SPEECH BY HER EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA, SHRIMATI PRATIBHA DEVISINGH PATIL, AT THE INAUGURATION OF THE SILVER JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS OF THE INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY (IGNOU)

New Delhi, 19th November, 2009

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to inaugurate the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of the Indira Gandhi National Open University established in the memory of Late Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi.

On her birth anniversary today, it is her deep commitment to the development of the country and to the upliftment of those living in poverty that one recalls as her distinguishing hallmark. She viewed education as a liberating force, which while enabling individuals to earn a living would also make them capable citizens and therefore, wanted that education should reach all people in the country. She had faith in the power of technology to contribute to this. She said, and I quote, "Communication technology frees the entire concept of education from its previous limit of time and space ... we can reach out to the remotest places and to the best minds that exist. We do not have all of it yet in India, but I sincerely hope that we will have it soon and that this will help our education to be more broad-based and deeper." India has now emerged as a leader in IT and we must use its potential to the fullest, to spread education and knowledge. Indeed, the mission of IGNOU, founded in 1985, is to make knowledge and skills available to anybody, anywhere, anytime. I wish everyone associated with IGNOU every success in this noble endeavour.

IGNOU has grown in the 25 years of its existence. It has over 15 percent of all learners enrolled in higher education in the country and offers a wide range of programmes and courses through its vast network of learning centres across the country. Its Regional Centres can play a very important role in reducing disparities in education by extending education opportunities in villages and remote areas. While expanding its coverage and as part of its continuing effort to improve its teaching platform, I am told, that IGNOU has started a "convergence scheme" bringing together the strengths of face-to-face conventional education and the flexibility of open and distance learning. It is institutions that seek to excel that constantly work to upgrade their facilities and incorporate good practices.

The importance of education cannot be over emphasized. It is a very powerful tool for empowering people and for giving them self-dignity. It becomes even more important for a nation like ours that is in the process of harnessing its human resources for rapid economic growth. Today, we need more children in school and more of them to go on to higher education. Proper training, provisioning of skills sets and capacity building of its population are tools which shall make our human resources competent and confident to face the new set of challenges of a fast changing world.

Nations with high quality human resources would be counted amongst the front ranking nations of the world in the knowledge era. Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, once remarked that the fate of nations depends on the education of its youth. Therefore, reaching education to young girls and boys must occupy a foremost position on our agenda, if we are to be firmly positioned as one of the leading nations of the world. That is why Government has made education a priority sector. Free education to children between the ages 6 and 14 years is now a fundamental right. The Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan seeks to achieve universal secondary education by the year 2017. The Gross Enrolment Ratio or GER in India in higher education is very low as compared to the world average. Strenuous efforts are required to reach our goal of enhancing GER in India to 20 percent by 2020. A massive expansion in higher education through new institutions is also underway, alongwith efforts to improve educational standards, including through undertaking structural reforms in the higher education system and using all available methods to spread education. The National Mission on Education through Information Communication Technology launched in February this year will create internet connectivity to about 20,000 colleges and educational institutions. This initiative will, I am confident bring in the use of modern technology in higher education in a more widespread manner.

While broadbasing access to education is important, one must not lose sight of the utmost importance which should be paid to the quality of education being given to students and the need for equity. This should start from the primary level itself. Government has been, therefore, emphasizing and is committed to providing good quality education to all students, especially those from the underprivileged sections. The spread of education amongst women is also very important. By spreading education amongst them, not only is an individual educated, but rather the seeds of progress of the next generation are planted.

The Open University System being flexible and innovative can be useful for a wide section of society and should help in improving skills sets. Enhancing the skill sets of the workforce in the country is a challenge. Only 5 percent of the workforce in India has some kind of certification. This is in contrast to over 85 percent in the developed countries. Encouragement of work-integrated learning followed by examination, certification and accreditation through distance education will be of help. However, to make it effective there would be a need for active two way collaboration with industry and other players. I believe that Open Universities should also generate a movement in the rural areas that will impel people to acquire knowledge and skills for self-empowerment. In this context, educational programmes like the Gyan Darshan Channel of IGNOU, which is reaching over 8 million homes, can be useful in motivating people.

Distance education offers an opportunity to those already in employment to upgrade their knowledge base, so that they can more effectively contribute to the productivity of work in their organizations. Studying, while in employment, also offers opportunities for enhancement of career opportunities. I am, therefore, happy that IGNOU and the Indian Army have decided to work together to create a process of certification of higher education of soldiers. Till now the skills that the Army personnel acquired while in service were not reflected through any formal degrees awarded to them. I am happy that through this new collaboration, they will get appropriate certification. This can be helpful in their work and to start a new professional life at the end of their careers in the Army. I therefore, welcome this new initiative and am pleased to dedicate Gyan Deep to the nation. Similarly, the Flexi Learn Platform which has also been launched today is significant as it provides an opportunity for prospective learners to sample a course before enrolling and thereby, help them in choosing appropriate courses and programmes.

I am happy that IGNOU is taking up new initiatives during its Silver Jubilee Year. From this year onwards, the Rajiv Gandhi International Prize for Technology in Education and Development has been instituted by the University. The Prize would be given to an individual or an institution that has made significant contributions to educational technology for development in the developing world.

I congratulate the officials and the staff of IGNOU who have contributed over the last quarter century to the growth of the University. I hope that as the Silver Jubilee is celebrated, new initiatives will be thought of in the time ahead, so that more and more of our population will be covered by distance education. This will be the mission for which I am sure IGNOU shall work for in all earnestness.

I would also like to convey my good wishes to Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resource Development and Smt. Purandeshwari, Union Minister of State for HRD for success in their work in the education sector.

Thank you.

Jai Hind