The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) awarded 2,37,844 degrees, diplomas and certificates of different programmes to the successful students at the 34th convocation today. The function was held virtually from the IGNOU headquarter in light of the surge in COVD-19 cases. Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' addressed the 34th convocation of IGNOU through virtual mode.
29 Medals were awarded to the meritorious students at the ceremony. 55 PhD and 13 MPhil Degree certificates were also conferred to the successful students in different streams at the convocation. This time female students have excelled and out of total 29 medals, 21 were awarded to female students and of the total PhD and MPhil degrees awarded, 37 were to female students.
Congratulating the successful students, Mr Pokhriyal lauded the role played by IGNOU in making quality higher education accessible to all through the affordable Open and Distance Mode.
The Minister stressed the need to provide education that could make one self-reliant. He further said that Self- Reliance is the key highlight of the New Education Policy that integrates vocational education bringing constructive changes in the education system. In order to achieve the goal of 50% GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio) by 2035, the university will have to be a crucial contributor, he added.
Speaking about the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS), which is a key part of the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, Mr Pokhriyal said that it provides learners with the flexibility to choose his bouquet of courses and also letting them complete it even after a gap.
He urged the university to revamp the existing undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) courses while working on the new programmes according to the needs of the country which not only provide education but also employment to accrue the demographic dividend.
