IGNOU sets regional centre in Andamans

New Delhi, Apr 16 (UNI) Indira Gandhi National Open University has set up a regional centre at Port Blair to extend the varsity's facilities to even the remotest of islets in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.

The island administration had provided built-in space for the regional centre, a statement said quoting IGNOU Vice Chancellor H P Dikshit.

Study Centres had been set up in four islands - Middle Andaman (Rangat), Little Andaman (Hut Bay), Car Nicobar (Kamorta) and Great Nicobar (Campbell Bay).

And to extend the facilities of EduSat connectivity in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, steps had been initiated by Indian Space Research Organisation to provide C-band network so as to enable different islands to receive IGNOU's the national transmission on education.

This would enable learners living in far-flung areas to receive the guidance from lectures given by some of the best experts in respective areas through the programmes transmitted from the national capital. The IGNOU and ISRO were working for materialising this facility latest by August this year.

IGNOU had been using interactive radio for transmitting its programmes under 'Gyan Vani FM Radio' initiative. The university had set up a network of 17 stations and nine more stations were in the process of commissioning. Efforts were also being made to set up such a station at Andaman to benefit the learners and general community at large.

The government had also identified the university for providing tele-education to all African countries under the Pan African Project.

IGNOU had emerged as the single largest Open University in the world. At present, the university was offering 125 academic programmes in 35 countries across the world. The university served the educational aspirations of about 1.5 million students through 11 Schools of Studies and a network of 58 Regional Centres, six Sub-Regional Centres and more than 1,400 Study Centres/Tele-Learning Centres/Partner institutions and Overseas Centres.

UNI IP PK PM1133