IGNOU on Wednesday entered into a deal with the government's Department of Information and Technology for facilitating the e-learning in east India's rural areas and to optimise the use of technology to provide education in the region.

 

The Vice-Chancellor of IGNOU, V.N. Rajashekharan Pillai, inked the deal with the IT department's local facilitator in the east - Srei Shahaj E-Village Ltd - at a function at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi.

 

“This is an initiative to tie our educational services to the 100,000 odd 'Common Service Sundays' centres of the IT department spread in the country, which provide weekly access to ICT (information communication technology) and internet to people from rural areas. This technology should be optimally utilised and linking IGNOU's facilities is a step toward that”, Pillai told.

 

The e-learning programmes that will be linked to the centres include IGNOU's certificate programmes in agriculture, rural development, farming practices, community radio as well as organic farming.

 

“In addition to the Sundays Centres, people will also be given access to what I like to call 'Virtual Study Sundays’”, Pillai said.

 

IGNOU’s local counsellors will provide online academic material as well as counselling to the people in their subject of study, the vice-chancellor said. They will also coordinate the educational programmes.

“We are also in the process of tying up with other agencies of the IT Department like Srei Sahaj”, he added.