An extra prospectus.... not wasted ------------------------------------------------------------
By some chance, or call it mis-communication, I ended up with an extra copy of the IGNOU prospectus. IGNOU, for those few who might not know, stands for the Indira Gandhi National Open University, and goes with the tag-line "The People's University". One might have not been a fan of Indira when she was alive; but the university does appear to be doing a useful job. IGNOU has it's 'Learner Support Centres' at Damodar's Margao, Dhempe's Miramar, Kare Law Margao, Fr Agnel's at Pilar, besides in out-of-Goa destinations like Dharwad, Belgaum, Karwar, Sawantwadi and Honnavar. In a state that has a lone university (and foolishly lobbied against another Central university here), this opens up more educational opportunities. In Goa, for instance, one can do a Master's degree in maybe a dozen or so different disciplines. There are Bachelor's programmes in different fields, and also diplomas and certificate courses. Given the scattered nature of Goa, transportation bottlenecks, and difficulties on the part of working people to put in attendance requirements, the "open" nature of this university makes education accessible to many others. It also has a wide range of subjects on offer -- Master's degrees in Computer Applications, Dietetics, Rural Development, Commerce, Tourism Management, English, Hindi, Social Work, Philosophy, Gandhian and Peace Studies, Education, Participatory Development, Economics, History, Political Science, Public Administration, Sociology, Psychology, Extension and Development Studies, Gender and Development, Distance Education, Library and Information Sciences and Anthropology. This gives an idea of the range. There are even more courses in the post-graduate diploma fields, certificate level (from community radio to sericulture and organic farming) and the bachelor's degree. You can easily pick up a form from the IGNOU office, behind Chodankar Hospital in Alto Porvorim, between 10 to 5 pm. It costs Rs 200 a form (or Rs 250 if you want it via post). The contacts are IGNOU-Goa Regional Centre. Phone 832-2414553. Email rcpan...@ignou.ac.in or see full details at http://www.ignou.ac.in The last date for applying to join this batch is June 30. You get a couple of more months, but would have to pay a 'late fee' of Rs 500 extra. Fees are reasonable. I once started a diploma in creative writing in English (unfortunately didn't complete it!) and found the study material very useful. So here's an offer: if anyone would like to use my extra IGNOU prospectus, feel free to pick it up from me. If you actually enrol in any course, I won't charge you for it (otherwise you owe me Rs 200!) Deal? More details at http://www.ignou.ac.in -- FN Land +91-832-240-9490 Cell +91-982-212-2436 f...@goa-india.org