New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) Wednesday signed a deal with the government’s Department of Information and Technology to facilitate e-learning in east India’s rural areas and optimise the use of technology to provide education in the region.
IGNOU Vice-Chancellor V.N. Rajashekharan Pillai signed the deal with the IT department’s local facilitator in the east - Srei Shahaj E-Village Ltd - at a function at the India Habitat Centre here.

“This is an initiative to tie our educational services to the 100,000 odd ‘Common Service Sundays’ centres of the IT department spread in the country, which provide weekly access to ICT (information communication technology) and internet to people from rural areas. This technology should be optimally utilised and linking IGNOU’s facilities is a step toward that,” Pillai told IANS.

The e-learning programmes that will be linked to the centres include IGNOU’s certificate programmes in agriculture, rural development, farming practices, community radio as well as organic farming.

“In addition to the Sundays Centres, people will also be given access to what I like to call ‘Virtual Study Sundays’,” Pillai said.

The educational programmes will be coordinated by IGNOU’s local counsellors who will provide online academic material as well as counselling to the people in their subject of study, the vice-chancellor said.

“We are also in the process of tying up with other agencies of the IT Department like Srei Sahaj,” he added.