The Hindu : Front Page : 30 prisoners in Madurai complete computer course

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Monday, Jul 13, 2009
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30 prisoners in Madurai complete computer course

Shastry V. Mallady

Certificates to be distributed soon, says Regional Director

35 enrolled for the programme in the first batch
Five prisoners asked to repeat
the course

MADURAI: The first batch of 30 inmates of the Madurai Central Prison here had successfully completed the Computer Literacy Programme offered by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).

Practical sessions were conducted on the prison campus last Friday and the varsity would issue them the course completion certificates.

“Totally 35 inmates of the prison had enrolled for the one-month computer literacy course of which five have been asked to repeat the course in the next batch. The 30 candidates who had completed the course will receive the certificates in one week,” M. Shanmugham, IGNOU Regional Director, Madurai, told The Hindu on Sunday.

According to him, a counsellor deputed by the university had conducted the training programme in the prison covering both theoretical and practical aspects.

The inmates were taught the basics of computer operations, internet, e-mail and Windows.“The Prisons Department had sponsored the candidates and it paid the fees of Rs.600 per candidate to our university on behalf of the trainees. It is an encouraging move,” Dr. Shanmugham said.

Second batch

Having completed the process for the first batch, the officials of IGNOU Regional Centre here have started preparations to launch training for the second batch of inmates.

Already, 15 names have been proposed from the Madurai prison.

The learning material for the programme was made available both in English and Tamil, Dr. Shanmugham said and added that the classes were conducted during the free hours permitted in prison.

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