Delhi University’s Equal Opportunity Cell on Monday announced commencement of its short-term courses.
The Cell has been running its courses since October 2008. The programmes, which are conducted in association with the National Thermal Power Corporation Foundation, are of 20-week duration and offered twice a year from January to May and from August to December.
Currently there are programmes in Sign Language levels A and B, News Reading and Cinematography, Communicative English, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Disability and Human Rights.
An associate professor in the Department of Linguistics, Dr. Tanmoy Bhattacharya, who also works for the Equal Opportunities Cell, says: “The course in Communicative English is very popular. Of the 250 students who had applied for it, 110 were accepted. But we wish to expand it. The ICT course is for visually impaired individuals and people with orthopaedic disability. If there is a demand, we will also extend it to hearing impaired people.”
“The programmes are based on a judicious mix of theory and practical applications and will help students with employment opportunities,” he adds.
Popularity
Speaking about the popularity of the courses, Dr. Chandra Nisha Singh of the Cell says: “Over 200 students have enrolled for the current batch of courses, while about 135 students had enrolled in the last batch. Those who have enrolled now will compulsorily attend a workshop that will sensitise them towards disability issues.”
“A unit on disability and human rights has been incorporated into all the programmes,” she adds.
Students who have successfully completed the programme so far have been awarded certificates by Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Deepak Pental.
The NTPC Foundation is now planning to launch ICT centres at five universities modelled on Delhi University’s ICT centres.
These centres will be attached to Delhi University for technical know-how purposes.
