IGNOU - MBA or MCA have never been easy, until now

Education is birth right of every individual

-Indira Gandhi

IGNOU stands for Indira Gandhi National Open University. It was established in the year of 1985, with a motive to provide cost effective education to all. This is not one of the first Open University but this is definitely a good one. Unlike other open universities, it has lot more recognition. But don't compare this with some other big budget universities/institutions like IIM, XLRI, Roorkee etc. This university targets a different segment of people. This is very well suited for the people who are already in job and want to enhance there qualification for a better career. They can work and they can study. It has very simple (yet powerful) rules and regulations for the students.

Here I am listing some of the best features of IGNOU which I liked in as a student of IGNOU.

Wide Range of Course:

IGNOU offers wide variety of course, which could be as high as Ph D in Political Science (and many more Ph D) or a Diploma in Computer Applications. IGNOU has something for all. You name the course and it will be there.

Feasible:

In country like India where still lot many people live below the poverty line, its very difficult for many of them to invest lot of money in education, specially people from rural areas. A farmer cannot afford to get his son/daughter MCA/MBA even from a third grade collage. But this is much more easy through IGNOU. For an example MCA in IGNOU will cost a max of Rs. 32000.00 (approximate), Payable in installment of close to Rs. 5000.00, half yearly. Sometimes sounds to good to be true!

No of Study Centers:

IGNOU has lot of study centers across the country. It even has center overseas, however the no of courses offered are having some restrictions. IGNOU is best suited for the people who could not finish their education due to various issues like early employment, frequent movements of residence or financial problem. It even has the centers designed specially for the defense personals (IGNOU - ARMY Recognized Regional Centers, IGNOU - AIRFORCE Recognized Regional Centers, IGNOU - NAVY Recognized Regional Centers, IGNOU - Assam Rifles Recognized Regional Center). As on date it has 48 Regional Centers.

No Strict Criteria:

Education for all is the motive of IGNOU. And to be true to that, IGNOU has very simple criteria for joining any course. You just need to have prerequisite degree. Like for M.A. you need to have B.A. (which sounds so stupid to say that it's a rule). Literally (for most of the courses) there is no restriction of marks or percentage secured in the previous academic courses.

Online Info:

This is one of the best feature I like in IGNOU. This is age of Information Technology. And IGNOU has made use of this. Most of the info is available on-line. Like Result, Hall Ticket, Course About to Start, and many other useful info. Just go to www.ignou.ac.in, and click on the appropriate link. However this website can be enhanced to offer even more information and to be more user friendly.

Contact Classes:

IGNOU is not a distance education. It offers contact classes for most of the courses. Mostly these classes are on weekends or in the evening. So it is very easy to attend. But the quality of the classes are totally dependent upon the local study center and local administration, IGNOU has a very little role to play in that.

On the Negative Side:

IGNOU has still a long way to go. The system needs a lot of improvement. like study material quality is good for nothing, need to make better, Declaration of result is very late, need to fasten it, Quality of teaching in the contact classes needs a lot of improvement. And in this local study center has to play a vital role. The format of the question papers need to be modified, make it more of objective than essay. currently majority of the questions are essay type. Like any other institution this also need to concentrate on the quality education which is in sync with the current market trend and requirement. And I am sure IGNOU will do its best to improve by every day passes on.

Well, some people also say that IGNOU is creating graduates who are not to the standards and that leads to increase in no of unemployed youths. To them I have only one thing to say Its better to create educated unemployed youths, than leaving them uneducated and unemployed

-Narender