IGNOU plans new courses

Indira Gandhi National Open University was planning to provide courses in regional languages to encourage more students, particularly from southern States, to enrol, said Ravindra Kumar, Vice-Chancellor (in-charge) of the university, here on Friday.

Interacting with the media after inaugurating the meeting of Regional Directors of 11 Regional Centres from South Zone, he said : “We are planning to introduce translated versions of popular courses in Tamil and other regional languages within six months. Later, we also want to develop courses originally in regional languages.” Speaking at the inauguration, V. Venugopal Reddy, Director of Regional Services Division (RSD), IGNOU, pointed out that enrolment was comparatively low in southern and western States. He said while regional centres in southern States accounted for around 10 per cent of the total enrolment in the country, those from northern States contributed to 46 per cent, eastern States 25 per cent and western States 11 per cent. “Even the north-eastern States, which have comparatively low population, contribute around 8.5 per cent of total enrolment,” he said. Mr. Kumar said IGNOU was also gearing up to go full throttle on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which could be accessed through internet free of cost. “Only if the learner wants to get a certificate for the course, a nominal fee will be charged and the candidate will be evaluated on the course before awarding certificate,” he said.“Work is also under way to provide courses through dedicated television channels in Doordarshan,” he said.