Admissions to Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), which used to be a huge draw for correspondence courses till recently, is on the decline in the Madurai region.
What is worrisome for the university is that some of its popular courses which used to command a heavy demand had only a few takers in the latest admission season. Some of the conventional courses offered by IGNOU that have lost charm include B.Com., MBA, MCA, B.Ed. and BCA.
The trend is similar across Madurai region that covers 15 districts in the State.
S. Mohanan, Regional Director, IGNOU Madurai Regional Centre, told The Hindu on Thursday that there had been at least 15 per cent drop in admissions this year when compared to last year owing to a variety of factors.
“The emergence of new arts and science colleges and engineering colleges every year is a prime reason for the sharp fall in admissions in some courses. As more students preferred to study in campuses, the distance education mode seemed to have reached a saturation point,” he said.
On an average, the Madurai Regional Centre admits around 10,000 students in a year. But, this year, it came down to 8,000. Since candidates were looking for employment scope rather than a mere degree, it had a negative bearing on admissions in distance education courses.
From 520 to 120Another reason was that a large number of courses had been scrapped by the IGNOU headquarters recently in one go. From 500-odd courses at various levels, only 120 courses were being offered now. The Madurai Regional Centre had closed down five study centres of B.Ed. programme as there were no students at all.
“From the days of offering conventional degrees, we have started looking at specialised courses that brings add-on advantage in one’s career. Courses in cyber law and disaster management are a few examples,” he said.
According to Dr. Mohanan, the university is focusing on information and communication technology to use web platform for roping in new students.
The Madurai Regional Centre which has 70 study centres in 15 districts has begun looking for new territories by looking at niche segments such as tribal population and tourism-related programmes.
