599 prisoners enrolled as students with IGNOU Nagpur centre

Nagpur, Sep 11: The regional centre of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) here has as many as 599 prisoners enrolled with it as students, an official said.

Among the said inmates of Nagpur and Amravati Central Prisons who have enrolled themselves with IGNOU centre here are also 44 female prisoners, Director Dr P Sivaswaroop said yesterday on the foundation day of the centre, which has now completed six years in the city.

In India, only 6.7 per cent of the literate population has completed graduation. So, creating opportunities for people to become graduates was a priority, he said.

This year, two new study centres of IGNOU were opened in Buldhana and Gadchiroli, he said. To mark its foundation day, the IGNOU centre had organised a discussion among its students entitled, 'Gyan Dhara – Education for All Religions'.

A woman student, Sakina Shabbir Barwaniwala, who enrolled with IGNOU to resume her studies after a gap 14 years even as she has to take care of three children and look after an ailing mother-in-law, said she had completed a preparatory course (after class 12th) with 88 per cent marks and has now joined the BA Psychology course.

The students said that IGNOU courses were affordable and lauded the university for providing a good opportunity to all who want to educate themselves.

PTI