Indira Gandhi National Open University/ABOUT US

Indira Gandhi National Open University is literally the largest university in the world with 1.4 million students enrolled at any one time. IGNOUIndia.com an attempt by present students and alumni to help other students and admission seekers find information as easily as possible. Launched on the 25th of November, 2007, this web site is based on a western model, where students set up help lines to assist others looking for information.

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) was established by an Act of Parliament in 1985.

IGNOU has more 7,50,000 students with extremely varied profiles, spread throughout the length and breadth of the country. The University has an efficient and effective networking of 46 Regional Centres (5 of which are Army Command Centres, 8 are IAF Command Centres and 4 Navy Command Centres) and over 630 Study Centres, all over India . As an Open University, IGNOU has come a long way since 1985, having crossed national boundaries providing higher education as well as assisting other developing countries in this regard.

No Strict Criteria:
Education for all is the motive of IGNOU. And to be true to that, IGNOU has very simple criteria for joining any course. You just need to have prerequisite degree. Like for M.A. you need to have B.A. (which sounds so stupid to say that it’s a rule). Literally (for most of the courses) there is no restriction of marks or percentage secured in the previous academic courses

Indira Gandhi National Open University, the National Resource Centre for Open and Distance Learning with international recognition and presence, shall provide seamless access to sustainable and learner-centric quality education, skill up gradation and training to all by using innovative technologies and methodologies and ensuring convergence of existing systems for massive human resource required for promoting integrated national development and global understanding.

Online Info:
This is one of the best feature I like in IGNOU. This is age of Information Technology. And IGNOU has made use of this. Most of the info is available on-line. Like Result, Hall Ticket, Course About to Start, and many other useful info. Just go to www.ignou.ac.in , and click on the appropriate link. However this website can be enhanced to offer even more information and to be more user friendly.

The demand for higher education in the country has grown enormously. The growth of enrolment in conventional universities has been 5% in the 9th Five Year Plan. Moreover, the higher education system caters only to about 9 million learners, which constitute about 7.5% of the eligible group (between 17-23 years). The share of ODL system in this is about 20%. The Government of India has, in the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007), mandated an annual growth rate of 30% for the ODL system so that its share increases to about 40% in the overall enrolment. This is a gigantic task, with system-wide implications.

To maintain high academic standards and to compete in the fast-changing global environment of educational services, no institution can continue to be relevant without offering new programmes. This necessitates recruitment of expertise on a regular basis. A dynamic system like IGNOU needs dedicated staff with vast experience, expertise and capability to research in newer areas (including that of ODL) and constantly keep its academic offerings at the cutting edge of quality and societal needs. The University would like to strengthen the existing faculty, attract new talent, and nurture them through better human resource development policies.

IGNOU at present offers programmes in about 30 established disciplines and a few inter-disciplinary areas. There is a growing realisation that newer and diverse programmes must be added, without compromising with the needs of the traditional disciplines. Since IGNOU has established its presence in the international arena, its programmes must incorporate international perspectives, and respond to contemporary issues. We need to develop and offer Programmes in Agriculture and Law and courses in Bio-technology, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Telecommunications, Conflict Resolution and Peace, Bio-informatics, Population Studies, e-Commerce

Research, both systemic and discipline based, is crucial for the growth and academic credibility of any system. For the growth of faculty, creation of new knowledge and its dissemination are a must. Research in the areas of course development, media-mix, teaching-learning methods, student learning, learner support, programme evaluation, assessment systems, and learner retentivity and success shall be high priority areas

Contact Classes:
IGNOU is not a distance education. It offers contact classes for most of the courses. Mostly these classes are on weekends or in the evening. So it is very easy to attend. But the quality of the classes are totally dependent upon the local study center and local administration, IGNOU has a very little role to play in that.

It is well known that Governments (Central and State) have been major sources of funding, particularly in the higher education sector, largely due to the conviction that education is a social obligation, and an essential vehicle for individual empowerment and national development. However, the on-set of the twin phenomena of globalisation and liberalisation has led the funding agencies to encourage educational institutions to generate resources and offer self-supporting programmes. That is to say, resource mobilisation is the responsibility of the Universities as well. IGNOU has witnessed a continuous decline in non-plan funding, this is bound to generate pressure on the financial health of the University. There is therefore an immediate need to evolve newer strategies for mobilising resources so that the University can continue to work for its mandated objectives without hindrance. Maximising non-monetary inputs, bringing cost-effectiveness in operations, and economy in spending shall be the guiding principles

For Management Programmes admission announcements are issued twice a year March/April and September/October. Entrance Tests are held twice a year on the first Sunday of February and on the first Sunday of August.
For BA (Bachelor of Arts), B.Com(Bachelor of Commerce), B.Sc(Bachelor of Science), BCA (Bachelor of Computer Applications), BTS(Bachelor of Tourism Studies), MA(English), MA(Hindi) admission announcements are issued in May/June session for July session
Admission to Bachelor of Education(B.Ed) Bachelor of Information Technology(BIT) Advanced Diploma in Information Technology(ADIT) programmes are available through a national entrance test, which is conducted on the first Sunday of August. Advertisement inviting applications for the entrance test is usually issued in April/May
For Commonwealth Executive Master of Business Adminstration(CEMBA) and Commonwealth Executive Master of Public Administration(CEMPA) the advertisements are issued in April and October every year for the entrance tests to be held in May and November for July and January Session respectively.
For Bachelor's Preparatory Programme and all Certificate Programmes (Except Certificate in Rural Surgery(CRS) and Certificate in Teaching of Primary School Mathematics(CTPM) there is walk-in-admissions throughout the year. Application forms submitted between 01 June and 30 November will be considered for January session while applications received between 01 December and 31 May will be considered for July session.
For Doctoral programmes, application forms submitted between 01 April and 30 September are considered for January session while applications received between 01 October and 31 March are considered for July session
For all other programmes admission announcements are issued in May/June and the last date for submission of filled-in application forms is 15 September. The academic session starts from 01 January.

Wide Range of Course:
IGNOU offers wide variety of course, which could be as high as Ph D in Political Science (and many more Ph D) or a Diploma in Computer Applications. IGNOU has something for all. You name the course and it will be there.

IGNOU, with its diverse programmes, low cost and a wide network, has succeeded in attracting a significant group of learners from amongst the disadvantaged. However, a significant cross-section of people still remains outside its reach. The University is mandated to reach them. Specific efforts shall be made for providing access to education and equity in opportunities to women, SC/STs, people living in rural areas, geographically remote terrains and tribal regions, differently-abled, and socially and economically weaker sections of society. Gifted students need special attention and shall form a focussed target group. Building greater flexibility in the system shall help it widen its access.

Providing effective student support services is crucial for learner satisfaction and their success. The University, convinced of this, has succeeded in creating a wide network of Regional Centres (RCs) and Study Centres (SCs) across the length and breadth of the country. There is, however, a need to gear up student support services further and render it more effective. It has become particularly important now because of the growing local, regional and international competition faced by the University in the context of WTO and GATS.

Extension has always been recognised as the third important dimension of higher education. It involves taking knowledge and its applications to the community. The thrust of the University would be to generate a literacy movement (including information technology literacy) by involving all sections of society and training the workforce to meet the challenges of the emerging professional and social needs. Extension programmes which promote local integrated development and create self-employment for poorer people and those living in rural and backward areas will be focussed on.

It is now recognised that ICT can provide convenient and effective tools to meet the emerging needs of diversified groups. IGNOU is running a 24-hour educational TV channel Gyan Darshan and a radio-cooperative Gyan Vani. There is provision of two-way tele-conferencing, interactive radio counselling, and local FM radio. The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India (GOI) has identified IGNOU as the nodal agency for collaborating with and developing capacities in SOUs, CCIs as well as other conventional universities/educational institutions for application of multiple electronic media. The University shall strive to develop a national network using emerging technologies, to meet the challenges of access and equity. The thrust shall be towards strengthening on-line delivery of education, establishment of community-based multi-purpose tele-learning centres for ICT-enabled education, training and development.

As of now, the overseas presence of the University is mainly confined to some regions of Asia and a few countries of Africa. For historical, cultural and economic reasons, it is possible to extend the reach of our programmes much beyond. Moreover, to reach the Indian diaspora, who would be interested in continuing cultural contact with India, IGNOU intends to target the requirements of this group. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region and large parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the South Pacific Region could be potential catchment areas. This shall necessitate internationalisation of the curriculum and greater use of ICT.

At present, the time from conceptualisation of a major programme and offering it, on an average, is 4-5 years. With the lowering of knowledge doubling time, the rate of obsolescence of knowledge is very high and it is possible that for a degree programme, our learners may get dated knowledge while still pursuing the course. To build dynamism in the system and respond to the changing environment, programme development time must be substantially curtailed. The University would like to reduce response time in activities such as student registration, material despatch, continuous as well as term-end evaluation, etc.

Feasible:
In country like India where still lot many people live below the poverty line, its very difficult for many of them to invest lot of money in education, specially people from rural areas. A farmer cannot afford to get his son/daughter MCA/MBA even from a third grade collage. But this is much more easy through IGNOU. For an example MCA in IGNOU will cost a max of Rs. 32000.00 (approximate), Payable in installment of close to Rs. 5000.00, half yearly. Sometimes sounds to good to be true!

IGNOU stands for Indira Gandhi National Open University . It was established in the year of 1985, with a motive
to provide cost effective education to all. This is not one of the first Open University but this is definitely a good one. Unlike other open universities, it has lot more recognition. But don’t compare this with some other big budget universities/institutions like IIM, XLRI, Roorkee etc. This university targets a different segment of people. This is very well suited for the people who are already in job and want to enhance there qualification for a better career. They can work and they can study. It has very simple (yet powerful) rules and regulations for the students.

NUMBER of Study Centers:
IGNOU has lot of study centers across the country. It even has center overseas, however the no of courses offered are having some restrictions. IGNOU is best suited for the people who could not finish their education due to various issues like early employment, frequent movements of residence or financial problem. It even has the centers designed specially for the defense personals (IGNOU - ARMY Recognized Regional Centers, IGNOU - AIRFORCE Recognized Regional Centers, IGNOU - NAVY Recognized Regional Centers, IGNOU - Assam Rifles Recognized Regional Center). As on date it has 48 Regional Centers

MARKET TODAY NSEINDIA
DOWNLOAD SHARE RATE OF NSE (AFTER 7:00 PM)
Bhavcopy (PR.zip)