The Indira Gandhi National Open University, known as IGNOU, is a distance learning national
university located in IGNOU road, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi, India. Named after former Prime
Minister of India Indira Gandhi, the university was established in 1985 with a budget of 20 billion,
when the Parliament of India passed the Indira Gandhi National Open University Act, 1985.
IGNOU is run by the central government of India.
IGNOU, the largest university in the world with 4,000,000 students, was founded to impart
education by means of distance and open education, provide higher education opportunities particularly
to the disadvantaged segments of society, encourage, coordinate and set standards for
distance and open education in India and strengthen the human resources of India through education.
Apart from teaching and research, extension and training form the mainstay of its academic
activities. It also acts as a national resource centre, and serves to promote and maintain
standards of distance education in India. IGNOU hosts the Secretariats of the SAARC
Consortium on Open and Distance Learning and the Global Mega Universities Network initially
supported by UNESCO. IGNOU has started a decentralisation process
by setting up five zones, viz, north, south, east, west and north east. The first of the
regional headquarters, catering to four southern states, Pondicherry, Andaman and Nicobar and
Lakshadweep, is being set up in the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.
History In 1970, the Ministry of Education and Social
Welfare in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the UGC and
the Indian National Commission for cooperation with UNESCO, organised a seminar on 'Open
University'. The seminar recommended the establishment of an open university in India on an experimental
basis. The government of India appointed an eight-member working group on open university
in 1974. The leading role was given to G. Parthasarathi, the then Vice-Chancellor of
the Jawaharlal Nehru University. The working group recommended establishing
an open university by an act of parliament as early as possible. The university should
have jurisdiction over the entire country so that, when it is fully developed, any student
even in the remotest corner of the country can have access to its instruction and degrees.
The working group suggested several measures to be followed in instructional and management
processes of the open university which include: admission procedure, age relaxation, preparation
of reading materials, setting up of core group scholars in different fields, setting up of
study centres, vehicle of curricular programmes, live contact with teachers, and so on. On
the basis of the recommendations of the working group, the Union Government prepared a draft
bill for the establishment of a National Open University, but due to some reasons the progress
was delayed.
In 1985, the Union Government made a policy statement for establishment of a national
open university. A Committee was constituted by the Ministry of Education to chalk out
the plan of action of the national Open University. On the basis of the report of the Committee,
the Union Government introduced a Bill in the Parliament. In August 1985, both the Houses
of the Parliament passed the Bill. Subsequently, the National Open University came into existence
on 20 September 1985. It was named after late prime minister Indira Gandhi. The Indira Gandhi
National Open University is responsible for introducing and promoting distance education
at the university level, and for coordinating, determining and maintaining standards in such
systems functioning in the country. In 1989, the first Convocation was held and
more than 1,000 students graduated and were awarded their diplomas. IGNOU audio-video
courses were first broadcast by radio and television in 1990 and IGNOU awarded degrees
received full recognition by the University Grants Commission in 1992 as being equivalent
to those of other universities in the country. In 1999, IGNOU launched the first virtual
campus in India, beginning with the delivery of Computer and Information Sciences courses
via the Internet. Schools
IGNOU currently serves approximately 3.5 million students in India, the headquarters, and 40
other countries abroad. These are UAE, UK, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia,
Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives, Ethiopia, Namibia, Kenya, Myanmar, Vietnam, Singapore,
Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Fiji, France, Ghana,
Gambia, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Liberia, West Indies, Samoa, Lesotho, Malawi, Switzerland,
Nigeria, Mongolia, Zambia. It has 21 schools and a network of 59 regional
centres, 7 sub-regional centres, 2,600 study centres, and 52 overseas centres. Approximately
20% of all students enrolled in higher education in India are enrolled with IGNOU. IGNOU offers
175 academic programs comprising 1100 courses at certificate, diploma and degree levels.
It also offers a number of non-accredited extension and skill-oriented programs through
the twenty-one schools: Divisions
The Indira Gandhi National Open University has the following Eleven Divisions to take
care of various activities. Research Unit
The Research Unit has been established at the Indira Gandhi National Open University
vide notification dated 6 October 2008. Prior to that, research-related activities were
looked after by the Academic Coordination Division. The Unit has been established with
the following objectives: To conduct Research Council and Research Council’s
Standing Committee meetings for developing policies and frameworks for conduct of research
activities. To register and monitor all full-time and
part-time MPhil and PhD candidates. To engage Research Teaching Assistants under
IGNOU-DEC RTA Scheme for conduct of research and teaching.
To conduct workshops/seminars on research methodology for full-time and part-time research
candidates. To facilitate systemic/discipline based research
in the University. A meeting was held on 27 April 2009 with all
Directors of Schools and Heads of Divisions, Centres, Units and Institutions, in which
the Vice Chancellor informed that the Research Unit will function as a single point contact
with the support of Schools, Institutes, Centres and Units in all research- related activities.
The Research Unit will perform the following accordingly:
Plan and conduct Research Council and RCSC meetings for developing policy frameworks
for conducting research activities and approving PhD and MPhil candidates for provisional registration.
Prepare policy frameworks and guidelines for MPhil and PhD programs, in particular, and
research-related activities, in general. Prepare guidelines and prospectus for MPhil
and PhD programs. Receive and process full-time and part-time
PhD applications, including international students, registering full-time and part-time
MPhil and PhD candidates, and maintain their progress.
Notify PhD and MPhil students of registration and their admission in the PhD and MPhil programs.
Conduct entrance examinations and term-end examinations for MPhil programs and course
work under PhD programs with the support of schools, centres, and institutions of the
University. Institutes, cells, centres, regional centres,
and consortia Indian Sign Language Research and Training
Centre(ISLRTC) In 2009, in collaboration with the University
of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom, IGNOU was the first university in India to
offer a Bachelor of Arts degree in sign language. under the U.K.-India Educational Research
Initiative It is a four-year degree programme. New admissions to the programme ceased in
2010, and the course ends in the 2013-14 academic year.
Accreditation & recognition IGNOU is granted the authority to confer degrees
by Clause 5(1)(iii) of the IGNOU Act 1985. IGNOU is also recognised as a Central University
by the University Grants Commission of India. The Association of Indian Universities recognises
IGNOU conferred degrees as on par with the degrees conferred by its members and the All
India Council for Technical Education recognises the Master of Computer Applications and Master
of Business Administration program of IGNOU. In 1993, IGNOU was designated by the Commonwealth
of Learning as its first Centre of Excellence for Distance Education empowered "to actively
participate in Commonwealth co-operative endeavours to identify, nurture, and strengthen open
learning institutions throughout the Commonwealth, particularly in the Third World ..".
IGNOU also operates as an accreditor for open university and distance education systems
in India through the Distance Education Council. Authority to do so is granted under Clause
16 and Statute 28 of the IGNOU Act 1985. Convocations in the past
eGyanKosh The website eGyanKosh shares digital learning
resources developed by open and distance learning institutions in the India. Items in eGyanKosh
are protected by copyright and registration is free.
Silver Jubilee celebrations On the 92nd birth anniversary of Indira Gandhi,
IGNOU completed twenty five years of its existence. This event was marked by the inauguration
of the year long celebrations by Pratibha Patil at the headquarters of the University.
Also present were Kapil Sibal, Minister of Human Resource Development and D Purandareswari,
Minister of State, HRD. The inauguration was followed by the 25th Foundation Day Lecture,
delivered by Dr. Narendra Jadhav, Member Planning Commission, Government of India.
One of the major activities proposed as part of the Silver Jubilee Year is the organisation
of IGNOU Silver Jubilee Lectures, as a monthly event commencing from December 2009. Renowned
experts and practitioners from different areas and academic disciplines will be invited to
deliver talks, the topics of which broadly fall within the areas of 'inclusion of the
excluded' and/or 'education for marginalised'. Pan Commonwealth Forum 6 : Kochi
The Sixth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning took place on 24–28 November 2010 at Le-Meridien,
Cochin Resort & Convention Centre, India. The theme of PCF6 was: Access and Success
in Learning: Global Development Perspectives PCF6 as an international forum explores the
contribution of open and distance learning to international development goals, by opening
up access to learning at every level. The Forum brings together practitioners, researchers,
planners and policy makers in the fields of open and distance learning and development
from over 70 countries. It provides opportunities to share experience and expertise, and to
contribute to future policy and provision. Participants will represent the main Commonwealth,
Asia and international institutions and agencies active in the field, including funding bodies
and technology providers. The Commonwealth of Learning's biennial Pan-Commonwealth
Forum on Open Learning has grown to become a leading international forum on learning
and development. PCF6 brought the forum to India for the first time, jointly organised
by the Commonwealth of Learning and Indira Gandhi National Open University, coinciding
with the completion of 25 years of IGNOU. Indo-Africa Virtual University
The Indo-Africa Virtual University is a virtual university that has been announced for Africa
by the Indira Gandhi National Open University, with headquarters of the virtual university
proposed to be in Ethiopia or Kenya, and an initial cost is estimated at 150 crore, with
an annual cost or 1 billion. It has been reported that it could take between six months
and a year to implement, and would fuel demand in Africa for higher studies in Indian institutions.
See also List of universities in India
Universities and colleges in India Education in India
Education in Delhi Distance Education Council
University Grants Commission References
- External links
Indira Gandhi National University – Official website
IGNOU Regional Centre, Deoghar, Jharkhand, India– Official website
IGNOU Regional Centre, Karnal Indira Gandhi National University Online Community
– Un Official website Vedyadhara Open Learning Environment – DEC
approved ODTEL framework implementation [A Disruptive Innovation in Open and Distributed
Learning] Official IGNOU Wiki
95Percent students fail in this open university IGNOU Help Books/Guide Books-Bukwit.com