The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has launched three online programmes in Rural Development. The new online programmes -- Certificate of Rural Development (CRDOL), Master of Arts Rural Development (MARDOL) and Post Graduate Diploma Rural Development (PGDRDOL) were launched by IGNOU's Discipline of Rural Development, School of Continuing Education. Students can register for the Rural Development courses through the official website — ignouiop.samarth.edu.in.
Certificate of Rural Development(CRDOL)
This programme in Rural Development provides a comprehensive knowledge of socio-economic factors affecting the transformation of rural society. "The contents are designed to impart the integrated understanding about the crucial dimensions of rural development. It is primarily meant for those learners who, because of the limitations of time and resources, are unable to take up Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Development but are still interested to have a comprehensive orientation in rural development within a short period of time," the release said.
The duration of this certificate programme is six months, and course fee is Rs 1,800 for full programme, and registration fee of Rs 200.
Master of Arts Rural Development(MARDOL)
The discipline of Rural Development is of vital significance for understanding the development issues related to rural society. The syllabus of MA Programme in Rural Development is designed to include such diverse academic contents as are essential in the making of this discipline in the Indian context. An essential component of this programme is the dissertation based on empirical research on various issues related to rural areas, as per the release. The programme will be useful to personnel working in various Government Departments/agencies, NGO's, cooperative sectors and other institutes engaged in rural transformation. It will also be beneficial for fresh graduates interested in pursuing a career in the discipline of rural development, it said.
The duration of this course is two year, and the fee is Rs 5,900 per year, and registration fee of Rs 200.
Post Graduate Diploma Rural Development(PGDRDOL)
The Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Development provides comprehensive knowledge of socio-economic factors affecting the transformation of rural society. The contents are designed to impart an integrated understanding to learners about the crucial dimensions of rural development. "It aims at enabling the learners to acquire skills related to planning, formulation, monitoring and evaluation of rural development projects and programmes," the release said. The Programme also introduces the learner to the basic aspects of research and project-work. The Project Work provides its learners an opportunity to study rural development problems, which enables them to develop necessary skills to undertake research work in rural development, it added.
The course duration is one year, and the fee is Rs 2,400 for full programme, and registration fee of Rs 200.