Open Letter January 2010 by ians ians

16 IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010

CONTENTS Back to School 8

IN FOCUS: Academics from Sri Lanka’s National Institute of Education (NIE) attended a 10-day workshop at IGNOU for training in formulation of educational curriculum

Shoring Up 4

SPOTLIGHT: IGNOU and the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) team up to start a college for coastal communities at tsunami-hit Poompuhar

NEWS UPDATES ..........06

STUDENTS’ CORNER....14

PASSING BY ................11

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

REGIONAL ROUNDUP ...14

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

IGNOU OPEN Letter is Printed by Enthuse-Answers Communications Pvt. Ltd., Z-35, IInd Floor, Okhla Industrial Area Phase-II, New Delhi-110020 and Published by Ravi Mohan, Chief Public Relations Officer, Indira Gandhi National Open University, Maidan Garhi. New Delhi 110068. Ph: +91-11-29535924-32; +91-11-29535062-65 Fax: +91-11-29535933; E-mail: openletter@ignou.ac.in Managing Editor: Ravi Mohan Editor: Surojit Mahalanobis

FROMTHE VICE CHANCELLOR n the occasion of the New Year and the beginning of the Second Decade in the New Millennium, let me wish you all a bright, prosperous and eventful year ahead. Our Government has declared 2010-2020 as the ‘Decade of Innovation’. We need to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth in education, skill development, health care, energy, agriculture and infrastructure. New solutions in many areas are necessary to reach such targets in expedient ways. We have the largest population of young people in the world. We need to explore all possible ways and means to provide them education and employable skills. Creating opportunities for our youth to become the largest pool of skilled and technically trained human resource is the greatest challenge before us in this decade. It is estimated that India has the capacity to create 500 million certified technicians and skilled workers by 2020. This would provide employment opportunities to our young people and the large number of school drop-outs. While enhancing the Gross Enrolment Ratio in the higher education sector, as an Open University with flexible and innovative educational, training and skill-building capabilities, we need to lay more emphasis on these objectives of the National Skills Mission. The Mission, chaired by the Prime Minister, delineates the key governance principles and implementation strategies for achieving skill development across the country. The approach would be to design learning and training modules, courses and programmes under which the learner can pay the skill provider directly, skills are made bankable, and individuals are able to convert their knowledge and skills, through Testing and Certification, into diplomas, higher diplomas, associate degrees and degrees. There is a need to promote multiple models of delivery that can respond to the differing situations in various states, and within the states the varying contexts. While planning and implementing the skills development initiatives, the dimension of inclusivity should not be lost sight of. The planning should effectively deal with gender disparity, rural and urban divides, as well as divides between the organised and unorganised sectors, and between traditional home-based and work-based occupations. In India, there are over 2,50,000 public educational and training institutions, all of which can become skill-development centres without affecting the formal teaching and other activities during class hours. This arrangement, if properly regulated and encouraged by Government Departments, would make available a huge stock of public investment to combine with private sector capacity to generate skills. Costs would be lower as skill providers would not have to invest in infrastructure for skills training. IGNOU, with its country-wide network of Regional Centres and over 2,500 Study Centres, has the greatest potential in this country to address the issue of the skill deficit. These regional centres and study centres can network with the local educational and training institutions for providing modular skills in different trades and vocations. Linking with the activities of the local micro, small and medium enterprises and grassroot-level civil society organisations, skill upgradation initiatives should be taken up by the various units of our university. The Study Centres of different kinds, the Community College Centres, the two-year Associate Degree programme by a credit accumulation process, Vertically Integrated Engineering Programme, Assessment and Certification of Prior Learning and the Telecentre Movement for Skill-upgradation, the Village Knowledge and Resource Centres and the collaboration with the rural NGOs are the recent IGNOU interventions in the skill-development sector. Coordinated and focused activities of the Schools, Centres and our large network of different Study Centres can really contribute to the National Skills Mission. Let us all put our efforts in this much-needed activity, in addition to our regular activities of teaching and research. Let this be IGNOU’s contribution to the ‘Decade of Innovation’. While concluding, let me quote here Smt. Indira Gandhi: “Have a bias towards action — let us see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away.”

Advisory Council: Prof P.R. Ramanujam, Prof Ramindar Singh Design and Production: IANS Publishing www.ianspublishing.com

2 IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010

V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai

Community college in Nagaland The Centre of Excellence will start academic programmes in the fields of social work and other NorthEastern affairs Dr Jayashree Kurup, Deputy Director, EDNERU (ninth from right, standing); T.N. Mannen, Retd Additional Chief Secretary, Nagaland (seventh from left, standing), Nagaland Gandhi Ashram (NGA) founder secretary Natwar Thakkar (fourth from left, standing); Dr Sudheer Reddy, chief project officer, IGNOU, (fifth from left, standing) and Prof R.R. Singh (fifth from right, sitting), former head, sociology department, Delhi University, with villagers at the site of the proposed college in Chuchuiymlang village.

GNOU is all set to start a Community College in Chuchuiymlang village of Mokokchung district, Nagaland. The college will impart life and teaching skills to people in the area. The Community College would begin with a Master’s in Social Work (MSW) programme. Other vocational programmes will be started gradually. The land required for the

proposed Community College, also envisioned as an IGNOU Centre of Excellence, has been allotted to the University free of cost by the villagers, under the aegis of the Nagaland Gandhi Ashram (NGA). Dr Jayashree Kurup, deputy director for Educational Development of North-East Region Unit (EDNERU), said the decision to set up the Centre is part of the University’s Silver

Jubilee Year celebrations. Dr Kurup said life-skills education will empower the villagers and increase their chances for a better livelihood. The Centre of Excellence will start academic programmes in the fields of social work, agricultural extension, infrastructure development, preservation of indigenous arts and crafts, tribal studies and other North-Eastern affairs.■

UNESCO, IGNOU join hands GNOU and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) have signed an agreement of cooperation (AoC) to identify programmes and activities of the Open University for co-branding and strategic cooperation, through academic collaboration and exchange, to advance quality education and training. Irina G. Bokova, Director General, UNESCO, who delivered the IGNOU Silver Jubilee Special Lecture on ‘Building Inclusive Knowledge Societies in a Globalised World: Opportunities and Risks,’ at the University’s campus in New

Irina G. Bokova, Director General, UNESCO, and Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development, D. Purandeswari, at the event. Delhi on January 11, signed the agreement with Vice Chancellor Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai.

The function was presided over by D. Purandeswari, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development. ■

IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010 3

The community college in Poompuhar will train fishermen on the use of mobile technology, scientific data and market-related information to cut down operational costs while increasing income realisation.

Shoring Up INFOCUS IGNOU and the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) team up to start ‘Fish for All’ Research and Training Centre at tsunami-hit Poompuhar

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” — Lao Tzu he fishermen of Poompuhar — a village 350 km from Chennai on the Coromandel Coast — surely know how to fish. They have been doing that for generations. It is in their DNA. What they are not so good at, however, is converting their back-breaking labour and traditional knowledge into something more substantial — increasing their income, ensuring food security, or enhancing their skills to cope with natural disasters. They are also not so adept at managing their marine and terrestrial resources in a sustainable manner. All this was starkly brought home after a tsunami hit the coast of Tamil Nadu on December 26, 2004. It not only destroyed lives but also the fishing community’s tools of livelihood — particularly the catamarans in which they go fishing. It is in this context that IGNOU and the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) stepped in to provide some sustainable solutions. The two institutions decided to implement an integrated action programme that would enable the coastal community to not only upgrade skill-sets

4 IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010

but also provide them long-term and sustainable livelihood options. The aim: To “integrate the training and capacity-building for disaster preparedness with sustainable management of natural resources for developing income-generating livelihoods”. This training and capacity building was to be applied in the marine, coastal agriculture and other sectors in — production of biological software for ecoagriculture; restoration of degraded land, water bodies, forests; and rural infrastructure. This required knowledge and technological empowerment of rural communities through a pedagogic system of “learning by doing”. The knowledge empowerment is done by providing localespecific, demand-driven information to the communities through the use of the Internet, print media and mobile phones. As a first step, MSSRF built its Rs. 2.7 crore “Fish for All” Research and Training Centre at Poompuhar on a twoacre plot. The Centre includes facilities like cold rooms, ice plants, fish preprocessing halls, research lab, training hall, dormitory, and a resource centre that would provide information on climate, height of sea waves, potential fishing

fish, once the catch reaches the shore — zones and other market-related data. handling, sorting, cleaning, and even In order to impart work-integrated marketing. Optimal handling of the day’s learning to the coastal communities, catch, from the time it is caught to the MSSRF tied up with IGNOU to conduct short-term certified courses as part of the time it is consumed, is important for not only maintaining hygiene but also university’s community colleges initiative. minimising wastage for better price A three-month programme was soon realisation. developed by the IGNOU-MSSRF Colleges With that in view, IGNOU will be for the coastal communities. The first of offering a short-term course for women at these colleges was opened in Poompuhar Poompuhar on hygienic handling of the on December 26, 2009, the fifth catch so as to prevent spoilage and anniversary of the tsunami. contamination by pathogenic organisms. “We are the knowledge partners of The courses are designed to prepare MSSRF. We will be setting up colleges for the coastal communities to become rural communities in different locations. capable of converting the challenges of The Poompuhar college is the first one to unexpected rise of sea level and extreme be launched,” said Prof V.N. Rajasekharan natural events like floods, droughts, Pillai, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU. cyclones, etc., into opportunities for IGNOU and MSSRF have also planned to set up colleges for coastal communities saving lives and livelihoods. Therefore, the college has earmarked an in Jeypore in Orissa, Kalpetta in Kerala important role for the women in the fishing and Puducherry. communities. “The attempt “The women will is to develop a be trained for a climate-resilient week at the coastal centre that community with conforms to knowledge and HACCP (Hazard skills necessar y Analysis and to overcome the Critical Control adverse impact Points) of tsunamis and standards, rise in sea level,” thereby Prof Pillai increasing their obser ved. The (From left) D. Purandeswari, Union Minister of State chances of college, for HRD; Prof M.S. Swaminathan, chairman, MSSRF; finding a job at functioning out VC Prof Rajasekharan Pillai and Kanimozhi, MP, full-fledged of MSSRF’s launching a CD on ‘Hygienic Way of Fishing processing centre in Practices for Fisher Folk’ at the MSSRF Centre. plants,” said the Poompuhar, will project’s principal coordinator Sanjeevi Raj. train fishermen in the use of mobile This is especially apt, since the Tamil technology, scientific data and marketNadu government has decided to build a related information to reduce operational mini-harbour in Poompuhar and a private costs while increasing their income. group is reported to be setting-up a At the MSSRF fish processing centre, shrimp unit. Enhancing the skills of the fishermen will be trained on reading data fisherwomen will only increase their like the height of sea waves, potential employment potential. “I hope the training fishing zones and the fish prices in will help me increase my skill levels and, different markets that are flashed on their boost my family’s total income,” said mobile phones. The Indian National Centre K. Saroja, a trainee at the college. for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Though fisherwomen traditionally do under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, most of the pre-processing activities at forecast sea wave heights and also the home, they still find the training a novel zones of fish agglomeration. These experience (see box on profiles of forecasts will be transmitted by MSSRF, by tying-up with mobile telephone fisherwomen). Apart from these courses, companies, to the fishermen in real time. IGNOU will also offer training on fish, “Commercial information as to the prawn and crab farming in an integrated price of fish varieties in different markets manner that would stress the importance can also be transmitted to the fishermen of sea-land interface (see box on courses). so that they can land their catch in the For trainees keen on entrepreneurship, markets where there is the maximum the IGNOU certificate will assist in getting demand for their catch,” added Pillai. loans for setting up businesses, said The fisherwomen are the ones who are Senthilkumaran, Director, Information, engaged in the activity of handling the Education and Communication, MSSRF.■

On the job S. POONGUDI

Poongudi, 30, mother of three, and married to J. Sellakunghu, a fisherman, has just undergone a week long training in fish processing. “We had fun while doing the course. We learnt to clean, sort and cut the fish. We also learnt how to make fish pickle. Some of us have got together and we are planning to make and sell fish pickles,” she says. “The training and the food processing centre will, I am sure, help me to make a significant contribution to my family’s income,” Poongudi adds. J. SELVI

Selvi, 28, has started implementing at home what she learnt during her training sessions — use of a broad-blade knife for cleaning fish. “I found using a knife easier than the aruvamanai (traditional vegetable cutter),” she says. “I found the training a bit difficult at the beginning, as we had to stand for long hours and use the broadblade knife. But we got used to it soon. We are just waiting for the fish processing unit to start functioning fully,” Selvi adds. She, like Poongudi, is also part of the self-group which plans to market fish pickles after the pongal festival.

THEPROGRAMME

Fishing for a livelihood

The courses are grouped under two broad categories. A. For Marine fisheries Course 1. Fisher-Friendly Mobile Application Course 2. Hygienic Handling of Fish and Other Marine Food Materials B. Sea-Land Interface Course 3. Sea-farming of fish, prawns, and crabs together with halophytes for food and feed Course 4: Below Sea-Level Farming

IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010 5

NEWSUPDATES

Record registration of 6.4 lakh students in 2009-10 (Numbers in lakh)

1 0

6.40*

Jul 2009-Jan 2010

6.19

5.50

4.68

Jul 2007-Jan 2008

Jul 2006-Jan 2007

4.29

Jul 2005-Jan 2006

Jul 2008-Jan 2009

3.66

Registration Rise 7

Jul 2004-Jan 2005

n the July 2009-January 2010 registrations, preliminary estimates suggest that over 6.4 lakh students have enrolled with IGNOU — a record for the university. This takes the total strength on roll to approximately 2.8 million. For calendar year 2009 (January and July, 2009, registrations), the numbers have been officially compiled and stand at 5,56,327. This figure, however, excludes those enrolled in the new initiatives taken through the Community College Scheme. These fall into three categories: General Institutions (about 100) which are implementing IGNOU norms for certifications; Group Community Colleges — like those by the All India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology (AISECT) (about 1,000 institutions); and

* Estimate

Gyan Deep (47 centres) and SREI Sahaj eVillage Common Service Centres (CSCs) (1,300 centres). Over a million students have so far been given awards since the first convocation of the university in 1987.■

First on-demand exams at IGNOU programmes on January 8-9. GNOU conducted its first Twenty-six counsellors On-demand Examinations participated in the sessions, at the Regional Centre presided over by Dr Pervez (RC)-2 in New Delhi on Masood, Director, Regional December 11, 2009. The Service Department, of the programmes were: Bachelor university. This year, the Preparatory Programme university conducted training (BPP), Certificate in of examination Guidance (CIG), Certificate in superintendents, programme Organic Farming (COF) and in-charges, coordinators for Certificate in Teaching of Pro-VC Dr D.K. Choudhry. ongoing term-end English (CTE), said Pro-Vice examinations of BCA, MCA and Chancellor Dr D.K. Choudhry. Certificate in Information Technology The second On-demand exam was held at New Delhi Regional Centre-1 (RC-1,) on (CIT) programmes. IGNOU conducted evaluation of answer January 1, for the CIG programme. scripts at five Regional Centres: Lucknow, “The Regional Centres are constantly Patna, Chennai, Pune and Guwahati. working to develop innovative activities to “The answer scripts of one region was achieve quality in education,” said evaluated at other zones and not in the Dr Choudhry. RC-1 conducted orientation same region, to ensure quality in sessions for the academic counsellors in education,” added Dr Choudhry.■ Bachelor and Master’s in Social Work

factoids

From left, Prof Shatrughan Kumar, VC Prof Rajasekharan Pillai and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.

Bhojpuri course material sent out ver 200 sets of promotional and course material for the newly launched Foundation Course in Bhojpuri has been sent out by IGNOU to its Regional Centres, even as preparations are on to welcome the first batch of students. The course, launched by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on September 25, aims to encourage the study of a language that is said to be spoken by 20 crore people spread across India and in countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, Fiji, Mauritius and Suriname. IGNOU also proposes to set up a Centre for Bhojpuri Language and Culture at its campus in New Delhi, which will offer courses right up to the Ph.D level. Prof Shatrughan Kumar, the coordinator of the course, said that once the Foundation Course in Bhojpuri takes off, IGNOU will offer certificate, diploma, degree and doctoral programmes in the language. “There will be many more opportunities to learn the language in depth and nurture its literature,” he said.

Number of registered users of IGNOU’s FlexiLearn Open Course Portal has crossed 17,000. The number of daily hits on the portal are about 50,000.

6 IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010

NEWSUPDATES

‘Make India a global education hub’ added that IGNOU is he cost of higher already marketing its education in India capabilities through the is one-tenth the Pan-African network. cost prevailing in The summit was most European countries. convened by Dr Jagjit In view of this, “our Singh, executive institutes of higher president, IMM, and learning should gear up coordinated by Dr their collaborative efforts Pillai. to increase the foreign The summit focused student enrolment and on opportunities in the make India a global fields of engineering and destination for technology, IT and education,” said Dr management, tourism Shashi Tharoor, the Union Dr Shashi Tharoor speaking at the Education Summit. Others (from left) are Prof P.J. and hospitality, and Minister of State for Kurien, Dr Narendra Jadhav and Pro-VC Dr Latha Pillai. agriculture for students External Affairs. from South and Central Asia, This will not only give them a education system abroad,” Dr Tharoor was speaking at the Middle-East, Africa and global name, but also provide Dr Tharoor noted. “Publica day-long education summit Central America. exposure to our teachers.” private partnerships, like the ‘Marketing of India’s Higher More than 200 delegates, “There is a need to develop one between IGNOU and IMM, Education Worldwide: including scholars and special hubs of higher would open new avenues for Revisited,’ organised by IGNOU educationists, HRD ministry education, increase the the Indian education system and the Institute of Marketing officials and dignitaries from number of scholarships for abroad,” he added. and Management (IMM) at the various embassies were foreign students, provide Speaking on the occasion, IMM Convention Centre in New present at the event. better infrastructure and Dr Narendra Jadhav, eminent Delhi on December 12, 2009. Prof P.J. Kurien, MP and introduce a credit system to economist and member, “India has world-renowned national president, IMM, also attract foreign students,” Planning Commission, said, institutes like IITs and IIMs. addressed the delegates at said Dr Latha Pillai, IGNOU’s “Indian universities should set All we need is proper the education summit.■ Pro-Vice Chancellor. She up more campuses abroad. marketing of our higher

IGNOU-WWF course on environmental law

GNOU is launching a new course in Environmental Law from July 2010. The post-graduate diploma course would be conducted by IGNOU in association with the World Wide Fund’s (WWF-India) Centre for Environmental Law (CEL). “Real development will happen only if the environment is sustained. I hope that the new programme will present the right perspective on development to the students,” said Vice Chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai. He added that IGNOU is also keen to introduce programmes in conservation of species and

VC Prof Rajasekharan Pillai exchanging an MoU with Ravi Singh, CEO, WWF-India, on the PG diploma course in Environmental Law. At right is Pro-VC Om Prakash Mishra.

biodiversity. IGNOU may also offer these programmes to other universities, he said. Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO of WWF-

India, said he hoped that the new course would spread knowledge and awareness about enviro-legal matters to a wider audience.

“The main issue facing environmentalists today is the dearth of knowledge among common people about the repercussions of climate change and the dwindling number of species,” Singh said. The CEL is already offering an online diploma in Environment Law and has so far trained 500 students. The collaboration with IGNOU is expected to increase the reach of the programme to a much larger section of society, Pillai observed. A master’s programme in Environmental Law is also on the anvil, he added.

IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010 7

Back to school INFOCUS Academics from Sri Lanka’s National Institute of Education (NIE) attended a 10-day workshop at IGNOU to get trained in formulation of educational curriculum through various media

harmasena Mahinda Rajapakse is back in school. He is in the classroom at IGNOU, on behalf of the thousands of students back home in Sri Lanka. In his case, the teacher is learning to teach. Rajapakse was part of a 14-member team of academics from Sri Lanka’s National Institute of Education (NIE) in New Delhi to attend a 10-day workshop on ‘Curriculum Design, Development and Evaluation,’ organised by IGNOU at its Maidan Garhi campus from December 14 to 23, 2009. The main objective of the workshop was to provide the participants with training in the formulation and delivery of educational curriculum through various media. Field visits to schools and national organisations like the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) were also scheduled to enrich the

8 IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010

training experience. “India and Sri Lanka have a lot of cultural similarities. In recent years, not only India is being acknowledged as an emerging world power but its education system is also being seen as a model for other countries to follow. We came to IGNOU to learn the nuances of India’s curriculum, imbibe and exchange knowledge and ideas,” NIE’s Chief Project Officer Susil N. Maduwage told OpenLetter. Professor M.L. Koul, director of the School of Education at IGNOU, who coordinated the event, said: “Like the NCERT in India, NIE is their main curriculum development body. They were very keen to understand how India manages its curriculum, in spite of its diversity.” “We trained them in curriculum design, development, evaluation and dissemination. We discussed a way that

Shared History

Academics from Sri Lanka’s National Institute of Education (NIE) at IGNOU campus in New Delhi.

“These are the academics who will determine the future of Sri Lankan youth. We are happy that we have played a part in charting that future.” —Prof. M.L. Koul Director, School of Education, IGNOU

shared history of plurality and culture was the reason for Sri Lanka to choose IGNOU and India as the venue for the training workshop for academicians from the island nation’s National Institute of Education (NIE). This was stated by the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India, Prasad Kariyawasam, who was speaking at the conclusion of the international workshop organised by IGNOU for the academicians from Sri Lanka. Referring to the long history of plural societies and cultural afﬁnities between India and Sri Lanka, Kariyawasam said the context and conditions in the two countries were similar. Therefore, he said, it had been enriching for the Sri Lankan delegation to learn how IGNOU had developed a common

Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Prasad Kariyawasam (right) addressing the delegates. Also seen (from left) are, Prof M.C. Sharma and Pro-VC Prof K.R. Srivathsan. curriculum for the whole country given India’s diversity in terms of language, cultures and regions. He paid his compliments to the Late Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for laying the foundation for the strong ties between India and his country. Speaking on the occasion, IGNOU Vice Chancellor Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai stressed the need for education to be taken to the unreached.

feedback on the course material is obtained from students though sample surveys. We also discussed the role of teachers in effective communication of the curriculum,” he added. The training workshop has gone down well with the academicians from Sri Lanka. “This workshop at IGNOU has been a learning experience. It will help me and my colleagues immensely to develop and refine our curriculum once we are back (in Sri Lanka),” Rajapakse said. “The classes were enriching and interactive,” acknowledged Maduwage. K. Ganeshlingam, a mathematician at NIE, found the entire experience “exciting”. “The idea of holding the workshop was an inspired decision. It was really exciting to study the way IGNOU and other education platforms in India have adopted a common curriculum in spite of the huge diversities in language, cultures, regions, etc.,” Ganeshlingam observed. The Lankan academics were especially appreciative of the way that IGNOU is integrating multimedia to disseminate its courses to the unreached and the disadvantaged.

“Education must be of the quality that it not only enrols but helps to earn a livelihood,” he said. In his address, Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof K.R. Srivathsan stressed the need to integrate technology with pedagogy for the optimum results. He pointed out how technology had made it possible for education to be made accessible to the “remotest of remote learners”.

“This is a very good model for us in Sri Lanka to emulate. How the non-formal tools and attributes can be accessed to take education to the masses. We have also learnt how feedback and student sample surveys on the course material can be used to refine the course material,” Ganeshlingam noted. For Meera Villavarayar, who specialises in Carnatic music at the NIE, the visit has been a learning experience. “In the past few days, we have learnt something each day. About music, culture and other streams of knowledge. The visit has been exceptionally fruitful for all of us,” she said. Prof Koul said IGNOU was more than happy to lend a hand to the academics from Sri Lanka. “As a global university, we were especially pleased to impart the knowledge and experience that we have gained over the years. Now the academics we have trained can go back and train another set of academicians.” “These are the academicians who will determine the future of the youth in Sri Lanka. We are very happy that we have played a part in charting that future,” Prof Koul observed.■

IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010 9

NEWSUPDATES

CEC Chawla delivers Mother Teresa Lecture

IGNOU, NHRC to train cops on human rights

he Election Commission has decided to write to the Union government to allow undertrials to vote in elections, said Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Navin Chawla. Replying to queries from the audience, after delivering the second Mother Teresa Memorial Lecture, organised by IGNOU and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) at the University’s Convention Centre campus in New Delhi on December 21, the CEC asserted that undertrials should be allowed to vote. The CEC also launched the course material for the university’s B.A. (Philosophy) programme. Chawla said he had raised the issue of voting rights of undertrials at a function where Law Minister Veerappa Moily was present. “The Law Minister was in agreement. We will write to the government shortly. I am optimistic that it will come through soon,” he affirmed. The CEC said that the transgenders have been permitted to register as “Other” or “O”. “Besides, relevant forms used by the commission, where there

GNOU, in collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), will soon launch sensitisation programmes in human rights for policemen, Vice Chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai said on December 30, 2009. An MoU was signed between IGNOU and the NHRC for launching the programmes at three levels — basic course for constables/subinspectors, advanced course for middle-level police officers, and training of trainers. “This will be the first effort of NHRC along with IGNOU to inculcate a culture of respecting human rights and people-friendly practices among the police officers,” Prof Pillai observed. The first training programme will be launched for police constables at the Haryana Police Academy in Madhuban. The programmes will be offered in both distance education and online modes, followed by interactive workshops. “IGNOU has developed a human rights training portal, along with interactive self-instructional materials. e-Gyankosh and IGNOU’s School of Law will provide online support and develop interactive self-instructional materials for the course,” he added. The NHRC will help in developing the courses in the initial period in the form of resource support and funding for developing course material as well in the development of audio-visual material and video lectures. The basic course will have modules on ‘Introduction to Human Rights’, ‘‘Protection of Human Rights’, Police and Human Rights’, ‘Custodial Justice’, ‘Best Human Rights Practices in Policing’ and case studies.■

factoids

CEC Navin Chawla delivering the Mother Teresa Lecture.

is a provision for indication of sex of the voter, have been suitably amended,” added Chawla. Instructions, he stated, had been sent out to all electoral registration authorities in the country to immediately implement the decision. Earlier, in his lecture on ‘Electoral Democracy in India’, Chawla gave an overview of the electoral process, terming it the “largest management exercise in the world”. Others who attended

“We will write to the government on voting rights for undertrials. I hope a decision will come soon, thereafter”. — Navin Chawla, CEC, Election Commission

the event were Vice Chancellor Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai; ProVCs Dr D.K. Chaudhary and Prof Parvin Sinclair; and Prof Gracious Thomas, Coordinator, CBCI Chair, IGNOU. The Most Reverend Dr Thomas Menamparampil, Chairman, CBCI, Commission for Education, was the guest of honour. Dr. Thomas d’Aquino Seqeira, deputy secretarygeneral, CBCI, paid tribute to Mother Teresa. The programme also included a screening of a documentary on Mother Teresa, and the CEC’s interaction with the students and audience. The CBCI and IGNOU recently signed an MoU to establish the CBCI-IGNOU Chair to promote studies in the areas of family education, social work and philanthropy, etc.■

eGyankosh, the Open University’s online repository, has over 60,000 registered users till date. The repository gets over 1,000 hits every day.

10 IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010

NEWSSCAN

PASSINGBY

GOVERNANCE IS THE KEY seminar on ‘Governance and Development’ by Prof Rameshwar Roy, National Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), was organised at IGNOU’s School of Extension and Development Studies (SOEDS) in New Delhi on December 3, 2009. Prof Roy spoke about Prof Rameshwar Roy addressing the learners. aspects of governance in post-independent India. The seminar was part of the university’s Silver Jubilee Year celebrations. As part of the celebrations, the university also organised a national workshop on ‘Research in Distance and Online Learning’.

NEW COURSE IN FINANCE BEGINS GNOU has started a new course in ‘financial markets practice’ which commenced in January 2010. Using multimedia design and technology-aided delivery systems, the one-year, post-graduate diploma programme will be offered in collaboration with the Financial Technologies Knowledge Management Company, Mumbai. Open to graduates, the programme fee is Rs. 10,000 and it will be conducted by IGNOU’s School of Management Studies (SOMS).

PROF R.I.M. AMINUR RASHID, VC, BANGLADESH OPEN UNIVERSITY

he Vice Chancellor of the Dhaka-based Bangladesh Open University (BOU), Prof R.I.M. Aminur Rashid, recently visited the campus. He expressed his desire to strengthen his university’s relations with IGNOU. It is learnt that IGNOU is considering signing a generic agreement with BOU.

PROF WILLIAM J. LOVEGROVE, VC, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND

major Australian distance education provider, the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) is keen on deeper ties with IGNOU. During a visit to the IGNOU campus last month, USQ Vice Chancellor and President, Professor William J. Lovegrove, said that he believed his university has much “to share and learn through a relationship with IGNOU”.

FACE-TO-FACE PROGRAMMES GNOU’s first on-campus, term-end examinations for face-to-face programmes commenced from December 11, 2009, and was scheduled to conclude on January 21, 2010. The exams being held are for M.A. in Social Work, M.Sc in Chemistry, M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications, among others. “IGNOU is now looking forward to working on the right to education, skill development, strengthening study centres and consolidating the existing programmes,” said Vice Chancellor Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai. “With the availability of Educational Satellite (Edusat), the University is poised to take giant steps in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), weband satellite-based education across the globe and pursue flexible and blended learning further,” Prof Pillai added.

RESEARCH VACANCIES AT IGNOU GNOU invites applications for temporary vacancies for research associates (RAs) and senior research fellows (SRFs) to be posted at the School of Agriculture. The School of Agriculture recently received a Rs. 1.04 crore grant from the World Bank to undertake research on ‘Innovations in Technology Mediated Learning’ — under the ICAR-NAIP (Indian Council of Agricultural Research–National Agriculture Innovation) Project. The vision of the project is to create a community of national agricultural educators and researchers who will teach as well as generate up-to-date learning material, contributing to sustainable agriculture and poverty reduction. The aspirants can log in to the university’s website www.ignou.ac.in/ adv/appointment.htm for details about the vacancies. A detailed bio-data should be sent to the Principal Investigator, School of Agriculture, IGNOU, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi — 110068, by January 25. It can also be e-mailed to baljitsingh45@yahoo.co.in.

IRINA G. BOKOVA, DIRECTOR GENERAL, UNESCO

NESCO Director General Irina G. Bokova in her speech quoted Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore twice to express her firm belief in democratisation of education. She said that education must be ‘real-life’ oriented and be able to improve livelihoods. Her talk on ‘Building Inclusive Knowledge Societies in a Globalised World: Opportunities and Risk,” was much appreciated at IGNOU.

WALTER ISARD, ECONOMIST

alter Isard, 90 — a leading American economist whose idea of Peace Science has become a discipline in many universities the world over — recently visited IGNOU. He attended the “International Peace Conference on Conflict management, Peace Economy and Peace Science,” organised jointly by IGNOU, Gandhi Smriti Darshan Samiti and UNESCO.

IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010 11

NEWSUPDATES

IT education for rural India n an effort to bring IT education and vocational training to the doorsteps of millions of students in rural India, IGNOU and the All India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology (AISECT) — a leading information and communication technology (ICT) training network — have signed an MoU to roll out 100 IT-enabled courses through 400 learning centres. Launching the AISECT-IGNOU partnership programme during the twoday AISECT national conference in Bhopal recently, Madhya Pradesh Governor Rameshwar Thakur said that it was time that higher education was taken to rural India and affirmed that the new partnership will play a crucial role in this direction. In the first phase, AISECT-IGNOU partnership launched seven IT and management courses, five hardware and networking and 17 vocational courses, which will all be certified by IGNOU. The registration process for these programmes has already commenced. “The AISECT-IGNOU initiative will provide vocational training to talented students to harness their skills,” said IGNOU VC Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai.

Madhya Pradesh Governor Rameshwar Thakur (centre) launching AISECT-IGNOU partnership. Archana Chitnis, Madhya Pradesh’s MoS for School Education is seen second from right, while former Union Minister Suresh Pachouri is at left.

“This effort will help unemployed students even in the remotest part of the country to get jobs,” he added. “The objective of this partnership is to tap the huge potential of students in rural India, at the block and panchayat levels,” said Santosh Choubey, CMD, AISECT. “This partnership will give new employment options to the students in the field of ICT,” said Madhya Pradesh’s

MoS for School Education Archana Chitnis. “The central government is promoting its skills development department and the 11th Five-Year plan has allocated a budget of Rs 22,800 crore,” former Union Minister Suresh Pachouri observed. The Chairman of MP State Electronics Development Corporation (MPSEDC), Premshankar Verma, was also present.■

Save dying dialects: Prof Devy ore than 350 universities and 16,000 colleges dot the Indian education landscape today, but the country has failed to stem the loss of regional languages and dialects, lamented Professor G.N. Devy, an eminent scholar and cultural activist. “It is phonocide, with far more damaging effects than genocide,” warned Prof Devy while delivering a lecture on ‘Aphasia, Amnesia and Inequalities: Narratives of Marginalisation’, the first of the IGNOU Silver Jubilee lecture series in New Delhi on December 22.

“The loss of language, or ‘Aphasia’, has resulted in millions of people losing a golden Prof G.N. Devy. opportunity to receive higher education,” said Prof Devy, who is also the founder-director of the Tribal Academy at Tejgadh, Gujarat, and director of the Sahitya Academy’s project on ‘Literature in Tribal Languages and Oral Traditions’. The lecture, presided over by Vice Chancellor Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, highlighted the complex

12 IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010

spectrum of linguistic diversity in India. Delving into the dialectical diversity of the country, its complex “spectrum” and lack of easy access to higher education, Prof Devy blamed three colonial legacies – Aphasia, Amnesia and Inequalities — for the plight of dialects. “Some major languages have also lost their identities in recent times, particularly among the youth who have lost touch with their native languages,” he asserted. “Denial of higher education is to ensure inequality. As the country plans 1,000 more

universities in next 10 years, I hope that we will have a far greater number of students in the field of higher education. Opening of more colleges in rural India is a solution to stem the marginalisation of the disadvantaged,” he added. Lauding Prof Devy’s considerable contribution in aiding the inclusion of the excluded in Indian society, Vice Chancellor Pillai said: “The purpose of universities is to include the excluded. IGNOU has taken a step towards this direction. We are working to ensure inclusive growth through inclusive education.” ■

NEWSUPDATES

‘Evolve Sign language’

Gyan Vani to air ‘Earth Beat’ adio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) has teamed up with IGNOU’s Gyan Vani. The university channel will now broadcast RNW’s weekly radio show ‘Earth Beat’. “The agreement with RNW to rebroadcast ‘Earth Beat’ through Gyan Vani would compliment the efforts of the University in generating awareness and educating people about the serious environmental issues of our times,’” Vice Chancellor Prof V.N. Rajasekharan said on December 16, 2009. “India is one of the priority regions for RNW and for us, IGNOU and RNW are an ideal match,” said RNW Director General Jan Hoek.

Prof Sibaji Panda (right) at a teaching session with hearing-impaired students. Prof. Ulrike Zeshan from the University of Central Lancashire is also seen second from right.

ith the aim of increasingly charting out educational programmes for over 10 million differently-abled Indians, a three-day International Conference for Sign Language Users, titled ‘Sign4 Conference’, was organised at the IGNOU campus in New Delhi on December 17-19. Over 300 delegates representing domestic and global institutions, such as the universities of Bristol, Central Lancashire, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Africa, participated in the three-day event. The Conference was jointly funded by IGNOU, the University of Central Lancashire (UcLAN), UK, the Deaf Empowerment Foundation, the

factoids

Netherlands, and Ishaara Foundation, Mumbai. Prof Sibaji Panda, a lecturer in Applied Sign Language Studies (BAASLS) programme at IGNOU, identified processes through which discrimination against the deaf in India can be tackled through the development of the sign language. “Curricular support is must in this effort,” he observed. The conference debated many issues, such as: development of sign language linguistics as a language per se, ensuring tangible benefits to the deaf community, developing cognitive processes in signing, sign language typology, and steps needed to incorporate the issues faced by the hearing impaired in the academic

curricula globally. “If sign language is included as a brief subject in the Indian education system right from the school stage, this will not only develop better awareness about the hearing-impaired but also help evolve the sign language as a language per se,” said Prof P.R. Ramanujam, director of IGNOU’s Staff Training Institute for Distance Education (STRIDE), who is also the Programme Coordinator for the B.A. in Sign Language Studies programme. Prof Ulrike Zeshan from the University of Central Lancashire spoke about ‘Sign Language Typology’, a new field which compares the grammar of different sign languages with each other and with spoken languages.■

Prisoners can study for free n a New Year gesture, IGNOU, on December 31, 2009, declared that it will henceforth provide education to all prisoners in the country free-of-cost. “All jail inmates in the country will now be able to access free and quality education according to their choice,” a senior administrator of IGNOU said. In a notice to all its regional directors, heads of schools, divisions and centres, the Registrar of the university said that the decision was pursuant to approval by IGNOU’s apex controlling body, the Board of Management. Including the fees for their choice of educational programmes, the jail inmates will, now on, not be required to pay even the examination or late fees.

IGNOU’s Community College Scheme was launched on July 4, 2009. The number of colleges registered till date are 2,106. IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010 13

ONCAMPUS

MILESTONES

Hindi poetry session at IGNOU

On its way DEC begins functioning March 1992: The Distance Education Council (DEC) begins functioning at IGNOU. The DEC was established to coordinate and determine the standards for the distance education system in the country.

Centre of excellence May 1993: Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Canada, designates IGNOU as a ‘Centre of Excellence’ in distance education.

STRIDE established

VC Prof Pillai inaugurating the poetry session. From left are seen Savita Singh, a renowned Hindi poet and IGNOU Director, SOGDS, and Ashok Vajpeyi. s part of its year-long Silver Jubilee celebrations, the Hindi cell of the Administrative Division of IGNOU organised a Hindi poetry reading session at its campus in New Delhi on November 26, 2009. Vice Chancellor Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai inaugurated the session, chaired by eminent Hindi poet and critic Ashok Vajpeyi. Greeting the renowned poets who participated in the session, Prof Pillai said

that literature is an integral part of our lives and poetry leaves an indelible mark on every human being. Udai Singh Tolia, Registrar, IGNOU, and Dr Jyoti Upadhayay of the Hindi cell, welcomed the guests, while Dr Jitendra Srivastav anchored the event. The poets who participated were Anup Kumar, Madan Kashyap, Anamika, Sadanand Shahi, Durga Prasad Gupta, Savita Singh and Jitendra Srivastava.■

HIGHLIGHTS SUNDAY January 17 07:30: NCERT/ CIET-Teachers’ Prog: Media Matters–III, Fibre to Fabric 18:30: NIOS-Sec.: The Genius of India 20:00: UGC/CEC: The Inside Story: Magnetron, Evolution of Projection Trends, Physics and Technology of Sensors — Humidity and Moisture Sensors, Upaagrah Sanchaar

TUESDAY January 19 08:00: NITTTR: CHD-176: Privatisation of Higher Education 09:30: UGC/CEC: Human Respiratory System 11:00: UGC/CEC: Part-II: Lesson-XVIII: Scripting for a very Short Film 14:30: NITTTR: CHD-198: Solar Water Heater System, Rural Housing

[

FRIDAY January 22 08:30: IGNOU-SOH: Commonwealth Literature Today, Part-1 18:30: NIOS-Sec.: (Hindi) Mushroom Production SUNDAY January 24 09:30: UGC/CEC: Wind Mills: From Energy To Electricity Disha — Optometry 18:30: NIOS-Sec.: (Hindi) Money Supply

16 IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010

TUESDAY January 26 08:30: IGNOU-SOHS: MCCL-001, Basics of Electrocardiography-II 11:00: UGC/CEC: Getting Ready for Magnification — 2, The Health Show — Osteoporosis

August 1993: The Staff Research & Training Institute in Distance Education (STRIDE) is established for development of human resources in distance education, with the support of COL, Canada.

Rajiv Gandhi Fellowships May 1994: IGNOU signs an MOU with COL for setting-up a grant for awarding 100 Rajiv Gandhi Fellowships to IGNOU learners from the Commonwealth countries.

Study centre at Tihar July 1994: IGNOU Study Centre at Tihar Jail in New Delhi is inaugurated.

Ram G. Takwale new VC July 1995: Prof Ram G. Takwale takes over as the third Vice Chancellor of IGNOU.

Not to be

Missed

]

atch a special programme on ‘Cyber Crime, Arms Control and Disarmament’ (Part-1) on Wednesday (January 27). Learn more about cyber crimes such as online credit card frauds, hacking, obscene e-mails, etc., and existing cyber laws in India.

THURSDAY January 28 08:30: IGNOU-SOE: Educational Management Changing Dimension 16:00: IGNOU-SOCIS: BIT/ADIT-109VE, Software Configuration Management

SUNDAY January 31 11:00: UGC/CEC: Career Guidance in Bio Technology–II, Sports Karma — Fast Bowling 19:00: IGNOU: Hindi Sahiya Ke Sanskritik Srot (Part-1) IG/B9/2440

REGIONALROUNDUP

STUDENTS’CORNER

First IGNOU-run community college he aim of a community college should be to first identify the knowledge and skills required for the sustainable utilisation of natural resources and then passing them over to the students,” said Daggubati Purandeswari, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development. She was inaugurating the country’s first community college directly run by IGNOU in Pathanamthitta, Kerala, on January 4. IGNOU VC V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Pro-Vice Chancellor Latha Pillai, Rajya Sabha MP P.J. Kurien, Anto Antony, MP, and K. Sivadasan Nair, MLA, were also present. “Though around 160 million children go to standard one, as many as 153 million of them eventually drop-out, leaving only the remaining seven million to make it to higher education,” said Purandeswari. “We have 343 universities and 18,720 colleges across the country today but our enrolment has not even touched 10 per cent of the gross enrolment in higher education. Community colleges are the only alternative system for the remaining 90 per cent who have lost the chance for academic learning,” the Union minister added. The community college here would

D. Purandeswari, MoS for HRD, inaugurating the community college in Pathanamthitta, Kerala. VC Prof Rajasekharan Pillai is also seen.

Manish Kumar Verma.

soon start 29 academic programmes, including several certificate and seven associate degree courses, said IGNOU Vice Chancellor Prof Pillai. MP Anto Antony said the community college would start functioning in two rented buildings in Pathanamthitta town and at Kaipattoor. IGNOU would set up its own campus in Pathanamthitta soon, he added. The college has been set up with aid from Antony’s MPLADS fund. ■

Workshop on medicinal plants workshop. GNOU Centre for ODL in The farmers were taken Research and Training in for a visit to the medicinal Agriculture organised a garden at the North Eastern two-day training programme Development Finance on cultivation and Corporation Ltd. (NEDCL); utilisation of plants with Horticultural Research medicinal values at the Complex (HRC) at university’s Regional Centre Nagicherra; NTFP (Nonin Agartala recently. Timber Forest Produces) The programme, Prof B.S. Hansra. Centre for Excellence; coordinated by Prof B.S. Forest Research Complex Hansra of IGNOU’s School of at Gandhi Gram, Agartala; and the state Agriculture, covered topics such as government’s Department of Horticulture medicinal plants in North-East, important and Soil Conservation. plants of Tripura, importance of study of The programme was co-organised by medicinal plants, medicinal plants and the Department of Horticulture and Soil their linkages with local communities, Conservation of the Government of nursery technology for medicinal plants, Tripura; the Department of Botany, M.B.B. value addition and utilisation of medicinal College, Agartala; Medicinal Plant Board plants, and marketing of such plants. of Tripura; the NTFP Centre of Excellence; A group of 31 farmers from the entire and NEDFL.■ North-Eastern region attended the two-day

14 IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010

From IGNOU to IBM anish Kumar Verma, senior systems engineer with IBM India at Pune, learnt the ropes during his MCA programme from IGNOU which he joined in 2003. For Verma, IGNOU’s course material not only helped him enter the IT industr y, but also helped him to get a job at the prestigious IBM Global Ser vices. “I am happy to be part of the IGNOU family,” says Verma, who worked with Convergys as an Associate Programmer before joining IBM.

‘Thank you, IGNOU’ V. Padmaja, a working professional who pursued an MBA (HR) programme from IGNOU in 2006, joined Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) in K.V. Padmaja. Bhopal recently on a handsome salary. “I owe my success entirely to IGNOU. In spite of being constrained by my family responsibilities, my teachers went out of their way to find time and energy to guide me throughout the MBA course. I am grateful to the faculty and the entire staff of IGNOU for their commitment,” says Padmaja.

REGIONALROUNDUP Training in masonry

Mobile repair workshop

A batch of 20 trainees attended a threemonth vocational training in masonry organised by the IGNOU Institute of Vocational Education and Training (IIVET), Shillong.

IIVET, Shillong, organised two vocational training programmes on mobile repair and maintenance, and repair of domestic appliances at Chuchuyimlang village in Mokokchung district, Nagaland, recently. Attended by 17 students, the programmes were conducted in collaboration with Nagaland Gandhi Ashram, Chuchuyimlang. A learner receives a certificate after successfully completing the course in conversational English.

Conversational English

Students being trained in masonry.

Electrical wiring programme The IIVET (Shillong) and BASIX India organised a training programme on electrical wiring at the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) at Tura in Meghalaya recently. A training session on computer literacy was also conducted at the common service centre of BASIX India, as part of the telecentre model where vocational training is integrated with basic knowledge of computers. A batch of 12 participants from the Garo Hills of Meghalaya attended the sessions.

IIVET-CIPET in pact The IIVET, Shillong, and the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering & Technology (CIPET), Guwahati, signed a one-year Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to jointly organise a three-week plastics processing technology-skill development programme, and a six-month non-credit certificate training programme on Machine Operator of Injecting Moulding. Deputy Director of CIPET, Karl Murty, was present. The courses, open to students from the North-East, have already commenced at CIPET’s Guwahati centre.

factoids

The IIVET (Shillong), in collaboration with K.L. Bajoria College, conducted standard and advanced conversational English programmes at its study centre from June to August 2009. The certificates were handed over to the successful students on September 1, 2009. Learners at a training session in Chuchuyimlang.

Meet a poet in A.S. Guha

Induction meet at Azamgarh

ot many of us know that Ananya S. Guha, Joint Director, IGNOU, and currently Officer on Special Duty at the IIVET in Shillong, A.S. Guha. has a heart that beats for poetry. Four collections of his poetry have been published and his poems have appeared in journals and anthologies in India and abroad. ‘Dancing Earth’, an anthology of poetry from the North-East that was launched on December 16, carried five of Prof Guha’s poems. Titled ‘God’, ‘Tree’, ‘Forests’, ‘In Mawsynram’ and ‘Mymensingh’, these poems are part of an anthology that brings together the best-known poets of the region. ‘Dancing Earth’ weaves together a remarkable variety of themes, capturing the myriad nuances of the North-East.

IGNOU’s Azamgarh Study Centre in Uttar Pradesh recently held its induction meeting. Addressing the students, chief guest Prof B. Tripathi, chairman of medical college in Chandehswar, said IGNOU has changed the lives of millions of those students who could never have got a chance to undergo a university education. Maj. M.Z. Hasan, the centre’s coordinator, addressed the difficulties faced by the students.

The induction meeting at Azamgarh.

Over 1,45,000 students are likely to get degrees and diplomas from IGNOU at the convocation this year. Over 30,000 students will be awarded certificates. IGNOU OPEN LETTER | JANUARY 15, 2010 15