The 33rd convocation of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) was held at its headquarters in New Delhi and its 39 regional centres, including in Thiruvananthapuram, on Monday.
Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan was the chief guest at the regional convocation organised by the regional centre of IGNOU here. Speaking on the occasion, he said education, particularly higher education, had become the key instrument for the growth of society and nation. Higher education was in the midst of a transition in the country, he added.
He credited IGNOU for making education accessible to people cutting across barriers, including age, location and status. In line with the changing technological scenario, IGNOU has introduced courses in cutting-edge areas of science and technology such as cybersecurity and information security. It has also digitised course materials and has made them accessible online. He gave away the degree and diploma certificates on the occasion.
IGNOU regional director B. Sukumar, who presented the report, elaborated on the activities under way to expand its network to reach marginalised communities, transgenders, differently abled, jail inmates and others deprived of education.
31 support centres
The regional centre has a strength of 56,000 learners in its network of 31 learner support centres, among which 15,940 learners registered during the current academic year. As many as 156 programmes were offered under the Thiruvananthapuram region of the IGNOU.
Toppers
The Thiruvananthapuram regional centre produced four gold medallists at the 33rd convocation. They include Girish Kumar C. (MA Education), Nidhiya Lal (MA Political Science), Vijitha Robinson (Postgraduate diploma in Intellectual Property Rights) and Vineeth G. Nair (Postgraduate diploma in Information Security). As many as 2,779 learners were awarded degree and diploma certificates under the regional centre. Union Minister of Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal inaugurated the convocation at the IGNOU headquarters.
