S. Radha, Region Director of the IGNOU Centre here, has said that efforts are being made for the last two years to set up a study centre inside the Bijapur Central Prison. Addressing presspersons here on Wednesday, she said that the centre has written several letters to the jail authorities here for making necessary arrangements for the purpose.
Ms. Radha said that the Ballari District Prison has a centre set up by IGNOU where several inmates have applied for various courses being offered by the university. “Here too we want to allow inmates to apply for various courses which are offered free by IGNOU. For that the prison authority should permit us to open the study centre,” she said and hoped that the district administration would help the university in setting up its centre.
Established in 2011, the region centre is the second in the State after Bangalore. North Karnataka is covered by the Vijayapura region centre and two districts of Maharashtra, Latur and Solapur. Ms. Radha said that 1,450 students had registered with the centre last year and this year, it has recorded 3,619 students. “We have started admission for the current academic year. While June 30 is the last date for certificate courses, July 31 is the last date for post-graduation courses,” she said. She said that from this year, the admission process has been made online. Therefore, the applicants need not to visit the centre personally either for collecting prospectus or paying fee.
Students can apply for any course at onlineadmissi- on.ignou.ac.in. She also said that IGNOU has, in association with the State government, started paramedical course in Community Health for Nurses at the Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences. She said that it was a six-month certificate course for nurses.
She said she would write to IGNOU Vice-Chancellor to introduce MA in Journalism course. As of now, IGNOU has a post-graduation diploma course in journalism but only for working journalists with 10 years experience.
