Expedite land allotment for permanent campus: Ignou

Panaji: Over the last five years, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) regional centre in Goa has enrolled nearly 15,000 learners, of which 48% are women and 56% are working professionals, showing the centre’s inclusive profile, said regional director G Shrinivas at the convocation ceremony on Tuesday at Lok Bhavan.The regional centre, Panaji, caters to learners across Goa, Uttara Kannada (Karnataka), and Sindhudurg (Maharashtra), said Shrinivas.Altogether, 1,517 learners from 14 schools of studies across 17 disciplines were awarded degrees at the convocation ceremony under the Goa centre. Shrinivas said that the regional centre currently operates from a rented facility and chief minister Pramod Sawant had said in his budget speech 2023-24 that land would be allotted for a permanent campus.

The director sought Goa governor A G Raju’s help in “expediting the process of land allotment”.The governor, who could not be present due to health reasons, in his speech, read out in absentia, assured to facilitate the process.“I am confident that this announcement will soon translate into reality, and that a full-fledged permanent regional centre of Ignou will be established in the state and any help needed from my office will be rendered for developing distance learning in the state.

Such an institution will not only enhance academic facilities but will also serve as a hub for lifelong learning, skill development, and community engagement,” said the governor in his speech.The Ignou regional centre, Panaji, was established in 2009 and offers 76 postgraduate programmes and 71 degree programmes, in addition to diploma and certificate courses.“It has since been playing a significant role in extending the reach of the university’s programmes to the learners of Goa and adjoining regions, in line with IGNOU’s mandate of inclusive and accessible education,” Shrinivas said.