Ignou makes mark worldwide in distant learning

NEW DELHI: Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) has taken the world of academic sphere by storm, claimed a study paper of the University. With expansion in 26 nations, including the Commonwealth ones, the University by far has touched all continents and has become an Indian symbol in open and distance education.
The University has enrolled over 10 lakh students, making it the second giga open university after China''s.
At an exclusive to TNN in New Delhi, the University spokesman Ravi Mohan mentioned the study and said, the University has many new schemes up its sleeves and has created strength to become a force in world''s education map soon. Its tentacles in United Kingdom having been well-received for quite sometime now, Ignou has especially gained popularity in the open and distance learning (ODL) area, he said quoting noted Unesco academic John Daniel. Ignou learners are mostly hardworking workers and professionals, who continue their pursuit for higher education while carrying out professional duties, the study maintains.
Ignou''s academic programmes are currently offered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Doha, Kuwait, Fujairah, Sultanate of Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf region. In the Indian Ocean rim, the university is popular with Mauritians and students of Seychelles. In South-East Asia it has become a sought-after name in Singapore, Myanmar and Malaysia. An international university in Kyrgyzstan has recently signed an MoU to offer Ignou programmes.
In collaboration with the Unesco''s International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa, Ignou has recently taken its programmes to Ethiopia, Liberia, Madagascar and Ghana.
The University has also joined in a new collaboration with Canada''s Vancouver-based Commonwealth of Learning to take distance programmes in Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Jamaica, Malawi, Belize and Samoa. "Regular counselling, orientation and extended contact programmes are being imparted on students of post-graduate diploma in distance education (PGDDE). The programme has a cumulative value as the locals in these countries will nowonwards be able to take up responsibilities of educating their masses while earning a livelihood through dissemination of education. "Indeed, dissemination of education is a potential field that can help in development of the underdeveloped nations more positively, and can also generate employments,'' said Mohan.
The university''s message seems well-received. Recently, delegations from Brazil, Bhutan and Malaysia have chalked coordination programmes with Ignou in disseminating the advanced education to their millions of underprivileged, said Mohan.
The ODL on business management has been the first choice among candidates world over. Altogether a different aproach, the ODL focses on a new teaching methodology, which is an invention by itself and has captured students'' imagination fast. because the primary target learners are those who cannot gop to a regular classroom.
For the working professionals, the programme offers inbuilt flexibilities to accommodate varying needs of the professionals. Courses have been prepared suiting to the professionals'' functional skills.
The study says, "One can join the programme to do even one course or a set of courses to get a specialized PG Diploma in various functional areas."
This being an advantage over other ODL universities world over, Ignou''s MBA programme has become a good catch particularly in the Persian Gulf countries. A few African and South-East Asian countries also have taken up to the management programme. The entrance test is done through a digital system called OPENMAT, held twice a year.