IGNOU to start two more MA courses
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 23
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has decided to start several courses and programmes in its new academic session which will begin in July. The university will start MA courses in political science and history, M.Com and Bachelor’s degree in social work, for which its study centres at Guru Nanak Girls College, Ludhiana, DAV College for Women, Amritsar, Doaba College, Jalandhar, MGDAV College, Bathinda, and the Department of Correspondence Courses, Punjabi University, Patiala, will be activated.

Giving this information, Dr U.C. Pandey, Regional Director, IGNOU, said the university would offer these programmes through the distance education mode, under which high-quality print material will be provided to the students at their doorstep. Academic support services will also be provided at these selected study centres.

Students taking counselling sessions at the study centres will also have access to video teleconferencing sessions, interactive radio counselling, recorded audio-visual lessons in the form of CDs, library and other forms of support services. For postgraduate programmes in political science, history and commerce, the university has fixed a fee of Rs 2,000 whereas for Bachelor’s degree in social work, the fee will be Rs 6,000 .

Dr Pandey said the fee charged by the university was an inclusive sum for services and books being provided. He said no examination fee was being charged by the university. Dr Pandey stated that the university was aiming to make low-cost programmes of good standards available to the common man.

Dr pandey said the IGNOU’s academic programmes had been designed to suit the requirements of working people. A variety of support services are being extended to the students. However, none of these facilities has been made compulsory, keeping in view the various commitments of the people.

Dr Pandey said earlier a majority of academic programmes of the university used to start in January every year. He said the university had decided to start BA, BCom, BCA, MA (English), MA (Hindi) and other postgraduate programmes in July itself. He said the provision was made for some of the programmes last year. But seeing the success of this shifting of the academic session from January to July this year, a few more programmes had also been shifted to the July session, he added.

Dr Pandey said the university had also made the provision of admitting those students provisionally who could submit the proof of having fulfilled the eligibility criterion for admission till the last date of admission. He said such students would be allowed to take admission provisionally subject to the submission of an undertaking and proof of fulfilling the criterion by September 2004. Dr Pandey said the provision would benefit a large number of students whose results were announced late by universities. 

PTU lapse puts students in a spot
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 23
It was a day of utter confusion for 12-odd first semester students of MSc (IT) of the Khalsa Institute of Management and Technology yesterday. While the students had to appear for their first examination, Punjab Technical University had not set up any examination centre for them in any institute of the city.

As a result, students kept shuttling from one centre to another till the last moment when a college finally agreed to accommodate them on compassionate grounds. The students said they were harassed for almost half- an- hour before the examination. By the time they finally sat down to write their paper, they were quite tense, irritated and tired.

The students said the university authorities had dispatched the roll numbers about a week ago but left the column meant for examination centre blank. Seeing this, the students said they had asked the college authorities to enquire into the same with the university.

The students said two to three days prior to their examination they were told by their college head that a verbal communication had come from the university as per which they were to appear in the examination at Gujranwala Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology (GGNIMT), Civil Lines. The students said when they reached the institute yesterday at 1 pm the authorities refused to allow them to sit in the examination as they had not received any such directions from the university.

Nonplussed with the reply the students again went back to KIMT and told the head that the authorities of GGNIMT had refused to allow them to sit in the examination. The students said just 10 minutes were left for their examination to begin when their centre head enquired about the matter, checked up with different institutes and finally told them to go to Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology (GNIMT), Model Town.

Accompanied by their college director and a teacher, the students said they finally reached GNIMT at 1:40 pm, almost 10 minutes late for the examination. The students said that it was a kind gesture on the part of the authorities of the institute to have already arranged for extra question papers and answer sheets, by the time they settled down to write the paper.

The students said they were dissatisfied with the functioning of the university. They said the roll numbers issued to them also caused much ambiguity as it was a seven-digit number for some students while others received an eight-digit roll number. Later, they said students with seven-digit number were told by the college authorities that they could add zero before the last digit.

Dr M.S. Seekree, Director of the institute, confirmed that such a confusion occurred yesterday. He said but now the situation was clear as the students would appear for the remaining six examinations in GNIMT, Model Town. 

College teachers oppose shifting of plus two classes
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 22
The Punjab Government's decision to shift plus two classes from colleges has drawn flak from college teachers, who have demanded continuation of the existing arrangement in which classes are held both in colleges and schools. Prof Mahavir Singh, president, Punjab College Science Teachers’ Association, assailing the move, said, “The government has not spent even a penny on developing infrastructure in schools, where laboratories and libraries are in a shambles. Besides, there is an acute shortage of staff in schools.”

Prof Barinderjit Singh Birdi, organising secretary of the association, demanding reconsideration of the decision said, “The atmosphere as well as facilities available in colleges are decidedly better than those present in schools. The government must not force parents to send their wards to schools for their plus two studies.”

Prof A.K. Gupta of Arya College is of the opinion that plus two passouts from colleges have a more mature outlook and are better informed than their counterparts in schools. Prof Inderjit Singh of GHG Khalsa College , Gurusar Sadhar, asked why the government wanted to insulate plus two students from college teachers. He pleaded that the students should be allowed to gain knowledge from the college teachers.

Prof Jagmohan Singh, member, state executive of the PCCTU, said, “A section of the college teachers may be rendered surplus due to this decision, which may lead to their retrenchment.”

Programme for parents
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 23
An orientation programme — A window to the world of toddlers — was held today at the local BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, in which parents of newly-admitted students took part.

The programme was held to guide the parents to create such an environment where the child’s potential could be developed to the fullest.

Dr Aruna Sood, senior consultant, Department of Psychiatry, Christian Medical College, was the chief guest.

Introducing the new scheme “No bags and no exams”, Ms Paramjit Kaur, Principal, highlighted various curricular activities for nursery students. She stressed upon the need to inculcate good food habits among the children at the tender age.