Regional languages may go a long way in increasing the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER): Dr. Subhas Sarkar, MoS, MoE at the 36th Foundation of the University
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) celebrated its 36th Foundation Day on November 19, 2021. The Foundation Day celebration started with the floral tribute at the statue of Late PM Smt. Indira Gandhi situated at the main gate of the IGNOU headquarter in Maidan Garhi by Prof. Nageshwar Rao, Vice Chancellor IGNOU and other key functionaries of the university including Pro-Vice Chancellors, School Directors faculty members and IGNOU fraternity. The Chief Guest on the occasion was Dr. Subhas Sarkar, Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India and delivered the Foundation Day Lecture.
Welcoming the Chief Guest Dr. Subhas Sarkar, Prof. Satyakam , Pro-VC IGNOU said that it is an honour for us to have Dr. Subhas Sarkar as the Chief Guest at the foundation day of the university.
Giving the introduction of the Hon’ble Minister Dr. Subhas Sarkar Prof. Uma Kanjilal, Pro-VC IGNOU said that as a practitioner of medicine Dr. Subhas Sarkar has had an illustrious career and is known as a poor man’s doctor with a multifaceted personality of being a politician, and a social worker.
Congratulating IGNOU on its Foundation Day Hon’ble Minister Dr. Subhas Sarkar lauded IGNOU for having unprecedented expertise in developing and launching academic programmes that are needed in the present day context and useful for learning communities. He urged the university to embed courses on Indian Culture, Traditions, Knowledge and Value Systems, etc. for programmes at all levels. He said that it is also important that interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary programmes be also introduced for holistic education for all learners at all levels.
Talking about the implementation of NEP 2020, the Hon’ble Minister said that the National Education Policy focuses on the education and skills needed for the young learning communities of the 21st century that is going to lead the nation for its growth and for making it world’s largest economy. And Institution like IGNOU has a major role to play while transforming the educational opportunities in consonance with NEP 2020, he observed
To make our graduates employable, the Minister said that it is important that we integrate vocational education with higher education. “The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 envisages explosive growth of vocational education in the country as it requires all educational institutions to integrate vocational education into their offerings so that by 2025 at least 50 per cent of the learners have exposure to vocational education in line with the sustainable development goals set out by the United Nations” the Minster added.
Prof. Nageshwar Rao, VC IGNOU in his presidential address thanked the Chief Guest for accepting to be part of this very important day in the journey of the university. He said that the University has attained these heights owing to the tireless efforts of each of its employees and urged them to work harder for even greater glory.
Talking about the new initiatives of the University, Prof. Rao apprised the Minister that an MoU is being signed with the ministry to train the Teachers (ToT) across India. He spoke about the Regional Language push to enhance the GER at regional levels providing education to all the segments of people of different backgrounds in their mother-tongue.
The Hon’ble Minister unveiled two books authored by IGNOU faculties, viz., Bio-valorization of Waste: Trends and Perspectives by Prof. Shachi Shah Director, School of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies and Awareness Module on Disability by National Centre for Disability Studies (NCDS).
The Hon’ble Minister also launched Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) platform (Mini Cloud) funded by the Ministry under the HEFA loan scheme. Prof. Uma Kanjilal, Pro-VC provided the details of the Mini Cloud Infrastructure in-house which would make ICT infrastructure of the University robust for launch of more Online Programmes and also automation of processes.
The Hon'ble Minister distributed awards recognizing extraordinary work by IGNOU Faculty members in the different categories of; Best Regional Center, Best Research Paper by IGNOU faculty, Best Master, Bachelor, Diploma, PG Diploma, Certificate Programmes. The awards were also given to Best SWAYAM Course and Online Programmes in terms of Student enrolments by the Hon'ble Minister.
The proceedings of the function were made available to all the Regional Centres through live webcast via IGNOU's Facebook Page (@OfficialPageIGNOU), Gyandhara (www.webcast.ignouonlineac.in)
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