Over the years, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has successfully made its name as the foremost place in the distance education sphere. “It’s the first higher educational institute in the open distance learning mode to be accredited by NAAC.”, the IGNOU registrar said. As per the norms defined by NAAC, ODL Universities are assessed on the basis of seven criteria. These criteria include curricular aspects, teaching-learning and evaluation, research, innovations and extension, infrastructure and learning resources, learner support and progression, governance, leadership and management, institutional values and best practices.
The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) was established in 1994 to work towards the periodic assessment of higher educational institutes in the country. It also functions to stimulate the academic environment for the promotion of quality teaching-learning processes in higher education institutes. They have very recently defined the criteria for assessing and accrediting the higher education schools and universities offering distance education.
The NAAC team visited the University on January 5, 2021 and January 7, 2021. The NAAC team scrutinized all the Schools of Studies, Operational Divisions, Centers/Cells/Units at the IGNOU headquarter in New Delhi. The Regional Centers at Delhi, Lucknow, Cochin, and their learner support centers were also visited by the NAAC team. As per the statement by IGNOU, “The NAAC team visited and scrutinized all the infrastructural facilities, and interacted with teachers, academics and non-teaching staff. The members of the team had virtual interaction with the regional centers, overseas study centers, and alumni also.”
The Registrar, in the statement, said: “NAAC accreditation of the University is the outcome of the hard work, dedication and team spirit of the University fraternity. The University also extends best wishes to all its students and alumni for this remarkable achievement. It is the result of the commitment, dedication, and hard work of the IGNOU team for the last 34 years.”
As of today, IGNOU has 30 lakh students on the roll, and with this accreditation by NAAC, ODL and online learning will play a major role in access and equity to higher education, the IGNOU statement added. The University offers various certificate and diploma courses in addition to undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral courses. Moreover, the per annum fees is quite cost-effective and helps people of all classes to enroll themselves in higher studies easily.
