digitalLEARNING-June-2011-[26-27]-Information on IGNOU

INDIRA GANDHI NATI Maidan Garhi, New Delhi

Information on IGNOU • In just four years, IGNOU has, in the face of stiff competition from both public and private institutions almost trebled the number of students on its rolls from 1.1 million to about 3.5 million.

• Has contributed over 11 lakh professionals to the country’s talent pool so far since its inception in 1985 – thus working towards its twin goals in the Decade of Innovation – providing Inclusive Growth and enhancing Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER).

• Reached out to the unreached and the marginalised by offering a slew of programmes for jail inmates sex workers, differently-abled • Provided an alternative educational system by setting up 517 Community Colleges across the country • Reached out to the Armed Forces with initiatives like Gyan Deep with the Indian Army and Akashdeep with the Indian Air Force • Ushered in a new era of multimedia and ICT-enabled education through initiatives like Edusat, FlexiLearn and the newly launched website on IT Mass Literacy Programme of the Department of Information Technology (DIT), Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Govt. of India • Producing industry-ready managers for several sectors by partnering with public and private sector institutions • Establishing a global educational footprint with over 42,000 students enrolled at its 67 Overseas Study Centres in over 40 countries • Diversifying educational delivery through oncampus, online and distance learning modes

New Paradigms And Initiatives

The University continues to make path-breaking advances in challenging existing modes of delivery and ushering in innovative combinations. Major achievements include:

IGNOU out to boost IT literacy The Department of Information Technology (DIT) of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has constituted a Working Group on Information Technology (IT) Mass Literacy Programme. The group has commenced its work by launching a website on the IT Mass Literacy Programme. This website is envisaged to come out as a complete portal on the programme for certification and feedback, and even to ascertain if a person is an e-literate. IGNOU’s 3000 Study Centers and telecenters, ITIs / ITC, district and block level centers of MHRD, ‘Sarva Sikshaya Abiyaan’, rural development programme could be used for IT Mass Literacy.

MHRD could take lead in involving State Resource Centers for spreading the mass e-literacy programme. Good infrastructure is available in high schools under ICT@school Scheme could be utilized for this programme.

IGNOU’s certificate programme in Telecentre Management The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the Telecentre.org Foundation have entered into a unique collaboration to design and deliver a Certificate programme in Telecentre/ Village Knowledge Centre Management (CTVM) aiming to build the capacity of rural youths in the country to manage their telecentres effectively. As per the government of India’s plans it aims to set up around 2,50,000 telecentres at every village panchayat in the country by 2012, there are also many NGOs and social enterprises that are setting up these to bring a change in rural villages in the country. The certificate

ONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY – 110068, India, www.ignou.ac.in

petence and Advancement of Teachers (IIPCAT), Guwahati, organised an orientation programme for madrassa teachers of Nagaon and Morigaon district of Assam at Kampur college in Nagaon recently.

Empowering Women through Distance Education programme is of six months duration and can be extended till two years.

and UK for a UK India Educational Research Initiative Scheme (UKIERI).

IGNOU for jail inmates

PG Diploma in Disability Management for Medical Practitioner (PGDMD)

IGNOU’s Free Education for Prisoners initiative took education to a new level.

Forty-six inmates were chosen by prison authorities for the placement drive as they fulfilled three criteria.

First, they had impeccable conduct inside the jail where they utilised their time to gain education and vocational skills. Secondly, they all expect to be released within a year or so, and finally, they were keen to rehabilitate themselves and lead a new life.

Sign language institute BA (Hons) Applied Sign Language Studies and Bachelors Preparatory Programme (Deaf Students) programme is the outcome of a collaboration between Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), India and The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), UK following an agreement signed by the Prime Ministers of India

This programme is specifically meant for those medical professionals who posses MBBS and similar qualification in Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. Since the doctor is the first professional to come across with the disabled people so it was thought by Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) to train all the medical professionals so that they could provide better counseling and guidance for the rehabilitation of person with disabilities. This is the only programme which consist the information and therapeutic process for all seven disability areas as recognized under PD Act, 1995.

Orientation programme for madrassa teachers IGNOU Institute of Professional Com-

• Strengthen ongoing efforts to train facilitators/master trainers of SHGs • Evolve an effective and sustainable in country training network and resource pool of such trainers • Empower the change agents to function more effectively as trainers and community organizers in helping set up SHGs and to address gender issues.

• Provide guidelines for the establishment of micro-enterprises.

• Provide basic legal literacy

MPhil in Gender and Development Studies Research programmes in Gender and Development Studies will help in encouraging indigenous research, provide an impetus to collection of gender-disaggregated data and use of gender analysis tools. They will contribute to the major initiatives undertaken by governmental and non-governmental agencies in gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting/gender auditing.