The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), the largest open university in the world, is to open study centres in six European nations, including Germany and France, to offer personalised courses, its Vice Chancellor VN Rajasekharan Pillai. The Netherlands and Austria are other European countries where IGNOU, the world's largest by student enrollment, is considering to open study centres. It already has a centre in London, the vice chancellor added.
Pillai, who also heads the government's Distance Education Council, said IGNOU would also offer personalized courses in Gandhian studies and some Indian languages such as Sanskrit through its new study centres in Europe, besides the regular courses. IGNOU has presence in 35 countries through 56 study centres. Over 42,000 students are enrolled at its overseas centres. More than 90 % of them are the people of India origin. The vice chancellor said student enrolments at the university have almost trebled in the last four years. The university also plans to introduce video-conferencing facilities for all its 56 overseas study centres within a few months.
