New Delhi, Nov 8 (IANS) To improve educational facilities in Bihar, which has the lowest literacy level in India, and launch market driven vocational courses for its youth, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is setting up 400 training centres in the state to train students and government officials.
The IGNOU training centres “will be equipped with computer labs to provide distance education through information technology to the remotest parts of the state”, said an official of the university, one of the largest in the world.

In addition, “it is estimated that during the year 2009-10, 25,000 government officials will be trained by the IGNOU,” the official said.

The Human Development Index (HDI) value of Bihar has been increasing but it still lags far behind other major states of India. Bihar figures 13th in the HDI value among 15 major states of India. Bihar, with 47 percent literacy - much lower than nation average of 66 - is ranked lowest in the country.

“These programmes will not only enable them become competitively skilled, on par with the workforce of other states, but also help Bihar to significantly improve its Human Development Index,” the official said.

The state government signed an agreement for implementation of state sponsored projects with the IGNOU, called ‘Samarth’. IGNOU has been chosen as the knowledge partner of the state.

The IGNOU has been training thousands of primary school teachers in the state.