Attendees during the signing of an MoU between IGNOU and MSDE for linking vocational education and training to higher education on January 19.
Kohima, January 19 (MExN): The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Government of India, on January 19, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for linking vocational education and training to higher education.
Trainees attached to National Skill Training Institutes (NSTI), ITIs, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKK) and Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSS) would benefit from the MoU by enabling their upward mobility, an official release informed. Under this MoU, 32 NSTIs, 3000+ ITIs, 500 PMKKs and nearly 300 JSS will be associated with IGNOU as Registration Centres, Examination Centres and Work Centres for hands on training, it said.
Accordingly, the students will now get an opportunity to join the three-year degree programme of IGNOU and shall have easy access to attain higher education, it added.
As per the release, a Project Steering Committee with representatives from both MSDE and IGNOU will monitor and review the progress under the partnership.
The MoU, signed by Dr BK Ray, Director MSDE and Dr VB Negi, Registrar IGNOU, is initially for a period of 10 years subject to renewal on mutual agreement.
It is an alignment with the Sustainable Development Goal 4.4 and the National Education Policy 2020 for increasing Gross Enrollment Ration (GER) in higher education including vocational education to 50% by 2035, stated the release issued via Dr Mayonmi Shimray, Regional Director i/c IGNOU Regional Centre-20, Kohima.
At the signing, Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary MSDE lauded the initiative and desired that the joint initiative shall be implemented at the earliest initially with 32 NSTIs declared as IGNOU centres in the initial stages, it said.
He further informed that foreign language training, skill-based health care education, fashion design and few other courses can be implemented under this partnership,
Prof Nageshwar Rao, Vice Chancellor IGNOU luaded the Secretary MSDE for this initiative and assured that university would provide all necessary support through its 21 Schools of Studies and 56 Regional Centres for successful implementation of the scheme, the release added.
