IGNOU has ‘har ghar graduate’ in its future plans

Panaji: Every year, around 18,000 students appear for the state board Class XII exams from Goa, but less than 8,000 clear higher education in the state, including technical programmes. This means that 10,000 or more students each year are out of the mainstream education system, unable to acquire a degree, diploma or postgraduate diploma. This figure is baffling for officials at the regional centre in Goa of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), a varsity established by an act of the parliament. The university’s centre in the state is now planning to go all out to plug this gap.
G Shrinivas, who has just rejoined as the centre’s assistant regional director, said that he has conceptualised a ‘Har ghar graduate’ programme for the state, where the IGNOU centre will tie-up with the directorate of panchayats to hold spot admission camps in even the most remote villages.

“There are many areas in Goa, in the villages, where there is not a single graduate in the family. It makes a huge difference to have one person graduate in the family. It transforms the outlook of the entire family. We want to tie-up with the directorate of panchayats and first hold an orientation seminar for all sarpanchas. Students will be enrolled on the spot for diploma and graduate programmes,” said Shrinivas.

He said that, at a time when the Union government has set a target of taking the gross enrolment ratio in higher education among the youth to 40%, IGNOU can play a key role in helping achieve this in Goa.

Shrinivas said that he similarly plans to tie-up with the directorate of education to hold an orientation programme for principals of higher secondary schools.

“We want to help principals upgrade their skills by enrolling them for our PG diploma in education management. I have also already discussed it with chief minister Pramod Sawant about helping existing employees in government or government-funded organisations to upgrade their skills,” he said.