IGNOU holds 36th Convocation
‘Regional Centre Srinagar has emerged as largest centres of IGNOU with enrollment of over 54000 students’
Srinagar: The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) on Monday celebrated its 36th Convocation here.
The Convocation of the main campus of the University was held through online mode while the IGNOU Regional Centre Srinagar held its Convocation at Gandhi Bhawan, University of Kashmir.
Around 8820 learners from 112 programmes were eligible for getting degrees during the 36th Convocation of regional centre Srinagar. Out of them, 895 had registered for getting degrees on the convocation while 173 learners from 42 have opted to receive the degree in person.
The Vice Chancellor (VC) Kashmir University (KU) Prof. Nilofer Khan was the guest of the Honour at the occasion.
The Regional Director IGNOU Regional Centre (RC) Srinagar, Dr. Shahnawaz Ahmad Dar in his welcome said the Srinagar centre has emerged as one of the largest regional centres of IGNOU with an enrollment of over 54000 students.
He said the IGNOU Regional Centre Srinagar started its journey in 1999 from one room of Department of Commerce of KU with an enrollment of 1000 students in 14 programmes
“But at present IGNOU centre Srinagar is operating practically in every nook and corner of Kashmir through a network of 45 Learner Support Centres, comprising 32 Regular Study Centres, 12 Programme Study Centres and one Special Study Centre,” he said.
Speaking about the academic progress of the regional Centre Srinagar, Dr Shahnawaz said the total enrollment in 2022 was registered as 54206 in 300 programmes offered to students from Regional Centre Srinagar.
He said RC Srinagar IGNOU has been part of several prestigious projects of Government of India and one such project, he said was e-VidyaBharti Project, under the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), GOI which offers Tele-education services through internet-based web portals.
“So far, six premier Indian HEIs, approved by UGC, are offering online degree, diploma and certificate programmes. The MoUs have been signed with 19 African Countries to participate in e-VBAB project,” he said.
Dr Shahnawaz said under this initiative, IGNOU was one of the higher Education Institutions (HEIs) identified for the e-VBAB project.
“Around 2618 learners have registered in 43 programmes at various levels ranging from the Certificate to PG degree level in the July 2022 session. The learners from 19 African countries under this prestigious project have been allotted to RC Srinagar for the programmes of CFN and DECE,” he said.
Regional Director Srinagar said that in order to provide educational services to border areas of Kashmir and Ladakh region, RC Srinagar has organised several activities including pre-admission counselling sessions and induction programmes in both online and offline mode.
“Some activities were conducted at Uri Baramulla, DH Pora Kulgam, Tangdaar, Gurez, Drass, and Kargil regions,” he said.
He said that RC Srinagar has signed MOUs with the medical colleges of north, south and central Kashmir besides the department of Library for providing best internship and on the job experience to the IGNOU learners.
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 awarded A++ ranking by NAAC. IGNOU has a nation-wide learner support network for providing student support services, including face-to-face counseling and technology enabled academic as well as administrative support. (GK)
