MEDIA RELEASE
                                                                           September, 20, 2014


Indira Gandhi National Open University is established by an Act of Parliament in 1985 as a Central University, in order to cater to the educational and training needs of the country through open and distance mode of learning.

The University since been extending educational and training opportunities to a large section of the society, who due to one reason or the other could not complete their studies. It is reaching the unreached, belonging to the disadvantaged sections of the society; the SC, ST, minorities, the rural, tribal and those living in far flung and geographically unfavorable areas. The University is also giving opportunity to the professionals to upgrade their academic qualifications and skills in order to keep them updated as per demands of the competitive market. Over 3.5 million students are on our rolls today. It is declared as “The Largest University of the World” in terms of the number of students enrolled.

The University is undertaking the massive responsibility with the help of 21 Schools of studies in various disciplines located at IGNOU HQ, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi; a network of 65 Regional Centres; over 3500 Study Centres, offering over 200 academic and skill – based training programmes, over 12,000 academic counsellors and evaluators spread at the length and breadth of the country. The University has study centres / Partner Institutions in 72 countries.

The University in the year 1991 has established a Regional Centre at Pune to cater to the educational demands of the people of Maharashtra. Regional Centres in Mumbai and Nagpur have also been established recently for looking after the local needs.

The Regional Centre of IGNOU at Pune is serving in Maharashtra educating the people. In order to review functioning of IGNOU in Maharashtra, its accessibility to the people, a two - day meeting of the Coordinators of IGNOU Study Centres of Pune Region (Maharashtra) was convened on 19th and 20th September, 2014 at Pune.

After detailed deliberations, it has been resolved to undertake the following activities for extending our accessibility and reach to the people of Maharashtra, help them in their development for the overall development of the State.

· Identification of areas and locations in Maharashtra that need education and training,
· Launching of new academic programmes as per need and local demand,
· Identification of need – based, skill development programmes for the youth,
· Identification of institutions that would associate with IGNOU for imparting education and training to the youth,
· Establishment of study centres for the disadvantaged sections of the society; the SC, ST, minorities, the rural, and the tribes,
· Maintenance and improvement in the of quality of student support services in the region,
· Identification of training needs of the employees of the Government and Private establishments, and
· Promotion and publicity of IGNOU Programmes in the State.
· Identification of institutions and experienced faculty for translation of the academic and skill based programmes,
· Following up with various Departments of the State Government and the corporate bodies for sponsorship of their personnel for registering to IGNOU Programmes,
· Establishment of a Regional Campus Placement Cell and following up with employers and various placement agencies for organizing campus placement interviews for the
IGNOU learners,
· Establishment of Regional Alumni Association,
· Establishment of a quick student grievance redress system, and
· Systemic research.

The activities will be undertaken at Pune and the towns of Maharashtra with the help and support of IGNOU Study Centres of the region.

The two - day meeting of the Coordinators was presided over by Dr Masood Parveez, Senior Regional Director, IGNOU Regional Centre, Pune. Dr Mrs. Kalpana Gupte, Deputy Director conducted the meeting. Shri C Balachandar, Assistant Registrar and Shri Y Subramaniyam, Section Officer, organized the meeting.

The meeting was attended by Coordinators and Programme – in – Charges of IGNOU Study Centres, Programme Study Centres and Special Study Centres from Pune, Satara, Baramati, Nashik, Aurangabad, Srirampur, Jalna, Faizpur, Sangli, Malegaon, Beed, Sangamner and all members of the Staff of IGNOU Regional Centre, Pune.

Place: Pune
Date: 20th September, 2014
(Masood Parveez)
Senior Regional Director