IGNOU

1. 1. THE UNIVERSITY

1.1 Introduction

The Indira Gandhi national Open University was established by an Act of Parliament in 1985 to achieve the following objectives.

• Democratising higher education by taking it to the doorsteps of the learners.
• Providing access to high quality education to all those who seek it irrespective of age, region, religion and gender.
• Offering need-based academic programmes by giving professional and vocational orientation to the courses.
• Promoting and developing distance education in India.
• Setting and maintaining standards in distance education in the country as an apex body.

1.2 Prominent Features IGNOU has certain unique features such as:

• International jurisdiction
• Flexible admission rules
• Individualised study: flexibility in terms of place, pace and duration of study
• Use of latest information and communication technologies
• Nationwide student support services network
• Cost effective programmes
• Modular approach to programmes
• Resources sharing, collaboration and networking with conventional Universites and other Institutions/Organisations
• Socially and academically relevant programmes based on students need analysis
• Convergence of open and conventional education system

1.3 Important Achievements

• Emergence IGNOU as the largest Open University in the World.
• Recognition as Centre of Excellence in Distance Education by the Commonwealth of Learning (1993).
• Taking IGNOU Programmes to African and West Asian countries including Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal and Seychelles in all to 35 countries.
• Award of Excellence for Ditance Education materials by Commonwealth of Learning (1999).
• Launch of a series of 24 hours Educational channels ‘Gyan Darshan’. IGNOU is the nodal agency for these channels and regular transmissions are done from the studio at EMPC, IGNOU.
• Launch of ‘Edusat’ videoconferencing channels (2 way video, 2 way audio)
• Launch of Gyan Vani and other dedicated educational FM channels.

1.4 The Schools of studies With a view to develop interdisciplinary studies, the University operates though its Schools of Studies. Each School is headed by a Director who arranges to plan, supervise, developorganisation academic programmes and courses in cordination with the School staff and different academic, administrative and service wings of the University. The emphasis is on providing a wide choice of coures at different levels. The following schools of Studies currently are in operation:

• School of Humanities (SOH)
• School of social Sciences (SOSS)
• School of sciences (SOS)
• School of Education (SOE)
• School of Continuing Education (SOCE)
• School of Engineering & Technology (SOET)
• School of Management Studies (SOMS)
• School of health Sciences (SOHS)
• School of Computer & Information Sciences (SOCIS)
• School of Agriculture (SOA)
• School of Law (SOL)
• School of Journalism and new Media Studies (SOJNMS)
• School of Gender and Development Studies (SOGDS)
• School of Tourism and hospitality Service Management (SOTHSM)
• School of Interdisciplinary and Trans-disciplinary Studies (SOITS)
• School of Social Work (SOSW)
• School of Vocational Educational and Training (SOVET)
• School of Extension and Development Studies (SOEDS)
• School of Foreign Languages (SOFL)
• School of Translation Studies and Training (SOTST)
• School of performing & visual Arts (SOPVA)

1.5 Academic Programmes

• The University offers both short-term and long-term progemmes leading to Certificates, Diplomas and Degrees, which are conventional as well as innovative. Most of these progremmes have been developed after an initial survey of the demand for such programmes. They are launched with a view to fulfil the learner’s needs for:
• Certification
• Improvement of skills
• Acquisition of professional qualifications
• Continuing education and professional development at work place
• Self-enrichment
• Diversification and updation of knowledge
• empowerment

1.6  Course Preparation

Learning material is speciall prepared by teams of experts drawn from different Universities and specialised Institutions in the area spread throughout the country as well as in-house faculty. This material is scrutinised by the content experts, supervised by the instructors/unit designers and edited by the language experts at IGNOU before they are finally sent for printing. Similarly, audio and video cassettes are produced in consulation with the course writers, in-house faculty and producers. The material is previewed and reviewed by the faculty as well as outside experts and edited/modified, wherever necessary, before they are finally dispatched to the students, Study Centres and telecast through Gyan Darshan.

1.7   Credit System The University follows the ‘Credit System’ for most of its programmes. Each credit in our system is equivalent to 30 hours of student study comprising all learning activities (i.e audio, watching video, attending counselling sessions, teleconference and writing assignment responses). Thus, a 4-credit course involves 120 hours of study. This helps the learner to know the academic effort he/she has to put in, to successfully complete a couse. Completion of an academic programme (Degree or Diploma) Requires successful completion of assignments, practicals projects and the term-end examination of each course in a programme.

1.8  Support Services In order to provide individualised support to its learners, the University has a large number of Study Centres, spread throughout the country. These Study Centres are co-ordinated by 60 Regional centres and Recognised Regional centres. At the Study centres, the learners interact with the Academic Counsellors and other learners, refers to books in the Library, watch/listen to video/audio programmes and interact with the Coordinator on administrative and academic matters. This list Support services are also provided through Work Centres, Programme Study Centres, Skill Development Centres and Special Study Centres.

1.9  Programme delivery The methodology of instruction in this University is different from of the conventional Universites. The open University system is more learner-oriented abd the learner is an active participant in the pedagcgical (teaching and learning) process. Most of the instructions are imparted through distance education methodology and face-to-face mode as per the requirement. The University follows a multimedia approach for instruction, which comprises:

a) Self Instructional Written Material: The printed study material (written in self-instructional style) for both theory and practical components of the programmes is supplied to the learners in batches of blocks for every course (on an average 1 block per credit). A block which comes in the form of a booklet usually comprises 3 to 5 units.

b) Audio-Visual Material Aids: The learning package contains audio and video CDS which have been produced by the University for better clarification and enhancement of understanding of the course material given to the learners. A video progamme is normally of 25-30 minutes duration. The video cassettes are screened at the study centres during specific sessions which are duly notified for the bebefits of the learners. The video programmes are telecast on National Network of Doordarshan and Gyan Darshan. All Gyan Vani stations are broadcasting curriculum based audio programmes. In additions, some selected stations of All India Radio are also broadcasting the audio programmes. Learners can confirm the dates for the programmes from their study centres. The information is also provided through the University website.

c) Counselling Sessions: Normally counsellings sessions are held as per schedule drawn by the Study Centres. These are mostly held outside the regular working hours of the host institutions where the study centres are located.

d) Teleconferences: Live teleconferencing sessions are conducted via satellite through interactive Gyan Darshan Channl as wll as similcasted on ‘Edusat’ channel from the University studios at EMPC, the schedule of which is made available at the study centres.

e) Practicals/Projects Work: Some programmes have practical/project component also. Practicals are held at designated institutions for which schedule is provided by the Study Centres. Attendance at practicals is compulsory. For project work, comprehensive project guide, in the form of a booklet, is provided to the student alongwith the study materials.

1.10  Evaluation System The system of evaluation in IGNOU is also different that of conventional universities. IGNOU has a multi-tier system of evaluation.

1. Self –assessment exercises witin each unit of study.
2. Continuous evaluation mainly through assigment which are tutor-marked, practical assigment and seminar/workshops/extended contact programmes.
3. The term-end examinations.
4. Projects works.

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