All jails in Odisha to have IGNOU study centre soon

Bhubaneswar: Aiming to facilitate the inmates for pursuing education inside the prison, the State government decided to increase the number of study centres run by IGNOU in all the jails across Odisha.

The authorities are making plan to open the study centre in all the circle jails and district jails under the zone for the prisoners.

In this regard, discussion with the Directorate of Prison has been completed. The final notification about opening of the IGNOU study centre will be released within a month, said Bhubaneswar Zone officer Manoj Kumar Das.

Presently, as many as 244 jail inmates have been enrolled into 24 various study programmes at IGNOU study centre opened in four jails in Odisha.

Meanwhile, IGNOU in collaboration with Higher Education department is planning to open six-month certificate courses in 251 aided and 52 government colleges for the graduate and post-graduate students.

Official source said that with introduction of certificate courses programme offered by the IGNOU, the students will have cleared the course with completion of their studies.

A draft proposing 33 courses has been sent to the Higher Education department. After getting nod from the authorities, the IGNOU will open five certificate courses in each college where the students can opt for the certificate course.

This was decided at a meeting held in May. The final notification in this regard will be out within a week.

Besides, IGNOU along with Skill Development Institute (SDI) in Bhubaneswar will open several courses including Certificate in Information Technology (CIT), Certificate of Competency in Power Distribution (CCPD) and Certificate in Communication and IT Skills (CCITSK), said Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL)’s Skill Development General Manager Bibhuti Panigrahi.