IGNOU taking education to remotest corners: Dharmendra Pradhan

New Delhi, April 26

Urging for leveraging technology to reach the unreached, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today said the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) should become the knowledge centre of the world.

It’s modern-day Lord Hanuman

IGNOU has emerged as modern-day Lord Hanuman in taking education and learning to the remotest corners and to the poorest. Dharmendra Pradhan, Education Minister

“Technology is the new equaliser. We must ensure empowerment of our population through innovation, especially those at the bottom of the pyramid and also ensure that education reaches the unreached. A digital university and other e-learning initiatives are steps in that direction,” he said while addressing the 35th convocation of IGNOU.

Terming the event a big confidence booster, Pradhan said it reflected immense possibilities of the innovative pedagogy of the university. “The 21st century is the century of knowledge. If we want to establish India as a knowledge-based economic superpower, we must ensure a paradigm shift in our education landscape,” he said.

The NEP-2020 is a step towards transforming education and skills, he said. “Making education and learning flexible and encouraging earning while learning should be the objective of our universities,” he said.

“We have to tap our civilisational wealth and also the immense potential of the Indian knowledge system to make our education system more holistic, empathetic and for global good in line with the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.”

“Leveraging technology, innovation and Internet, IGNOU must endeavour to further enlarge the canvas of education, strengthen the e-content architecture and emerge as a benchmark knowledge centre of the world,” he added.

Speaking at the event, Prof Nageshwar Rao, Vice-Chancellor, IGNOU, said the university had been striving to realise its mandate of inclusion, democratisation and quality in higher education.

“IGNOU has been working on multidisciplinary and holistic education as envisaged in the NEP-2020 and a special cell has been created for NEP recommendations’ implementation,” he said.

The function was conducted simultaneously at 32 regional centres of the university across the country.