open letter august 2011

IGNOU OPEN LETTER | AUGUST 15, 20112

Open Universities as a system of higher education in the country is almost 30years old. Even before the first Open University was established in 1982,correspondence courses, postal classes and distance education were part ofthe regular University system for decades. Many established old Universities

like Delhi, Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Annamalai University, Mysore and Madurai havebeen offering higher education to a large number of people even before the emergenceof the open university system as a separate stream.

Private registration for regular class room-taught courses and then a commonexamination, for both full-time and private registration students, was also an establishedpattern in many affiliating universities. Candidates from all parts of the country and evenPeople of Indian Origin (PIOs) from other countries used to appear in such examinations inlarge numbers and get qualified with under-graduate and post-graduate degrees.

Many of such private registration candidates or correspondence students faired equallywell or even better than regular full-time students. Such students havebeen gainfully employed or were successful in their career progression,reaching high positions in the public or private sector employments inthe country and abroad.

Many of theses practices continue even now in the regularestablished University education system. In fact, several newly-established Universities opt for starting distance education from thevery beginning, even before they equip themselves for the regularclassroom teaching. The degree certificates awarded by residentialand campus-based universities to various types of distance learners

and private registration candidates are in no way different from those given to the regularfull-time students.

This gives the distance learners in such universities an edge over the students of openuniversities. But the degrees offered by open universities are not really treated on parwith the degrees of conventional universities.

This mechanical way of looking at the quality of degrees offered by universities shouldgo. There are thousands of cases of degrees offered by open universities much higher inquality and outcome than the degrees conferred by certain campus-based and residentialuniversities. Some of the open universities in the country have faculty, infrastructure,state-of-the-art facilities and teaching-learning practices which excel the regularUniversity system. But just because the word “open” is attached to the University’s name,their top quality graduates are not getting due recognition. There has to be a mechanismby which this glaring discrepancy is removed.

The degrees offered by various universities whether it is open or regular, need to beassessed and accredited in terms of the course content, faculty support, deliverymechanism, knowledge acquisition and examination pattern. The degree certificates andthe grade cards should also specifically reflect the accreditation status and specificallythe mode of delivery — full-time, part-time, ODL, or the hybrid mode. This is necessaryfor giving a correct picture to the stakeholders about the awarded qualification and itsquality.

Internationally, there is no distinction between the degree offered by regular varsitiesand open universities. In fact, the UK Open University is in the top quality list in terms ofrecognition as per government and industry norms and student satisfaction survey.

Considering the fact that in India, 20 percent of the student population are in the openuniversity system, it is high time policy interventions are made to ensure appropriaterecognition of high-quality degrees offered by open universities. At the same time, weshould also check/curb low-quality programmes being offered through distance educationin the conventional system as well as in the open universities.

The recent recommendations of Prof. Madhava Menon Committee appointed by theMinistry of Human Resource Development may be implemented by the CentralGovernment and State Governments to ensure quality, standards and acceptability of thedistance education system.

4

CONTENTSRegional Reach

Signs of Future

INFOCUS: IGNOUtakes another step forward indecentralising itsODL system, as PresidentPratibha Patil lays thefoundation stone of IGNOU’sSouthern Regional Campus inThiruvanathapuram

TOP RANKINGS............ 03

NEWS UPDATES...... 09

IGNITE 2011.............11

INDEPENDENCE DAY.13

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

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

08 SPOTLIGHT: IGNOU, in collaborationwith the Ministry of Social Justiceand Empowerment, will establishthe country’s first Indian SignLanguage Research & TrainingCentre (ISLRTC) at the University

IGNOU OPEN LETTER is Printed by PrintekGrafix, 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: +91-11-29571000

(30 lines); +91-11-29535924-29 Fax: +91-11-29535933;

E-mail: [email protected]

Managing Editor: Ravi MohanEditorial Advisor: Deepak Dwivedi

Photos: Amlan PaliwalPhotos provided by: Rajesh Sharma

Advisory Council:Prof P.R. Ramanujam,

Dr Latha Pillai

Design and Production: IANS Publishing (www.ianspublishing.com)

FROMthe vice chancellor

V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai

Open University Degrees: Stakeholders’ Perceptions

IGNOU OPEN LETTER | AUGUST 15, 2011 3

TOPrankings

IGNOU tops India’s distance learning charts

The Indira Gandhi National Open Uni-versity (IGNOU) has topped the Ca-reers 360-Yahoo! India’s list ofIndia’s Best Distance Learning In-

stitutes 2011.According to the nationwide perception

survey on distance learning by Careers360 magazine and Yahoo! India, IGNOU sitsat the top with over 500 programmes andfour million students.

The varsity is followed by YashwantraoC. Maharashtra Open University, Nasik, atthe second position, and IMT Distance andOpen Learning Institute, Ghaziabad, at thethird place. University of Delhi has beenranked 16th according to the survey.

IGNOU has also topped the survey’s ‘Re-sources and Reach of the University’ cate-gory. The University caters toGyan Vani, an educational FMradio network providing pro-grammes covering differentaspects and levels of educa-tion, including primary andsecondary education, adulteducation, technical and voca-tional education, higher edu-cation and extensioneducation. It also runs an ed-ucationally dedicated TV chan-nel called ‘Gyan Darshan’,which broadcasts lectures byeminent faculty members ofthe University.

Yashwantrao C. Maharashtra Open Uni-versity stands second, followed by U.P. Ra-jarshi Tandon Open University at third,Annamalai University at fourth and Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Open University at fifth place.University of Delhi is ranked at the sixthposition in its resources and reach.

According to a statement by Careers

360 and Yahoo! India on the research andmethodology procedure followed, “The Uni-verse for Open and Distance Learning Insti-tutes (ODLIs) in India comprises of 249institutes, out of which 188 institutes arecurrently offering Distance Education pro-grammes. Given the nature of operations ofODLIs and the lack of adequate data withthe Distance Education Council (DEC), as

also in the public domain, shortlist-ing top 50 institutions was done thisyear on the basis of student enroll-ment data. The logic being the pop-ularity of the institutions, on thebasis of their admissions.”

“Careers360 then sent letters tothese 50 institutions, and based onthe responses received as well asthe data supplied by DEC, 32 insti-tutes were finally chosen for rankingpurpose. Further, visits were madeto all the institutes that respondedas well as to select study centres of

others to build a robust database.”“The input primarily looked at the reach,

infrastructure and diversity of the institu-tions in providing distance education. Theprocess emphasised on the quality of re-sources and delivery mechanism, whileoutput focussed on the performance of theinstitute in facilitating the trained studentin getting a better prospect.”�

IGNOU has topped the list with over 500 programmes and four million students.

Varsity bags top spot in Careers 360-Yahoo! India’s list of Best Distance Learning Institutes

The Indira Gandhi National Open Univer-sity (IGNOU) has secured the 16th po-sition in the Webometrics Ranking of

Top Universities in South Asia.The top spots in the list belong to Indian

Universities such as IIT Bombay, Indian Insti-tute of Science Bangalore, IIT Kanpur, IITMadras bagging the first four positions; fol-lowed by Tata Institute of Fundamental Re-

search, IIT Delhi, University of Delhi, Birla In-stitute of Technology & Science Pilani, IITRoorkee, Anna University Chennai, IITKharagpur, IIM Kozhikode, Jawaharlal NehruUniversity, among others.

IGNOU serves the educational aspirationsof over 4 million students in India and 40other countries through 21 Schools of Stud-ies and a network of 63 Regional Centres,

around 3,000 learner support centres and 67overseas centres. The University offers about445 Certificate, Diploma, Degree and Doc-toral programmes, with a strength of nearly420 faculty members and academic staff atthe Headquarters and Regional Centres andabout 36,000 academic counsellors.

For the complete list, visit www.webometrics.info.�

...Ranks 16th amongst South Asian universities

Rank Name of the Institution Location Resources Learning Output Total& Reach Experience (300) 1000

300 4001 Indira Gandhi National Open University New Delhi 205.31 258.12 198.00 661.432 Yashwantrao C. Maharashtra Open University Nasik 145.20 239.54 233.16 617.903 IMT Distance and Open Learning Institute Ghaziabad 40.55 285.00 258.14 583.694 Sikkim Manipal University Gangtok 65.40 279.91 200.85 546.165 University of Mumbai Mumbai 18.04 262.35 256.32 536.716 Maulana Azad National Urdu University Hyderabad 59.71 215.91 249.17 524.797 Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Open University Hyderabad 81.27 210.00 229.46 520.728 Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning Pune 31.98 240.00 235.50 507.489 Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University Ahmedabad 31.66 220.80 246.23 498.6810 Annamalai University Annamalainagar 93.20 195.00 206.00 494.20

4 IGNOU OPEN LETTER | AUGUST 15, 2011

The story unfolds like this:In December last year, the Univer-sity decentralised the evaluationand examination administration

processes at seven Regional Centres,under the supervision of a Deputy Regis-trar for each of this evaluation centres, andclosely supervised by Registrar, StudentEvaluation Division, and a team of seniorUniversity professors.The Student Evaluation Division (SED)

of IGNOU created history in completing theevaluation and result declaration of overthree lakh students, who appeared for theDecember 2010 examination, in less than45 days! More than 97 percent results were de-

clared and uploaded at the IGNOU websiteon 14th February, 2011. As on 23rd Feb-ruary, nearly two percent results wereprocessed.

In addition, the pending results of nearly70,000 learners, with regard to variousterm examinations prior to December2010 for want of completion of assign-ments, practicals and updating of markswere also successfully completed by theSED.The evaluation centres, under their su-

pervision, tied up with the local reputed ed-ucational institutions/universities, forevaluating answer-scripts at their prem-ises. This arrangement was done wherethere were a huge number of answer-scripts to be taken care of.The experiences proved that IGNOU was

on its way to create a robust, fool-proof de-centralised system for all student supportactivities of the University.In addition to this, the University has al-

ready begun decentralising its printing anddistribution operations for logistic conven-

INFocusWith PresidentPratibha Patil layingthe foundation stoneof IGNOU’s SouthernRegional Campus inThiruvanathapuram,the University takes a giant step forward towardsstrengthening itsfield operations

Bolstering Regional ReachPresident Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil addressing the gathering at the launch of IGNOU’s Southern campus in Thiruvananthapuram.


ience and to strengthen its student sup-port system.Six months later, on August 31, IGNOU

added another feather to its cap, whenPresident Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patillaid the foundation stone for the SouthernRegional Campus of IGNOU in Thiruvanan-thapuram – a giant step towards decentral-ising its core operations in the field of

Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system.In the next two years, IGNOU plans to

set up four more Regional Campuses, thatwill take care of IGNOU’s administrative andacademic functions right in their backyard. Hear it from the President: “I am happy

to be laying the foundation stone for theSouthern Regional Campus of IGNOU. This,I believe, is one of the five Regional Cam-puses proposed to be established for thepurpose of providing Open and DistanceLearning services in a better way, via decen-tralisation of administrativeand academic functions ofthe University.”“This is an important

and incremental step for-ward in the mission ofIGNOU to make availablegood quality, low cost andrelevant higher educationopportunities, as widelyas possible, to a sectionof our society outside theformal education system,”she added.“In the last 25 years

since its establishment in

1985, IGNOU has expanded exponentiallywith enrollments reaching close to 4 mil-lion. This speaks volumes about the suc-cess achieved and it must continue withits outreach endeavour. I would also like toappreciate the Government of Kerala for itspositive and forthcoming attitude in sup-porting the establishment of the IGNOUSouthern Regional Centre,” she stressed.Explaining the idea behind the setting

up of the Southern Regional Centre, ViceChancellor Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai

said, “This zonal campuscomes after the Universitydecided to decentralise itsoperations into five zones.This south zone campuswould look after the oper-ations of the four southernstates and Puducherry.”This zonal campus is

the first to be establishedand would be completed in19 months, he added. Tobe spread across a 25-acre area on the outskirtshere, the land for the cam-pus has been given by the

The Southern Regional Campus is going to be

a boon to the society, particularly for the

economically backward students. The campus

will:

l Be built on a 25 acre plot at Vithura, some

20 km from Thiruvanathapuram

l Cater to the operations of the four southern

states and Puducherry

l Be completed in 19 months

l Have a core faculty and staff of around 200

people

l Have resident postgraduate and Ph.D

scholars numbering 200 and Visiting

research scholars and 600 professionals

pursuing development programmes

KEY FACTS

“This zonal campuswill prove to be a boonfor the economicallybackward students ofsouth India, who aredesirous to acquiregood quality highereducation irrespectiveof age, religion,gender, caste and creed.”

— Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan PillaiVice Chancellor, IGNOU

Iam happy to be laying the foundation stone for the Regional

Campus of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)

in Thiruvananthapuram.

...In the last 25 years since its establishment in 1985, IGNOU

has expanded exponentially with enrollments reaching close to 3.8

million. This speaks volumes about the success achieved and it

must continue with its outreach endeavour.

I would also like to appreciate the Government

of Kerala for its positive and forthcoming attitude

in supporting the establishment of the IGNOU

Southern Regional Centre.

...It is the flexibility in its approach that has

contributed to the success of IGNOU. Mindful that

most courses are for the working population of the

country, it has been innovative in putting together

programmes that cater to a wide section of its

users. In fact, this is also necessary, as apart from

providing educational facilities, universities must

promote skill development.

...Speaking at the Silver Jubilee celebrations of

IGNOU in November 2009, I had pointed out to the

fact that only five percent of the workforce in India

has some kind of certification. A system that

addresses this lacuna is important for creating a proper skilled

workforce in the country and helping them to get better

remuneration. I am glad that there have been attempts by IGNOU

to look at work integrated learning by setting up centres in

industrial establishments. Distance education offers a great

opportunity to those already in employment to upgrade their

knowledge base, so that they can more effectively contribute to

increasing productivity levels of their organisations. Studying, while

in employment, also offers opportunities for enhancement of

career opportunities.

Distance education and technology have close links. As

communication technology advanced, the scope of distance

learning correspondingly increased. Indeed, this has not only

propelled IGNOU, but several other universities are also expanding

their online programmes for improving access to education. Online

connectivity is a convenient means to provide educational material

to students in a timely manner...

The Regional Centres of IGNOU by coming

close to the learning community they serve, can

now structure courses that take into account local

requirements. Kerala does not only have a high

literacy rate, but it is also a State where there is

enormous scope for tourism, IT and bio-technology

among others. It also has plantations, agriculture

and other traditional industries. These sectors can

greatly benefit from technology and knowledge

inputs...

Education should impart values to the youth

that makes them sensitive to fellow human beings

and the environs around them. It is a value system

that can prepare the younger generation to

become responsible citizens. Values provide an

anchor in life, as well as the ability to take decisions,

however difficult. They make one strong and capable of

withstanding the trials and tribulations of life. Also, if students were

equipped with the right value base, along with the capabilities

created by science and technology, they will serve society with

devotion and commitment, creating prosperity and happiness.

...I am confident that the Regional Centre being established,

will promote the Open University system through the development,

maintenance and monitoring of Study Centres and student support

services. With these words, I wish IGNOU the very best for the

future, and convey my good wishes to all present here.

EXCERPTS FROM PRESIDENT’S SPEECH

President Pratibha Patil.


Kerala government. The new campus willhave a core faculty and staff of around 200people, resident postgraduate and Ph.D.scholars numbering 200, besides visitingresearch scholars and 600 professionalspursuing development programmes.“This zonal campus is going to be a

boon to the society and also for economi-cally backward students of south India whoare desirous to acquire higher education ofhigh quality, irrespective of age, religion,gender, caste and creed,” said Prof Pillai.The campus would house the adminis-

trative and academic complex, besides aguest house and a hostel.VC Prof Pillai was accompanied by Ker-

ala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, IGNOUPro-VC Dr Latha Pillai, Assembly SpeakerG. Karthikeyan, who represents the As-sembly constituency Aruvikkara, where thenew campus is coming up and A. Sampath,who represents the area in Parliament,among others.Smt Patil called on the Government and

universities to work closely on socially rel-evant issues and reach out to a broad seg-ment of society. “The country should cater to the educa-

tional requirements of its predominantlyyoung population. After universalisation ofprimary education, it is time to work to-wards universalisation of secondary educa-tion as well.”

“However, our ultimateaim is to increase the enroll-ment ratio of people receivinghigher education. We need toexpand our educational infra-structure. This, undoubtedly,will include the formal educa-tion system, but we wouldeven need to reach out tothose who wish to seekhigher education but areunable, due to a variety ofreasons, to avail of op-tions in the formal educa-tion sector,” she said.This category con-

sisted of a wide range ofpeople from rural andtribal areas, disabilitygroups, jails and rehabili-tation centres, govern-ment and non-governmental organisa-tions, parents, home-mak-ers and also employers and employees. Allwant to better their avenues for growthand to do it in a manner that is suitable totheir specific circumstances, the Presidentsaid.Complimenting IGNOU for flexibility in

its approach in catering to wide sectionsof the population, the President adviseduniversities to promote skill development

in addition to providing edu-cational facilities. “The linkbetween learning and liveli-hood is important. Distancelearning, therefore, must giveweightage to enhancingknowledge that gives practi-cal and necessary know-howfor livelihood opportunities,”she said.

She said distance edu-cation offered a great op-portunity to those alreadyin employment to upgradetheir knowledge base sothat they could effectivelycontribute to increasing theproduction levels of their re-spective organisations.Studying while in em-

ployment also offered op-portunities to enhancetheir career. Pointing outthat only five per cent of

India’s workforce had some kind of certifi-cation, the President called for a systemthat would address the problem. “This is important for creating proper

skilled workforce in the country and tohelp them get better remuneration,” sheadded.The President highlighted the close

links between distance education and

“The Regional Centresof IGNOU, by comingclose to the learningcommunity theyserve, can nowstructure courses

that take into accountlocal requirements. ”— Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil,Hon’ble President of India

President Pratibha Patil being felicitated by IGNOU Vice Chancellor Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai in Thiruvananthapuram on August 31.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is also seen in the picture.

technology and how universities, includingIGNOU, were leveraging the advances incommunication technology by providing ac-cess to education through online pro-grammes. “Online connectivity is a convenient

means to provide education material tostudents in a timely manner. Distance Ed-ucation can even serve the national devel-opment agenda by reaching out to farmersand health workers to provide them infor-mation that is relevant for them. There isneed for Government and Universities toact in concert to work on socially relevantissues and to reach out to a broad seg-ment of society,” she observed.The President said that Regional Cen-

tres, by coming close to the communitythey served, can now structure coursesthat take into account local requirements.Kerala’s tourism, IT and biotechnology,plantation, agriculture and other traditionalindustrial sectors can benefit greatly from

such centres that would bring in the tech-nology and knowledge inputs.Patil called for an education system

that should look at the holistic develop-ment of the youth. “Education is aboutknowledge. It pushes the frontiers ofknowledge. It should be the aim of theyouth to become intellectually competentand technically skilled. Knowledge withoutvalue is, however, incomplete. Educationwithout values is like a flower without fra-grance. Education should impart values tothe youth that makes them sensitive to fel-low human beings and the environs aroundthem.”“It is a value system that can prepare

the younger generation to become respon-sible citizens. Values provide an anchor inlife, as well as the ability to take decisions,however difficult. They make one strongand capable of withstanding the trials andtribulations of life. Also, if students wereequipped with the right value base, along

with the capabilities created by scienceand technology, they will serve societywith devotion and commitment, creatingprosperity and happiness,” she said.Conveying her best wishes to IGNOU,

Smt. Patil concluded, “I am confident thatthe Regional Centre being established, willpromote the Open University systemthrough the development, maintenanceand monitoring of Study Centres and stu-dent support services.”Chief Minister Chandy, in his keynote

address, hoped that the work on the insti-tute would be completed with the samespeed with which the decision to allot landwas made. The Chief Minister expressed hope that

Vithura would soon become the hub ofhigher education with the IGNOU centre,the Indian Institute of Space Science andTechnology and the Indian Institute of Sci-ence Education and Research being lo-cated here. Chandy said that he wants the three in-

stitutes to come together in setting up aninternational convention centre and prom-ised the State Government’s support inthis regard.A mini-university in itself, Southern Re-

gional Campus will help millions of stu-dents in its respective area of functioning,says the Vice Chancellor. In the next two years, Prof Pillai hopes

to have all five Zonal Campuses function-ing, thus creating a niche example for theworld to follow.�


IGNOU’s Regional Growth

1

Agartala 3

Aizwal

4

Aligarh

29

19

Gangtok

5

Bangalore

7

Bhopal

44

Raipur

8

Bhubaneswar

34

Lucknow

53

Varanasi

54

Vijayawada

35

Madurai

36Mumbai42

Pune

43 Raghunathganj

39Panaji

37

Nagpur

33

Koraput

9

Bijapur

Chandigarh

11

Chennai

12Cochin

55Vatakara

Trivandrum

6

Bhagalpur 20 Guwahati49 Siliguri

13

Deoghar

46

Ranchi

47 Shillong

32 2

Kolkata

41

Port Blair

14

Darbhanga 51

Saharsa40

Patna

15

Dehradun

50

Srinagar

48

Shimla

15

Khanna

1617

1538Delhi 1

Delhi 2Delhi 3

2

Ahmedabad45

Rajkot

21

Hyderabad

56 Visakhapatnam

22

31

Imphal

Kohima

23

Itanagar28

Jorhat

24

Jabalpur

25

Jodhpur

26

JaipurNoida

27

Jammu

Udhampur

Karnal

52

2

3

4

5

6

1

2

3

10

Chandimandir

4

1

IGNOU'sRegional Reach

Army Recognised Regional centers(For Army Persona only)

Navy Recognised Regional Centres(For Navy personnel Only)

Assam Rifles Recognised Regional Centres(For Assam rifles Personnel Only)

“I hope that Vithurasoon becomes the hubof higher educationwith the IGNOUCentre, the IndianInstitute of SpaceScience and

Technology and theIndian Institute of

Science Education andResearch being located here.”— Oommen Chandy,Chief Minister, Kerala

The Indira Gandhi National Open Uni-versity (IGNOU), in collaborationwith the Ministry of Social Justiceand Empowerment, Govt. of India,

will establish the country’s first Indian SignLanguage Research & Training Centre(ISLRTC) at the University campus to pro-mote the use of Indian Sign Language (ISL),Vice Chancellor Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pil-lai has announced.The Research Centre will start function-

ing with training programmes, making useof the existing facilities and availing nationaland international experts in the field with ef-fect from September 1, 2011.Its broad objective is to carry out re-

search in ISL and create linguisticrecord/analysis of the language, promote re-search on bilingual approach in education ofdeaf children, train persons in sign linguisticsand other related areas at various levels.Thirty-five academic posts have been cre-

ated for the Centre. It will be establishedwith 100 percent funding from the Ministryand as per terms and conditions set out inthis order. Estimated cost of construction ofit’s building and equipment is Rs. 20 croreand Rs. 5 crore respectively. Administrativeapproval for construction of building and pur-chase of equipment will be accorded subject

to the above ceilings, by IGNOU as per itsprocedure and by its authorities competentto accord such approval for IGNOU’s ownprojects.The Research Centre aims to design,

promote and offer programmes in ISL, in-terpreting and bilingual education, at var-ious levels through various modes

including the distance mode.It will develop and offer courses aimed at

training teachers to teach ISL, develop andcreate resources for use in teaching of ISLto children, parents, teachers and the gen-eral public; facilitate educational use of ISLin special schools as the first language ormedium of instruction and in mainstreamschools as a second language or as inter-preter mediated language of classroom com-munication.ISLRTC will also provide guidance in inno-

vative education methodology for institu-tions providing education to the deaf. TheCentre will collaborate with other institu-tions and organisations of the deaf to pro-mote and propagate ISL and also withuniversities and other educational institu-tions in India and abroad in sign language re-search, deaf studies, and related areas.To produce and promote visual material

in ISL story telling of both Indian and globalliterature and deafness related issues, it willcreate and promote literature in and aboutISL to facilitate print and visual media in pro-moting the use of ISL. Such an activity willfoster the development of Deaf identity andculture and to act as a clearing house of in-formation on ISL, deafness, education of thehearing impaired and related areas.IGNOU has been offering programmes in

Sign Language including a B.A. in AppliedSign Language sponsored by U.K-India Edu-cation Research Initiative (UKIERI) for thelast 3-years. This is the first of its kind in thecountry.�


India’s first Sign Language Research Centre soon

Students of B.A. in Applied Sign Language Studies discussing a point at the IGNOU campus.

SPOTlight

The activities for the establishment of the IndianSign Language Research and Training Centre(ISLRTC) at IGNOU are taking a concrete

shape, with the university planning to set up a signlanguage institute for the hearing impaired.

According to an IGNOU statement, the Universitywill organise seminars and workshops for theempowerment of the deaf.

“The deaf adults should beable to go to the highest level forwhich we will be conductingactivities in different parts of thecountry,” said Vice ChancellorProf V.N. Rajasekharan Pillaiduring a meeting with NationalAssociation of the Deaf (NAD)and All India Federation of Deaf(AIFD) for their views in settingup the institute. Prof Pillai alsosaid that IGNOU will on regularbasis conduct meetings withthese associations.

Prof. Shivaji Panda, Vice President, AIFD, Dr.Omkar Singh, Secretary, AIFD, Anuj Jain, JointSecretary, NAD and others representing the deafassociation proposed that for the establishment of theISLRTC, preference should be given to the deafcandidates for the appointment of the staff, to whichthe VC agreed and said, “We shall appoint deaf staffon probationary basis for the proposed center.”

EMPOWERING THE HEaRING-IMPaIREd

Prof. Shivaji Panda conducting a lecture at the IGNOU headquarters.

School of Social Sciences (SOSS) andthe National Academy of StatisticalAdministration (NASA), under the

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Im-plementation, Government of India, organ-ised a training programme on ‘Micro &Macro Economics and its Interpretation forits Indian Statistical Service (ISS) Proba-tioners’ at the Convention Centre in IGNOUHeadquarters.Thirty-seven ISS Probationers (eight

from 31st batch and 29 from 32nd batch)participated in the training programme.The inaugural session was chaired by Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof. P.R. Ramanujam andwas attended by the faculty members ofthe School of Social Sciences.

The training was held keeping in viewthe high quality of the teaching and course

structure of the M.Phil/Ph.D programme inEconomics being offered in Face-to-Facemode by the Economics discipline at

SOSS, IGNOU. “It is for the first time thatIGNOU was assigned this important train-ing by the Ministry of Statistics and Pro-gramme Implementation. Needless to pointout, this is a very prestigious programmeand has been assigned earlier to reputedinstitutions like Delhi School of Economics,Indian Statistical Institute, etc. Economicsdiscipline agreed to organise this pro-gramme,” said Prof Narayan Prasad, Pro-fessor of Economics, SOSS.During the training programme, 41 lec-

tures (of 62-hour duration) were delivered.Apart from the faculty members of the Eco-nomics Discipline, senior economists likeProf K.L. Krishna, Prof B.B. Bhattacharya,Prof T.S. Papola, Prof T.C. Anant, amongothers, assisted the probationers duringthe training programme.�


NEWSupdates

The Indira Gandhi National Open Uni-versity’s School of Law (SOL) haslaunched a six-month CertificateProgramme in Anti-Human Traffick-

ing for Police Personnel. The programme was launched by Vice

Chancellor Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai atthe Haryana Police Academy (HPA) Mad-huban on August 3. The University has specially designed the

programme keeping in mind various aspectsof human trafficking and ways to tackle themenace.Prof Pillai observed that considering the

usefulness of the course to the Police,IGNOU has decided to reduce the fees by 50percent for those policemen from Haryanawho will enroll for the CAHT programme.Lauding the facilities and infrastructure

at the Police Academy, Prof Pillai saidIGNOU was keen to set up a centre at theMadhuban Police Academy for launchingspecial courses such as cyber crime, foren-sic science, etc.Shri Sudhir Chaudhary, Director, Madhuban

Police Academy, said Human Trafficking wasemerging as the third biggest menace afterdrugs and arms trafficking in the world. Thosepolice personnel who undergo this course suc-cessfully will definitely succeed in crackingthis heinous crime, he added.Prof. K. Elumalai, Director, SOL, has

made a brief presentation about the course

content and curriculum and requested theparticipants to take advantage of this pro-gramme for the purpose of tackling HumanTrafficking related crimes.Earlier, the School also conducted a six-

day online training workshop for police per-sonnel in collaboration with the NationalHuman Rights Commission (NHRC).The workshop, conducted at the IGNOU

Headquarters on June 13-15 and June 16-18for Hindi and English speaking states respec-

tively, was aimed at spreading awareness onhuman rights issues by sensitising and equip-ping the police personnel to apply it in theirday-to-day interaction with the public.“IGNOU brings forth how technology can

be efficiently utilised for creating awarenessin human rights. The security forces are get-ting a unique opportunity in this workshopto gain the necessary hands on practice,”said Prof Pillai, while delivering his inauguraladdress at the IGNOU Headquarters.�

Anti-Human Trafficking course for cops

IGNOU, Ministry of Statistics train 37 ISS personnel

Pro-VC Prof. P.R. Ramanujam chaired the

inaugural session at the Convention Centre.

Vice Chancellor Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, along with other dignitaries, at the launching of the Certificate Course in Anti-Human Trafficking at the IGNOU Headquarters.


NEWSupdates

The IGNOU-UNICEF pilot project on sen-sitising journalists on routine immuni-sation has reached its second stage.

A 20 member team, comprising of national,state and district level media visited Ja-balpur in Madhya Pradesh to raise aware-ness among the media on the low rate ofRoutine Immunisation and high infant mor-tality in the state. The journalists got a first-hand experi-

ence about the micro-planning involved inhandling cold chain equipment that main-tains vaccines at right temperatures. “Thevaccine stores make use of generators incase of power failure to protect the vac-cines stored,” explained Dr Gagan Gupta,Health Specialist, UNICEF, MadhyaPradesh, who was accompanying the mediateam.The media persons were also given les-

sons on checking the expiry dates of vac-cines through the vaccine vial monitor.Saroj Paraste, who conveys local news

through mobiles from the remote Kundamblock of MP, found the visit to village Sarrai,30 km from Jabalpur, very informative. “Ourvillage Accredited Social Health Activist(ASHA) personally visits us and ensuresthat mothers and children come to the An-ganwadi centre on the last Tuesday of themonth for vaccination.”The field visit to Jabalpur, one of IGNOU’s

Regional Centres, followed the initial media

engagement held through videoconferencein Delhi. Over 80 media professionals fromDelhi, Bhopal and Jabalpur had exchangedviews on the subject of low routine immuni-sation. Under the IGNOU-UNICEF partner-ship, IGNOU is providing its strongvideoconferencing network to reach out tonational, state and district media. “Everyday around 5,000 children under

the age of five die in India. A large numberof these deaths are due to preventablecauses. Vaccine preventable diseases areone of the major causes of morbidity, dis-ability and mortality among children inmany states of India,” informed Tania Gold-

ner, Chief of UNICEF Field Office for MadhyaPradesh.“It is here that we need media’s support

to convey the need of immunisation as wellas help to motivate parents for immunisingtheir children,” added Goldner.The field visit started off with a visit to

the special care newborn units, set-up bythe Government’s National Rural HealthMission Programme and UNICEF, for savingnewborns as well as the cold chain vaccinestorage units in the district. The ASHAs andANM (Auxillary Nurse Midwives) are theconnecting link in the last mile for servicedelivery under NRHM.n

IGNOU-UNICEF pilot project reaches MP

Dr. Gagan Gupta, UNICEF Health Specialist, explaining the vaccine storage process to

journalists in Jabalpur.

NEWSscan

Keeping in mind the huge numbers IGNOUcaters to, the University has launched its

second level of SMS Alerts Service, enablingpresent as well as prospective students tosend their queries via SMS. Students can SMS their queries at

9223051616. The query should be prefixedwith IGNOU followed by space. For example:IGNOU What is the last date for submissionof examination form?“This development is significant as

students need not access their e-mailaccounts or postal services to send queriesto IGNOU. The service will benefit studentswho are residing in remote areas,” said P.V.Suresh, Assistant Professor, School ofComputer and Information Sciences andConvener, SMS Alerts Service.n

ERP a huge success

IGNOU has become the first centralUniversity in the country to integrate all itsbusiness process in back office automationby implementing Enterprise ResourcePlanning (ERP) successfully at itsheadquarters in New Delhi, said Pro-ViceChancellor Dr. Latha Pillai.To recognise the efforts put in exten-

sively by the staff members of the Univer-sity, Vice-Chancellor Prof. V.N. RajasekharanPillai felicitated the Directors of Schools, Fi-nance Officer, Head of Computer Divisionand Registrar (Admin) by distributing Cer-tificates of Recognition.The awardees were selected through an

Award Committee. The selection was donebased on some parameters decided by thecommittee.n

SMS Alerts Service Chemistry meet in Oct

The Sir C.V. Raman Chair and School ofSciences (SOS), IGNOU, will organise a

national conference on ‘Chemistry:Education and Research Frontiers’ onOctober 13-14. The national conference, to be held at

the Convention Centre, is being organisedto celebrate the International Year ofChemistry as proclaimed by theInternational Union of Pure and AppliedChemistry (IUPAC) and UNESCO. The conference aims to acknowledge the

achievements of Chemistry and itscontributions to the well-being ofhumankind, as well as to celebrate the100th anniversary of the award of NobelPrize to Madam Curie. Foe more details,visit www.ignou.ac.in.n

Arecord 150 school teams partic-ipated in IGNITE 2011, a multi-city, inter-school quiz contestorganised by the Indira Gandhi

National Open University (IGNOU) at BirlaPlanetarium in Hyderabad.P. Susant and Ishtmeet Singh of Delhi

Public School-Hyderabad lifted the trophy,while Vasishta P. and Aakash P. of Gitan-jali Senior School were the runners-up atthe event, which was attended by over150 teams representing various cityschools.Some of the questions, posed by quiz-

master Adittya Mobayi of Quizcraft, wereanswered without much difficulty by theparticipating teams, but some made theparticipants think hard.In Mysore, Nikhil Ravishanker of Class

10 and Leyander Lobo of Class 9 of St.Joseph’s lifted the trophy while Class 10students Apurva P. Joshi and Gowri Tikotiof the same school were runners-up in theexciting contest.About 200 students from 75 schools

across the state’s cultural capital partic-ipated in the quiz programme held at SriJayachamarajendra College of Engineer-ing (SJCE) auditorium near the MysoreUniversity campus.Beating rivals like Chinmaya Interna-

tional Residential School, Carmel Garden

students lifted the trophy at IGNITE’sCoimbatore leg at Coindia Auditorium onJuly 22. Over 70 school teams represent-ing various city schools participated inIGNITE 2011 quiz contest. Nihal S. and Protyiv Aditya S.K. of

Carmel Garden won the contest, while K.Sathes Kumar and S. Shinetha of An-gappa CBSE Senior Secondary Schoolwere the runners-up in the event.The inter-school competition was con-

ducted by quizmaster Adittya Nath

Mobayi of the New Delhi-based Quizcraft. A panel exhibition and a flash presen-

tation were also organised at all thethree venues to make the students awareof various programmes being offered byIGNOU.Coimbatore was the 11th city where

IGNITE 2011 was organised. Before this,the quiz contest was held in Delhi,Kolkata, Guwahati, Bangalore, Kochi,Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Jammu, Hyder-abad and Mysore.n


IGNITE2011

factoidsThe Catholic BIshops’ Conference of India (CBCI) has instituted six

awards to recognise outstanding students and research scholars who

are pursuing various courses under the CBCI-IGNOU Chair.

Record response to IGNITE’s southern leg

The winning duo at IGNITE 2011’s Hyderabad leg. Quizmaster Adittya Nath Mobayi is seen at right.

Winners of IGNITE 2011 Mysore leg with trophies. The Carmel Garden students with their trophies at CoIndia Auditorium.

IN HYDERABAD

IN MYSORE IN COIMBATORE


NEWSupdates

The Inter University Consortium(IUC), IGNOU, organised a three-day workshop/training for teachersfrom varsities across the country in

developing online courses.The objectives of the workshop on

“How to Create/Develop Online Courses”were to explain and describe the Instruc-tional Design for Online Courses, highlightsome of the tools used to create onlinecourses, show some examples of OnlineCourses offered by IGNOU, understand theLearning Management System, how topublish the course, create an onlinecourse using Moodle.The training programme was attended

by 21 faculty members from State OpenUniversities, private universities like JamiaHamdard (New Delhi), NIMS University(Jaipur), Anna University (Chennai),Karpagam University (Coimbatore), Dr. C.V.Raman University (Chhattisgarh), Instituteof Advanced Studies in Education Univer-sity (Rajasthan), Tilak MaharashtraVidyapeeth (Maharashtra), Lovely School ofOpen and Distance Learning (Jalandhar),Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open Univer-sity (Guwahati), Dayalbagh Educational In-stitute (Agra), Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan

(New Delhi) and UP Rajarshi Tandon OpenUniversity (UP). The training included explaining and de-

scribing the instructional design for onlinecourses, highlighting tools used to createsuch courses and so on."There should be judicious use of multi-

media, activities and interactivity amonglearners for effective online learning," saidProf Madhu Parhar, Director, IUC.

The workshop comprised of four ses-sions per day and started with an overviewof online courses in IGNOU. Prof Uma Kanjilal, Director, School of So-

cial Sciences, elaborated upon informationand communication technology initiativesat eGyanKosh. “eGyanKosh has open ac-cess and has emerged as one of theworld's largest educational resource repos-itories,” said Prof Kanjilal.n

Aiming to enhance the use of Infor-mation Technology (IT) in areas ofa citizen's interest, Indira GandhiNational Open University hosted a

day-long brainstorming session on IT MassLiteracy programme to create awarenessabout IT and its utility in all walks of life. The session was organised in collabora-

tion with the Human Resource Develop-ment Division of Department of InformationTechnology, Government of India, andDOEACC under the Ministry of Communi-cation and Information Technology (MCIT). While delivering his address, Chief

Guest N. Ravi Shanker, Additional Secre-tary, Department of IT, GOI, focussed onstrategies and thoughts to take IT to themasses. “ICT plays a crucial role in skillingand empowering people; multilingualism isthe way to reach maximum people. It is be-cause of this reason that DOEACC’s Cer-tificate Course in Computer Concepts(CCC) is available in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu,

Punjabi, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Ma-nipuri, Malayalam and English.”“We have chalked out an action plan in-

volving participants from all over the coun-try for a brainstorming session on IT MassLiteracy to make people IT literate. By

eliminating the digital divide, we are elim-inating all sorts of divide. The programmewould be available in e-learning mode andwould aim to impart IT knowledge at dif-ferent levels of IT literacy,” said Vice Chan-cellor Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai. Dr. C. Muralikrishna Kumar, Senior Ad-

viser (C& IT), Planning Commission, said“For the 12th Five Year Plan, one of theidentified strategy is to enhance skills andfaster generation of employment. Thosewho remained excluded need to be in-cluded; areas which are not covered needto be covered. We are working towards theinclusiveness agenda with an increase inthe use of ICT for governance as well as forproviding it to the citizens.”Pro-VC Prof K.R. Srivathsan brought for-

ward his recommendations on the project,and said “It would work on promoting thelocal social networking, online open learn-ing and access to e-governance & usefulcitizen services.”n

Training of teachers for developing online courses

IGNOU, MCIT join hands for IT awareness

The three-day workshop on “How to Create/Develop Online Courses” underway at the

IGNOU Headquarters.

VC Prof. Pillai speaking at the brainstorming

session on IT Mass Literacy programme.


INDEPENDENCEday

The 65th IndependenceDay brought good newsfor the present as wellas prospective students

of the Indira Gandhi NationalOpen University (IGNOU). TheUniversity would soon be offer-ing students the opportunity topursue any subject from anyprogramme, Vice ChancellorV.N. Rajasekharan Pillai an-nounced, while addressingthe gathering at the Inde-

pendence Day celebrations onAugust 15. “A unique paper-wise regis-

tration scheme is under launchwhere anyone can take anynumber of subjects from IGNOUprogrammes without the re-strictions of age, qualification,pre-knowledge and knowledgeand education in the subject,"Prof Pillai said.Citing an example, the VC

said: "Now, if a student wants

to pursue only public relationsfrom the Post-GraduateDiploma in Journalism andMass Communication pro-gramme, which comprises offour papers, he can give the ex-amination for just that paper."A feeling of patriotism swept

the IGNOU Headquarters asProf Pillai hoisted the nationalflag outside the newly inaugu-rated Vice Chancellor's office.The on-campus students per-

formed a street play dedicatedto the theme of increasing cor-ruption in independent India,while schoolchildren show-cased various yoga forms.“Efforts are on for two-way

teleconferencing, interactiveradio counselling and for relay-ing educational programmesthrough FM radio,” Prof Pillaiadded.n

IGNOU’s gift tostudents: choose any subjectUniversity to launch a unique scheme that will allow studentsto pursue any subject from any programme

1. VC Prof. Pillai unfurling the National Flag at the IGNOU campus on August 15. 2. Prof. Pillai greetingchildren. 3. A section of the audience cheering the participants. 4. Children showcasing various forms ofyoga. 5. On-campus students performing a street play dedicated to the theme of increasing corruptionin independent India.

1

2 3

4

5

IGNOU’s Centre for TraditionalKnowledge Systems (CTKS)has inked a pact with Shruti

Foundation, a non-profit organisa-tion, to promote the country’s in-digenous knowledge and traditions.The MoU between the two, signedby IGNOU Registrar U.S. Tolia andDr Sudarshan Agarwal from Shruti

Foundation, aims to develop certifi-cate, diploma, degree and skilltraining programmes in the sub-jects of traditional knowledge sys-tems, leadership and management,self-management, psychology and consciousness studies, faculty training and women’s empowerment.


NEWSupdates

IGNOU has joined hands withthe Aditya Birla Nuvo Lim-ited’s wholly owned sub-sidiary Madura Fashion and

Lifestyle Limited to impart nec-essary skills and training in gar-ment stitching to thecommunity members who areunemployed/underemployedand are residing mostly in therural, suburban and disadvan-taged locations.According to the Memoran-

dum of Understanding (MoU),both IGNOU and Madura Fash-ion and Lifestyle Limited will

launch three Short-Term, Non-Credit (STNC) programmesnamely: Basic Certificate inGarment Stitching for onemonth, Advance Certificate inGarment Stitching for twomonths and Advance Certifi-cate in Garment Stitching &Quality Control for two-and-a-half months. All these pro-grammes will be coordinatedby IGNOU’s Regional CentreDelhi-1 at Mohan CooperativeEstate.The MoU was signed by U.S.

Tolia, IGNOU Registrar (Admin)

and R.S. Balasubramanyam,Head, Corporate Social Respon-sibility, Aditya Birla Group, inthe presence of Vice ChancellorProf V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai. “Many organisations are

looking for trained human re-sources and are training themas a part of their Corporate So-cial Responsibility. They requirea certification, which is pro-vided by IGNOU. Learners mayeven want to pursue thesecourses at a certificate ordiploma level, which may beprovided to them in the laterstages,” said Prof Pillai.Under the MoU, Madura F&L

shall enroll at least 200 stu-dents per year as per IGNOU ap-proved eligibility conditions andconduct programmes at ap-proved learning centres only.Balasubramanyam announced aspecial Study Centre at Banga-lore for the conduct of thesecourses.“Certificates for all STNC

programmes would be issued byIGNOU RC Delhi- I as per itsstandardised process and for-mat,” said Dr Sanjeev Pandey,Regional Director, RC Delhi-1.n

Stitching courses for the poor IGNOU ready to preserve traditionalknowledge systems

VC Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai at the MoU signing ceremony.

Dignitaries at the MoU signing

ceremony.

The Indira Gandhi NationalOpen University (IGNOU)will soon be offering pro-

grammes in warehousing, finan-cial accounting and officemanagement in a bid to providemore job-oriented courses.The varsity’s Centre for Cor-

porate Education Training andConsultancy (CCETC) hassigned a Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) with the Na-tional Centre for BusinessEducation’s (NCBE) NationalCollateral Management ServicesLtd. (NCMSL).“We want to certify and pro-

vide education training and ca-pacity building so that the

learners can get a certification,”Vice Chancellor Prof V.N. Ra-jasekharan Pillai said.“The employment opportuni-

ties of the learners will increasewith this MoU as its objective is

to make a commerce studentjob ready,” Mukund S. Annigeri,Director NCBE, said.“They have academic knowl-

edge but not experience. Wehave structured the courses to

provide on-the-job-training tothem,” he added.A post-graduate diploma in

warehousing, logistics and sup-ply chain management, diplomain advanced financial accountingand taxation and a certificatecourse in office managementand human resource will be of-fered under the MoU.“When we looked for people

with required skills in the field ofwarehousing, logistics and sup-plying or even in the agriculturebusiness, we didn’t get them. Ahuge expertise in the skills sec-tor is required to be bridged,”said NCMSL managing directorSanjay Kaul.n

IGNOU to offer courses in warehousing, accounting

VC Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai at the MoU signing.


NEWSupdates

FIRSTperson

Ijoined IGNOU as a student, and15 years later, I entered the Uni-versity exactly from the other side

of the fence, as a Teacher. A lot morechanges have happened in thesepast years. I still remember when Ihad to come to the university fromChandigarh to update my assign-ment marks for my MBA. It took a re-ally long time to reach IGNOU inthose days when the means of com-munication were very limited. It stilltakes as long, since one gets stuck on the IGNOUroad in spite of the arrival of the Delhi Metro.

I can recall those times when it was hard to evenmake a call. Today, when I see things like the SMSfacility for students, I realise that technology has rev-olutionised the concept of teaching and its accessi-bility. The IGNOU campus has expanded a lot fromits earlier days. The staff, buildings and studentshave increased by leaps and bounds.

I still remember that my friends used to dreadwhile preparing for the exams, wondering on theever increasing standard of examinations being heldat the centre. Now, IGNOU standards are widely ac-knowledged and well appreciated.

The idea of long distance education has caughtup with the masses and has proved to be a blessingfor working professionals to sharpen their skills or

get higher education. On the whole, Ican say that the credit if its recogni-tion and successful application aswell as assimilation can be given toits visionaries. The course structureof several programmes run by theUniversity gives immense flexibility tothe students, which are generally notavailable elsewhere. In these longyears, experience makes a personmore pragmatic and systematic. As afaculty, I can still make out the differ-

ence between IGNOU and other conventional uni-versities. It is different indeed in its setup andfunctioning.

The mode of Regional Centres, local tie-ups,audio-video have added to the multiple dimensionsof education with direct reach to the people to makeIGNOU the People’s University. A whole new rela-tionship is beginning to emerge from the shadowsof time to another lap of time. I hope to look forwardto many more transitions of advanced technologyand infrastructure in the University for the benefit ofall. A new journey has just begun and as someonesays well begun is half done.

— DR. PARVESH BUBBER (ASSOCIATEPROFESSOR IN BIOCHEMISTRY, SCHOOL OF SCIENCES, IGNOU)

From reminisces to transition

Centre for Sindhi Language & Culture at IGNOU

The Indira Gandhi National OpenUniversity’s (IGNOU’s) AcademicCouncil’s Standing Committee has

recommended starting a Centre for SindhiLanguage & Culture in the University inresponse to the suggestions and specialemphasis for the promotion of Sindhilanguage and culture by the Ministry ofHuman Resource and Development(MHRD), Govt. of India. The Centre will befunctional from this academic year onwards.The major objectives of the Centre are

to promote and encourage Sindhi language,especially among the youth who are losingtouch with their mother tongue. It alsoaims to make them conscious of the Sindhiliterary and cultural heritage and makethem adequately articulate in Sindhi so

that they can write in Sindhi and translateinto Sindhi from Hindi/English. The Centrewould also help to organise such activitiesto the expert meetings and seminars/workshops that would help the cause ofSindhi language.“The university’s action plan for the

establishment of the Centre is to prepareand start a foundation course as part ofthe Bachelor Degree Programme (BDP)with various components like spokenlanguage, literary language, morphologyand grammar (For Sindhi knowingstudents). It also plans to start differentlevels of Appreciation Courses in Sindhi forBeginners (For non-Sindhi knowingstudents),” said Vice Chancellor Prof V. N.Rajasekharan Pillai.

“Towards a later stage, the universitywill also be developing PG Certificate andDiploma Programmes and Post GraduateDegree Programmes followed by M.Phil.and Ph.D. Programme. It shall also launchtranslation courses in Hindi-Sindhi-Hindiand English-Sindhi-English and laterbetween Sindhi and other major Indianlanguages,” he added.Sindhi is one of the major literary

languages of India, recognised in theEighth Schedule of the Constitution of thiscountry. It was included in the constitution on

10th April, 1967, after constant andjustified demand of the Sindhi People, whomigrated from Sindh due to partition of thecountry in 1947.n

Dr. Parvesh Bubber.

IGNOU’s Madurai Regional Centre organised athree-day short-term Training Programme on

Research Methodology and Data Analysis forEducational Research from August 12-14.

The first batch consisted of 32 participants, whoprimarily included principals, teacher educatorsand Ph.D. scholars from Pondicherry University,Mother Teresa University, Madurai KamarajUniversity and College of Education in Tamil Nadu.The programme was inaugurated by Prof. G.Pankajam, Former Vice Chancellor, GandhigramRural University. The objective of the training wasto induce the research scholars to make use ofstatistical analysis using the SPSS package.

According to the feedback received fromparticipants, the training programme has been asource of inspiration to research scholars inpursuing their research work successfully.

Research Methodology

training at RC Madurai

Participants in a group photo at RC Madurai.


MILEsToNesNEWprogrammes

Session on Role of ICT

April 2005: Shri K. Rahman Khan, Hon’ble

Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, inaugurates

a teleconferencing session ‘Role of

Information and Communication Technology

in Reaching the Unreached.’

May 2005: IGNOU and British Open

University (BOU) agree to constitute two

expert groups to identify critical areas for

collaboration.

July 2005: Padma Shri Prof. (Dr.) N.R.

Madhava Menon, Director, National Judicial

Academy, Bhopal, delivers 10th Prof. G. Ram

Reddy Memorial Lecture.

November 2005: Hon’ble Minister for

Human Resource Development Sh. Arjun

Singh launches Gulistan-e-Urdu, an Urdu

language programme for regular

transmission on Gyan Darshan.

Gulistan-e-Urdu

Upcoming Events

HIGHLIGHTS AUG-SEPT 2011

The Gupta Empire was an an-

cient Indian empire which ex-

isted around

320 to 550 AD.

The high points

of this cultural

creativity are

magnificent ar-

chitecture, sculptures and

paintings. The Gupta period

produced scholars such as

Kalidasa, Aryabhata, et al.

It is a tropical tree found in

Mexico, Central

America and

the Caribbean,

northern South

America, and in

tropical west

Africa. Kapok is the most

used common name for the

tree and may also refer to the

fibre obtained from its seed

pods. The tree is also known

as the Java cotton.

Food sam-

pling is a

process for

checking

whether the food is safe and

does not contain harmful

contaminants. It is carried

out by subjecting the product

to chemical analysis. Analy-

sis may be undertaken by or

on behalf of a manufacturer

regarding their own product.

Albert Einstein was a Ger-

man-born physicist who de-

veloped the theory of

general relativity. For this

achievement, Einstein is

often regarded as the fa-

ther of mod-

ern physics

and one of the

most prolific

intellects in

human.

Odissi traces its origins to

the ritual dances peformed

in the

temples

of an-

cient

northern

India.

Today the name Odissi

refers to the dance style of

the state of Orissa in east-

ern India.

Explorations Of Folk Traditions India is a land of different cultures having different tradi-

tions. One of the popular form of communication continues

to be the folk form. It has always been very popular among

the masses in India.

State of Nutrition in IndiaNutrition plays a very important role in one's health. It's defi-

ciency may lead to malnutrition. A number of different nutri-

tion disorders may arise, depending on which nutrients are

under or overabundant in the diet.

Silk Cotton Tree : Kapok

Food Sampling and

Analysis Techniques

What Einstein

Never Knew

Performing

Arts: Odissi

Cultural Contributionsof The Guptas, Part - B

GYANDARSHAN

1. 24th Convocation -- September 5, New

Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Open

University will confer Degree of Doctor of

Letters to His Holiness the Dalai Lama at

the University’s 24th Convocation at its

Maidan Garhi campus in New Delhi.

For a complete schedule, log on to www.ignou.ac.in

Courses for nurses,

teachers, parents

The Indira Gandhi National OpenUniversity (IGNOU) has launched three

courses focussing on raising moreeducational avenues for medical, nursingand teaching personnel, as well as parents.

The two certificate courses and onediploma programme will be offered by thevarsity through distance education mode.

“The first certificate course is forAuxiliary Nurse Midwives which aims toprovide quality care to patients undergoingtreatment under ayurvedic system ofmedicine,” a University statement said.

The Adolescent Health and Counsellingcourse will prepare teachers and parentsto help adolescents to develop a healthylifestyle and handle stress.

“It will help teachers and parents tostrengthen their knowledge inunderstanding needs and concerns ofadolescents; build knowledge on physical,cognitive, emotional and psychologicalchanges,” the statement said.

The diploma programme in Critical CareNursing will ensure that critically illpatients are looked after by nurses whohave advanced nursing care knowledgeand skills.n

Diploma, Certificate in

Chinese Language

IGNOU’s School of Foreign Languages(SOFL) has launched a Diploma andCertificate programme in ChineseLanguage. The Diploma course would beoffered in both face-to-face and onlinemode, while the certificate programmewould be available only through online modefor IGNOU’s July session.

“This is for the first time in India that theteaching of Chinese language and culture willbe imparted through online demonstration viaIGNOU satellite,” said Prof G. Chaudhuri,Director, SOFL.

“The programmes are specially meant forbusiness schools while the study materials,teaching and examinations will be heldthrough online mode,” he added.

According to the varsity, admission to theone year diploma programme requires noentrance test.

“Those scoring 80 percent and above inthe final examination will be considered forundergoing further training in Chineseuniversities in China and successfulcandidates will also be exposed to theindustries doing business with China,” ProfChaudhuri said.

For more details, visit www.ignou.ac.in.n

open letter august 2011

Documents

open universities

established universities

various universities

open university system

universities shouldgo

affiliating universities

private registration

word open