationalfora and, on the other, hascommercialised the translationsector,” said noted writer Dr Anamika.

Hindi scholar Prof Manager Pandey,during a session titled ‘NationalMovement and Role of Translation’,discussed the national movement andhow it inspired the process of translationfrom one regional language to another.

Concluding the session, Prof VijayKapoor, adviser to the Vice Chancellor,stressed on focusing on translation forboth the development of knowledge andits dissemination.�

‘Web can save dying art of translations’

From left, Prof G.N. Devy, Dr Anamika and Vishnu Khare at various sessions during the national seminar on ‘Translation and Literature’ at Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi on March 20.


They came, they saw and spreadthe word about disability as anational problem. Nearly 50students of IGNOU’s School of

Journalism and New Media Studiesevaluated 48 short documentary filmson disability and related issues duringa two-day film festival held at the University’s Electronic MediaProduction Centre (EMPC) on March 18-19.

The festival, that showcaseddocumentaries ranging from 30seconds to an hour in length, wasorganised by the University incollaboration with two non-governmental organisations — ‘We Care’ and ‘Brotherhood.’

“The aim of the festival was to makethe students aware of disability andrelated issues. They were given answersheets where they rated each and everyfilm on things like the idea behind thefilm, its execution, camera work,cinematography, aesthetics, etc.,” saidProf Padmini Jain, who anchored the

festival. “The festival is being organisedat 18 venues across the country and oncethe evaluation part is done, the three topdocumentaries will be presented withawards.”

The event at IGNOU was the sixth ofthe planned series, that include IITs, BITS(Pilani) and other universities.

Vice Chancellor Prof V.N. RajasekharanPillai, in his valedictory address, assured

the students that the University wouldprovide new opportunities to work onsocially relevant areas. “Disability isjust not physical, mental orintellectual. Even deprivation fromsocial inclusion is also a type ofdisability in Indian society. These filmscarry such messages,” Prof Pillaisaid.

Films like ‘Sign Language’ (30-seconds), ‘Jeevan Path’ (1-min),‘Butterfly Wings’(30-min), ‘WhiteBalance’ (a 48-min film on a child withDown Syndrome which showed howhis family helped him lead a normallife), ‘Hausle Ki Udaan’ (13-min,

filming children with different types ofdisabilities), ‘Waiting For You’ (5-min).were screened during the festival. “It wasthrilling to notice how the new mediastudents reacted with such verve andanalytical capabilities,” said Prof Jain.

SOJNMS Director Prof Shambhu NathSingh said the awards ceremony will behosted at the New Delhi Campus on May 3, World Disability Day.�

Contemporary writings reflect gender struggle

Deliberating on the need toimpart skill-basededucation to women,IGNOU’s School of Gender

and Development Studies(SOGDS) organised a paneldiscussion at the University’sConvention Centre recently.

Titled ‘Contemporary Status ofWomen’s Struggle, Work andWritings,’ the event was presidedover by Vice Chancellor ProfessorV.N. Rajasekharan Pillai.

The participants in the panel discussionwere Dr. Lakshmi Kanan, a renowned Tamil

poet and fiction writer;Maitreyi Pushpa, a writerwhose writing has dominantlycontributed to the feministdiscourse in Hindi literature;and Rekha Awasthi, a Hindiliterary critic.

“A woman can very well articulate her rightsthrough folk songs. But,unfortunately, these songsare not heard by men as we

are still living in a patriarchal society,”Pushpa said. Dr Kanan added: “Patriarchyis a culture we have grown up with. It

can’t be thrown away in a day. If womenwant to kill patriarchy, they have to joinmen, not become female chauvinists inthe process.”

“SOGDS and School of Agriculturetogether will start a Diploma/PGCertificate in Gender, Agriculture andSustainability. There are also plans tolaunch a programme in Gender and Law,jointly by SOGDS and the School of Law”,announced Prof Savita Singh, Director,SOGDS.

The discussion was followed by astreet play ‘Dayra’ by Sangwari, a streettheatre group.�

factoids Tna nuNbah i f fhsonat phi faeeoi nsle v ni usn phi vot a bseouekolle fi fna t oesblat oe 48,000G v nola fna t aNsnt oe

fi h 200,000 — s csp i f 152,000.

SOJNMS Director Prof Shambhu Nath Singh addressing learners at the film festival.

Maitreyi Pushpa.

NEWSUPDATES

Film fest raises disability issues


The Green Valley Community College(GVCC) Group, registered withIGNOU, has set up two community

colleges in Tamil Nadu and one each inAndhra Pradesh and Orissa.

The third joint academic committeemeeting in Chennai recently, attended byProf K Elumalai, School of Law (SOL),IGNOU, approved the syllabus for skill-based and job-oriented courses to beoffered by these colleges.

A few of these programmes are inmultimedia and animation, softwareengineering, computer-aided design anddrafting (CADD), tally, laptop and mobile

phone maintenance, and garmentmaking.

The GVCC will take care of academicresponsibilities like course preparation,content development, syllabusfinalisation, creditisation of theprogrammes, programme delivery,evaluation, term-end examinations,continuous assessments, facultydevelopment and faculty accreditation.

Dr C.K. Ghosh, director, StudentsServices Centre, has sent the requireddocuments to these colleges to befollowed as a standard format for thecreditisation scheme.�

REGIONALUPDATES

IIVET, Shillong, in collabo-ration with IGNOU’sSchool of Performing and

Visual Arts, organised atwo-day Expert Committeemeeting on formulatingcourse guidelines for a pro-posed Certificate/DiplomaProgramme on Folk Theatreof North-East India on amodular basis. Expertsfrom various walks of lifeattended the meeting heldat Shillong RC on April 5-6.

STUDENTS’CORNER

Preeti Dhiman of CPWD andAvinash Thapa of Indian Oil

Corporation thank IGNOU not just forthe Degrees they have both got, butfor much more. The Universitybrought the two together duringclassroom interactions at the DelhiCollege of Arts and Commerce(DCAC) in Delhi. The two finallycame to tie the knot. Seeing thevalue that an IGNOU educationprovides, Preeti proceeded to pursuea PG Degree in Hindi from the sameUniversity. “I am a translator. MBAis a professional degree and notcounted for the work that I’m doing.So I needed a Master’s degree,” shesays. So, the next stop is the Schoolof Translation Studies.

Homera Ansari’sstudent-like

personanotwithstanding,this 23-year-oldlecturer in computerapplications at aVaranasi college

demonstrates determination and grit.“I had done a B.Com. but I wantedspecialised knowledge ininternational business organisation,and at IGNOU, I got the opportunityto study this aspect even whileworking. “I believe in self-study. And the study material of IGNOU was excellent.” Her success mantraincludes “blessings of elders, hardwork and luck”. Her nextdestination? A Ph.D.

‘Believe inself-study’

When IGNOUunites them!

Folk theatre of the North-East

GVCC in Tamil Nadu, Orissa

Members deliberate during the joint academic committee meeting in Chennai.

IIVET-Shillong Director A. Guha with experts.

Prof Omvedt honoured withLifetime Achievement Award

Professor Gail Omvedt, Chairperson,Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar Chair on

Social Change and Development atIGNOU, was felicitated with the Awardfor Lifetime Achievement in the area ofsocial activism by the Marathi newspaperMahanayak recently. Prof. Omvedt hasworked actively with social movementsin India, including Dalit and farmersmovements. The B.R. Ambedkar Chairworks towards dissemination of ideasand thoughts of Dr. Ambedkar on issueslike human rights, religion, philosophyincluding the studies in economic,history and political science.�

More Evaluation Centres set up

Over 28 lakh students across India willget their exam results faster and

more conveniently as IGNOU has createdsix zones to decentralise evaluation ofanswer scripts.

“IGNOU has decentralised theevaluation of answer scripts at five morezonal Evaluation Centres in Chennai,Patna, Pune, Lucknow and Guwahati, inaddition to Delhi,” the University said in a statement.

Consequent to decentralisation,revaluation of answer scripts, photocopiesof answer scripts and early declaration ofresults of term-end examinations will behandled at the respective EvaluationCentres. The application form for re-evaluation of answer scripts can besubmitted by the student to the respectiveEvaluation Centres.�


MILESTONESONCAMPUS

HIGHLIGHTS

Fourth VC takes over1998: The International Conference onCollaborative and Networked Learning is held at IGNOU and a Web Meeting is organised onInternet. !Prof A.W. Khan takes over as the fourth ViceChancellor of IGNOU.!Prof N.R. Arthnayake, Vice Chancellor, OpenUniversity of Sri Lanka, delivers the third ProfRam Reddy Memorial Lecture titled ‘Profile of a21st Century Distance Teacher — A DevelopingWorld Paradigm’. !The School of Continuing Education conductsteleconferencing for Women’s EmpowermentProgramme, prepared in collaboration with theDepartment of Women and Child Developmentand the Ministry of Human ResourcesDevelopment. M.M. Joshi, Union Minister HRD,participates in the conference.

Asian Regional ConferenceJanuary, 1999: IGNOU, in collaboration withNIEPA, UNESCO, NCERT, NCTE and MHRD,organises Asian Regional Conference on‘Learning: The Treasure Within’.

Award of ExcellenceMarch, 1999: The Commonwealth of Learning(COL) confers the ‘Award of Excellence forDistance Education Material’ on IGNOU forthe course titled ‘Education and Training ofElected Members of Panchayats ThroughDistance Mode’.

The Treasure Within

SUNDAYApril 1809:30: Disha — I: Career in Sales andMarketing, Basic Bio— Technology18:30: NIOS: 1. Natureand Scope of Business2. Agriculture Practices21:00: IGNOU-SOMS:Restructuring Indian Business22:00: IGNOU/Culture: Premchand Ke Upnyas22:30: JanthuvulloNaadee Vyavastha

TUESDAYApril 2008:30: IGNOU-SOCE:Career Opportunities inPublic Relations 14:30: NITTTR:BPL-39 — Women inManagement 20:00: UGC/CEC: Ratio Analysis — I: Accounting, Bank Correlation of Coefficient: Spearman,Rothamsted: A Pioneer in AgriculturalResearch

THURSDAYApril 2208:30: IGNOU-SOH: Commonwealth Literature Today, Part-I18:30: NIOS: 1. Self Employment2. Animal Husbandry20:00: C/CEC: Sound — X, ThePhysics of Music — II:The String Instrument,Laws of Motion — I21:00: IGNOU-SOE:Profile of an ElementarySchool Children

SATURDAYApril 2405:30: UGC/CEC: Water Conservation And Harvesting11:00: UGC/CEC: Introduction to Anthropology – I,Paithology AurSwasthya

TUESDAYApril 2708:30: IGNOU-SOE:M.A. (Edu.) Under-standing Research16:00: IGNOU-SOCIS:BIT ADIT-89VE — The Software EngineeringConcepts — An Overview

FRIDAYApril 3005:30: UGC/CEC: Ladies in Labs: LadyBehind Signals andEchoes, Plastics — I13:00: Science/Envi-ronment/: Applicationsof the First Law of Thermodynamics

[ Not to be

MissedWatch a special programme

on ‘Urban Survival —Women Workers’ in the Unorganized Sector at 05.30a.m. on Thursday (April 29).Nearly 40 crore people work in the unorganised sector inIndia. Of them, 12 crore arewomen.

]

Prof Gail Omvedt paying tribute to Dr B.R.Ambedkar at IGNOU campus in New Delhi.

IGNOU City Centre at YMCA, New Delhi.

open letter april 2010

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