Over 1,700 students graduate from Chennai Regional Centre at the 39th Convocation of IGNOU

A total of 1,789 students from the Chennai Regional Centre of the Indira Gandhi National Open University graduated at its 39^th Convocation on Tuesday.

The Chennai Regional Centre covers 19 districts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal, with 15 study centres.

Presenting the annual report of the Chennai Regional Centre, K. Panneerselvam, Senior Regional Director, IGNOU, said that about 210 programmes are offered in this region, the popular courses being M.A. in Psychology, M.A. Political Science, M.A. in English, M.A. Sociology, B.A. General and B. Com.

S. Vincent, Member-Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology, said that the courses offered by IGNOU have given a fillip to the socio-economic development of the country, especially for those living in rural areas. Tamil Nadu, he said, has become number one in scientific publications, in patent filing, and in producing successful PhD candidates. IGNOU’s programmes, Dr. Vincent added, bridged the urban-rural divide to a great extent.

Earlier, the 39^th Convocation was kicked off in New Delhi by the Vice President, C.P. Radhakrishnan, in the presence Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, and Uma Kanjilal, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU. The event was live streamed simultaneously to 51 regional centres.