Celebrating IGNOU
The 36th convocation of IGNOU organised at Srinagar last week, marked its
journey from the time when it operated from a small room on the Kashmir University campus to today when it has spread its network across J&K
Mir Tanveer
THE 36th convocation function of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) was organised on April 3 last week. The main function was officiated at IGNOU, New Delhi. The function was simultaneously live broadcasted at some selected regional centres across the
country.
A convocation function was also organised at Srinagar by the IGNOU Regional Centre, Srinagar for the learners of the Kashmir and Ladakh regions. All the learners who had
completed their programme in the Term End Examination (December 2021 & June 2022) and had registered for receiving the degrees personally, received them during this event.
The venue was Gandhi Bhawan, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar. Vice Chancellor of the University of Kashmir Prof. Nilofer Khan addressed the convocation attended
by many academics. Dr. Shahnawaz Ahmad Dar, regional director, IGNOU
Regional Centre, Srinagar, presented the convocation report of the centre. Meanwhile, at the central and main venue for the convocation – the IGNOU headquarters at New Delhi – President of India Draupadi Murmu was the chief guest and Union Education Minister
Dharmendra Pradhan was the guest of honour. The programme was telecast live on Gyan Darshan, Swayam Prabha, Doordarshan; webcast through the IGNOU website, and through social media platforms of the University, informed Dr. Dar.
The IGNOU journey
Meanwhile, while speaking at the Srinagar convocation, Kashmir University VC Dr Nilofer Khan said that IGNOU had started its initial journey from a small office provided by the
University of Kashmir in the ’90s and had now developed into a full-fledged educational institution in the Valley. She said that thousands of students were getting education through IGNOU in both traditional as well as in modern subject courses. “We always provide a cooperative hand to such institutions of learning,” she said, adding that she
appreciated the role of IGNOU in widening its scope across Kashmir. Dr Shahnawaz Dar, in his inaugural speech, said that the Srinagar centre had emerged as one of the largest regional centres of IGNOU with an enrolment of over 54,000 students. He remembered
that the centre had initially operated from one room of the Department of Commerce on the University campus way back in 1999 and at that time, there were only 1000 students in 14 programmes.
At present, the IGNOU centre is operating in different parts of Kashmir through a large network of 45 learn support centres; comprises 32 regular study centres, 12 program study centres and one special study centre. Dr Dar also informed that the total enrolment in 2022 was registered as 54,206 in 300 programs. Besides this, the Regional Centre IGNOU, Srinagar, is a part of several prestigious projects of the Government of India and one among them is E-Vidya Bharti, a project under the Ministry of External affairs (MEA) which offers tele- education through the online mode.
Accessible and available
The ones who have been studying with IGNOU have happy stories to narrate.
Humaria Jan, who has completed her Masters in Rural Development with a gold medal from IGNOU, says: “IGNOU has provided me all the required assistance and help in completing my degree with a remarkable performance”. She talks passionately about how one should stick to one’s goals no matter how many hurdles crop up on the path. She also stresses that in the current times, when we look around, we find many Kashmiri youth tilting towards drugs, but then, “we need to make a conscious effort to steer clear of all negative influences and use our energy for bringing positivity to our careers”. Another scholar says that IGNOU provides students a wide range of subjects with multiple dimensions, adding that as a university, IGNOU always remains focussed on the current challenges in higher learning with respect to others national universities of the country. He adds: “I feel so happy to be here at the convocation ceremony where so many students are receiving certificates on their course completion”.
IGNOU was established by an act of Parliament in 1985 to provide access to
quality higher education to all segments of the society. IGNOU has been accredited A++ by NAAC. It has a nation wide learner support network for providing students support at different learning centres and study centres across the country – both in offline as well as in
online modes.
