A new center for Tibetan Studies was inaugurated by H. H. Dalai Lama at the campus of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) during the 24th convocation of the university on September 5, 2011. He was also awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) in recognition of his contributions to the world peace and development from the university.
“When you talk about Tibetan Studies, all the important subject matter is taken from the Indian tradition. Historically, due to Buddhism spreading in Tibet, we share the guru-disciple relationship. It is all your treasure which we studied, practiced and followed the whole life. Now is the time to return to the original source. The establishment of the center can show the usefulness of study of inner science,” said the Tibetan spiritual leader while announcing the inauguration of the center.
“There are around 300 volumes of Buddhist text translated from India, specifically from Pali language and very few from Chinese language. These can be summed up in three heads: science, concept and Buddhist religion. Science explains mainly the inner science, mind and emotions to apprise oneself with the reality. Concept explains the absence of independent existence while religion tells us how to pray and maintain contact with the inner realms.”
He also emphasized upon the constructive and destructive uses of education. “To use it in a constructive way, one must have more inner strength with self restraint. Moral ethics is the basis of happy individual, community and family.”
In the ceremony held in Delhi, Dr. (Mrs.) D. Purandeswari, Minister of State for Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) emphasized upon the low literacy rate of women. “Our literacy rate before independence was 18% which has now increased to 65% according to the 2011 census. Education must be considered as a leveler to remove the inequalities. No nation can progress leaving the half population behind. The multiplier effect must be taken into account.”
Mr. E. Ahamed, Minister of State (MOS) for Ministry of External Affairs and HRD focused upon creating technology enabled distance education with multimodal education delivery. “The Open Distance Learning (ODL) opened doors for the marginalized sections in the society. The growth enrolment is only one-fourth of that in the urban areas. It is much lower for the SC’s/ST’s, 11% in females and 15% for males.”
“When you talk about Tibetan Studies, all the important subject matter is taken from the Indian tradition. Historically, due to Buddhism spreading in Tibet, we share the guru-disciple relationship. It is all your treasure which we studied, practiced and followed the whole life. Now is the time to return to the original source. The establishment of the center can show the usefulness of study of inner science,” said the Tibetan spiritual leader while announcing the inauguration of the center.
“There are around 300 volumes of Buddhist text translated from India, specifically from Pali language and very few from Chinese language. These can be summed up in three heads: science, concept and Buddhist religion. Science explains mainly the inner science, mind and emotions to apprise oneself with the reality. Concept explains the absence of independent existence while religion tells us how to pray and maintain contact with the inner realms.”
He also emphasized upon the constructive and destructive uses of education. “To use it in a constructive way, one must have more inner strength with self restraint. Moral ethics is the basis of happy individual, community and family.”
In the ceremony held in Delhi, Dr. (Mrs.) D. Purandeswari, Minister of State for Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) emphasized upon the low literacy rate of women. “Our literacy rate before independence was 18% which has now increased to 65% according to the 2011 census. Education must be considered as a leveler to remove the inequalities. No nation can progress leaving the half population behind. The multiplier effect must be taken into account.”
Mr. E. Ahamed, Minister of State (MOS) for Ministry of External Affairs and HRD focused upon creating technology enabled distance education with multimodal education delivery. “The Open Distance Learning (ODL) opened doors for the marginalized sections in the society. The growth enrolment is only one-fourth of that in the urban areas. It is much lower for the SC’s/ST’s, 11% in females and 15% for males.”
There were 23,780 bachelor’s degrees, 12,482 master’s degrees, 3 Ph.D.’s, 29, 269 diplomas and 46,364 certificates distributed during the ceremony with 28 gold medalists from Delhi and 9 cash awards recipients.
Mr. Ujwol Sreshtha, an international student, for securing highest marks in his Masters in Sociology received Prof. G. Ram Reddy Memorial Gold medal. Ms. Sini K. Nair after completing MCA received CEMCA cash award of Rs. 10,000 for the best IGNOU female student in any degree programme pertaining to technology. Mr. Stalin, completing Bachelor’s of Social Work, received Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award (gold medal and cash of Rs.10, 000). Ms. Pooja Sharma, completing Masters of Social Work received Mother Teresa Memorial Award ODL Gold medal and cash prize of Rs.10, 000.
For the first time, 5 cash awards of Rs. 5,000 each were also distributed to the on-campus students of the Masters in Social Work in collaboration with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI).
There were 1,11,898 lakh students in all who received their laurels in 44 regional centers of the university which was telecast live through IGNOU’s Gyanvani and Gyandarshan TV channels. The Vice Chancellor of IGNOU, Prof. V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai during his address presented his report wherein he listed the milestones achieved by the university in these years.
He emphasized upon the multimodal delivery of education through the convergence scheme which integrates the conventional and the ODL system. “As many as 488 Partner Institutions (PI’s) are participating in the scheme and 36 new institutions have been added. Students undergoing courses in vocational education were allowed to also enroll for vocational courses of IGNOU and have been made eligible to get degrees or diplomas from both the systems.”
Terming IGNOU as a ‘research hub’ he said that, “16 colleges/ institutes which are promoting higher learning have been recognized as research centers by the university for admitting Ph. D. candidates.”
Speaking on reaching the unreached the university’s VC said that, “More than 79,800 SC/ST students have enrolled for its programmes. Several educationally and academically backward areas have been identified and programme centers have been started in these areas. In order to ensure better educational opportunities for the disabled, IGNOU has entered into collaboration with the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) for imparting education and training.”
Prof. Pillai while talking to India Education Review expressed his immense pleasure and said that “This Convocation is probably the largest convocation in the history of University. IGNOU is conducting convocation every six months. This convocation is also unique in the sense that we declare the result in thirty days and in 45 days we have distributed the degree certificates after signing everything. Conducting convocation twice a year is a unique feature which is only adopted by our university. As a result, our student enrolment has enhanced significantly because people see that they get results in time. In this year IGNOU has enrolled 8 lakh students for the next session which means that the student enrolment is going to be four times now. We could make it possible all because of the decentralization of administration and examination.”
Mr. Ujwol Sreshtha, an international student, for securing highest marks in his Masters in Sociology received Prof. G. Ram Reddy Memorial Gold medal. Ms. Sini K. Nair after completing MCA received CEMCA cash award of Rs. 10,000 for the best IGNOU female student in any degree programme pertaining to technology. Mr. Stalin, completing Bachelor’s of Social Work, received Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award (gold medal and cash of Rs.10, 000). Ms. Pooja Sharma, completing Masters of Social Work received Mother Teresa Memorial Award ODL Gold medal and cash prize of Rs.10, 000.
For the first time, 5 cash awards of Rs. 5,000 each were also distributed to the on-campus students of the Masters in Social Work in collaboration with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI).
There were 1,11,898 lakh students in all who received their laurels in 44 regional centers of the university which was telecast live through IGNOU’s Gyanvani and Gyandarshan TV channels. The Vice Chancellor of IGNOU, Prof. V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai during his address presented his report wherein he listed the milestones achieved by the university in these years.
He emphasized upon the multimodal delivery of education through the convergence scheme which integrates the conventional and the ODL system. “As many as 488 Partner Institutions (PI’s) are participating in the scheme and 36 new institutions have been added. Students undergoing courses in vocational education were allowed to also enroll for vocational courses of IGNOU and have been made eligible to get degrees or diplomas from both the systems.”
Terming IGNOU as a ‘research hub’ he said that, “16 colleges/ institutes which are promoting higher learning have been recognized as research centers by the university for admitting Ph. D. candidates.”
Speaking on reaching the unreached the university’s VC said that, “More than 79,800 SC/ST students have enrolled for its programmes. Several educationally and academically backward areas have been identified and programme centers have been started in these areas. In order to ensure better educational opportunities for the disabled, IGNOU has entered into collaboration with the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) for imparting education and training.”
Prof. Pillai while talking to India Education Review expressed his immense pleasure and said that “This Convocation is probably the largest convocation in the history of University. IGNOU is conducting convocation every six months. This convocation is also unique in the sense that we declare the result in thirty days and in 45 days we have distributed the degree certificates after signing everything. Conducting convocation twice a year is a unique feature which is only adopted by our university. As a result, our student enrolment has enhanced significantly because people see that they get results in time. In this year IGNOU has enrolled 8 lakh students for the next session which means that the student enrolment is going to be four times now. We could make it possible all because of the decentralization of administration and examination.”
While speaking on the recent expansion of IGNOU, Prof. Pillai also said, “As per the decision of decentralization taken in the year 2008, there will be five IGNOU campuses across the nation. We got 25 acres of land for the Southern Campus. Next we will have it for the North East, North, West and East. So we will be establishing campuses and have studios like this.”
by Ezra John
