IGNOU Goes Euro, US Next?

[Dickie Billericay]

Did they mention it's the largest in the world?  Only twice?

Prices too low for "forging overseas accords"?  Let the feds regulate it; that should be good for major price hikes and make it just as unaffordable as American unis.

IGNOU to open study centres in six European countries

2010-09-22 16:30:00  
New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), the largest in the world, will open study centres in six European nations, including Germany and France, to offer personalised courses, its Vice Chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai has said.

'We will open our centre in Paris next month. Negotiation is going on with Germany. I hope we will start in Germany by the end of this year. Our target is to open five-six centres in Europe by July 2011,' Pillai told IANS.


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 personalised courses in Gandhian studies and some Indian languages such as Sanskrit through its new study centres in Europe, besides the regular courses.


'We are in discussion with several institutes in the US, Australia and Europe to develop personalised courses. It will be done keeping in mind the needs of partner institutes,' he said, adding IGNOU's low course fee was hindrance in forging accords overseas.


'Our fee is quite low when you compare it with what is charged by universities in the developed countries. We are planning to restructure the fees for courses offered outside India,' Pillai said.


IGNOU has presence in 35 countries through 56 study centres. Over 42,000 students are enrolled at its overseas centres. More than 90 percent 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.


'Now we have 3.2 million active enrollments. It was 1.1 million in 2006. This indicates increasing popularity of distance education,' said Pillai, adding the university targets to sustain over 25 percent annual growth in enrollments in the coming years.


IGNOU courses were also becoming increasingly popular in Africa and the Gulf region that has a large strength of India expatriates. 'Many African universities have approached us for collaboration. We will help in designing course and study materials.'


He said IGNOU will also introduce e-books within six months to increase the popularity of its courses among high-tech students. 'We will start with management and IT and gradually introduce it for all the courses. It is cost effective and user friendly.'


The university also plans to introduce video-conferencing facilities for all its 56 overseas study centres within a few months.

[ham]

'Our fee is quite low when you compare it with what is charged by universities in the developed countries. We are planning to restructure the fees for courses offered outside India,' Pillai said.

Another provider has grown smarter...
Although due to IGNOU's lack of responses to inquiries, I wouldn't study with them even if it was for free...

[Virtual Bison]

I checked this school out. They seem to be legit and offer a lot of programs. Anyone see any problems?

But you are right, once the Accreditation Mafia gets to a school things get fucked up in an awful hurry.

[ham]

I checked this school out. They seem to be legit and offer a lot of programs. Anyone see any problems?

110% unresponsive...if UNISA was bad, this is non-existent.
However small the fee you pay is compared to others, you may not want to find yourself shackled to a unresponsive institution that couldn't care less when you are supposed to get a degree going.

[Armando Ramos]

110% unresponsive...if UNISA was bad, this is non-existent.

Good point Ham.  That faker Azad was the only guy in India that ever returned emails.  After Dovelos (or somebody posting as Dovelos) threatened to impale him he disappeared too.  Customer service in India has been in a slump ever since.

John D
Jun 28 2005, 4:23 am


Azad,

You despicable, lying and cheating Indian scum, you filthy crook, this just came to my attention and I'll give you just one warning.  Remove all your posts about Athenaeum (and not "Athenaem" you illiterate bastard), including the title of this thread, or I'll see to it that a thick, sharp at one end, long piece of Indian bamboo is shoved right up your Indian ass.  The technical term for this is "impaling", but, of course, you wouldn't know.

Impaling is exactly what you deserve you slime and that's what's you're going to get if you dare ever again mention my name or my school. This is a promise and if you ask around you'll find out that I always keep my promises no matter what and regardless of the cost.

Don't bother to complain that this is a threat, because it is a threat.

John S. Dovelos

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.educa...4dc8fe0198

[msganti]

IGNOU is perfectly legitimate. It is established under the UGC Act. Like most universities in India, it is Government-owned and funded.
Not responding to e-mails or inquiries is typical of many Indian Universities. In India, this is how it works - you register, pay the fee, take exams and get your degree. Beyond that, one can not expect any communication from the University.
How do I know - I am from that country. Born and educated there.

[Yancy Derringer]

Not responding to e-mails or inquiries is typical of many Indian Universities. In India, this is how it works - you register, pay the fee, take exams and get your degree. Beyond that, one can not expect any communication from the University.

So you are saying that rudeness and incompetence are just part of being Indian? Do you think those traits will serve IGNOU well as they try to break into western markets?

[msganti]

I dont know what you'll consider as rudeness or incompetence. My language might be bad, but please try to get the meaning. Indian Univeristies are mostly mostly government-owned, and are not for-profits.
IGNOU was originally designed for local student communities. It does have local study centers in almost every major town in India. So, one can walk-in to a study center near to him to get any information he/she needs. That's how it have been.
Venturing into so many countries beyond India, IGNOU might be changing it's attitude and become more responsive and adapt itself to the needs of students of those countries.

[Don Dresden]

Not responding to e-mails or inquiries is typical of many Indian Universities....Indian Universities are mostly mostly government-owned, and are not for-profits.

You are clearly stating a point we make around here often. When the government holds a monopoly, or near-monopoly, they have no need to respond or adapt to the needs of their customers. Their attitude is, “If you want to know something, drag your ass down here to the study center and when we get around to it we might tell you, if you’re nice.” It’s just like the post office, the DMV or any other government office.

On the other hand, when there is competition any prospective student who isn’t happy with the level of customer service can take his tuition money elsewhere. In a competitive environment even government schools have to return emails and respond timely to student inquiries, and if they don’t there are plenty of others who will.

So the problem IGNOU faces when they run their shit attitude out into a competitive marketplace is that students who weren’t raised on the “take it or leave it” attitude of Indian government schools are going to tell them to drive it back to India and park it.

[msganti]

I agree that Indian universities are more like the US Post Office or DMV as far as their business attitude is concerned. But, like UNISA, they are a good option for students looking for low-cost recognized degrees and can bear with the lack of support.
BTW, I just found out this organization which claims as study center for some legitimate indian universities.
http://tamiluniversityusa.org/tamilunive...index.html
They are based in USA, and provide "24 hour, round the clock, answering services for your inquiries at (410)326-8080"