The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) was established by an Act of Parliament in 1985, has emerged as a world leader in the field of open and distance learning in a short span of 27 years. The University, which is named after former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, has come a long way since.
It has kept pace in adapting itself to fast developments with time and was conferred the honour of Centre of Excellence in Distance Education in 1993 by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). The honour of “Award of Excellence of Distance Education Materials” was conferred on IGNOU by COL in 1999. It has tried to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) by offering high quality teaching through the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode.
The Headquarters of the University are located in New Delhi. Teaching, research, training and extension are the important academic activities of the University. The University began by offering two academic programmes in 1987, i.e., Diploma in Management and Diploma in Distance Education, with strength of 4,528 students and IGNOU in a span of 27 years has become a pioneer for open and distance learning in the country.
Last year, IGNOU was bestowed the Best Teaching Practices Award on January 2012 at the “India Today Education Summit”. Over the years, IGNOU has lived up to the country’s expectations of providing education to the marginalized sections of society. Free of cost education is being provided to all jail inmates across the country. A large number of SC/ST students have also been admitted to various programmes of the University.
On the context of quality of education offered by the ODL institutions, IGNOU has approached the task at two levels: i) as an institution and ii) as a system-leader. Emphasis is now being laid on developing multimedia and online learning and adding value to the traditional distance education delivery mode with modern technology-enabled education within the framework of blended learning.