New Delhi: Over 28,000 students have been registered from 35 countries so far, to the various academic programmes of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the number is ever increasing, announced Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice Chancellor on Sunday.

There are approximately 38 % of female students enrolled with the university and they mainly prefer BCA, MCA, MBA, B.Ed and Bachelor’s Degree Programmes.

Under the pan African e-Network Project, all 53 African country's universities will be partnered with IGNOU.

"Afterwards IGNOU shall provide tele-education to SAARC countries for different professional programmes," he added.

Says Mr. N.M. Hedayathullah, "I was the first student to enroll with IGNOU in Saudi Arabia for the MBA programme. It has been great honour and privilege to be part of one of the largest University in the world."

IGNOU has an assortment of partners. In Gulf countries, the higher education is mostly in the private hands and therefore in UAE, Kuwait, Doha, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Singapore, Kenya, Mauritius, Nepal and Afganistan, private institutions are our partners.

In the Republic of Oman, an administrative body that manages all the Indian Schools with CBSE affiliation coordinates programme delivery.

Mr.Ghemeri Raju Deepak Kumar, Food & Beverage Manager, Hotel de l'Annapurna Kathmandu, Nepal, declares, "Choosing IGNOU for my Masters in Tourism Management (MTM) has been one of the best decisions in my life. The knowledge and the skills I have obtained so far has helped me in my job."

In Maldives, the partnership is governed by a tripartite agreement, which includes Government of Republic of Maldives, IGNOU and Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India.

A similar tripartite agreement involving Govt. of Seychelles, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and IGNOU takes care of the higher education requirement of students at Seychelles.

In Mauritius, IGNOU has an agreement with Mauritius College of Air, an autonomous body under Govt. of Mauritius.
For Ms. Archana Kabra (MBA), Pulkit International Chief Administrator, "The credit for my present success goes to ICA from where I obtained an IGNOU, B.A degree; I am currently pursuing my MBA from ICA. I am sure new avenues will open up."

In Vietnam and Myanmar, the tie-up is with Distance Learning institutions - Hanoi Open University in Vietnam and University of Distance Education, Myanmar respectively.

IGNOU has kept its option open with the choice of partners and the emphasis is on the experience and the quality of the education provider.

Ms. Sajida Fakhri, IGNOU student and Gold Medalist 2008 emphasizes, "I joined the Masters in English course with IGNOU with some trepidation at my own ability to complete such a demanding course after such a long sabbatical. However, the constant support of the IGNOU staff and the extraordinary study material helped immensely."

In Sri Lanka, the partnership is with Ministry of Higher Education through Distance Education Modernization Projects to offer distance education capacity building programme.

Under MoU with International Institute of Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) and with Commonwealth of Learning (COL), IGNOU is offering programmes in Ethiopia, Gambia, Liberia, Ghana, Swaziland, Malawi, Nigeria, Jamaica, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Samoa, and Lesotho.

Mr. Mohammed Baleegh Uzzaman Siddiqui, states that, "The B.Com course at IGNOU has given me the balance between practical know-how and management experience what I was looking for. My degree is very broad, offering me wide range of options. On the other hand, the course was quite structured, which helps me to keep focused in the commerce field."

"With the help of IGNOU's degree certificate, I got job in Accounts & Finance Department of world-class organization Islamic Development Bank and then I took admission in MBA at, Sikkim Manipal University and completed it. IGNOU acted as seeding for my masters," he added.

Other collaborative venture of IGNOU in the international education arena relate to provision of training in open learning system and distance education methodologies to personnel of the open universities in developing countries and licensing of IGNOU's course materials to open universities outside India.

Academics and administrators from open universities in South Asia and Africa visit IGNOU either to familiarize themselves with the functioning of IGNOU or to undergo specific training in the development of self-learning materials and various aspects of media production.

The USP of IGNOU is its course materials, much sought after by open universities in Tanzania, Kenya, Mauritius, Guyana, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka with the provision that the University can adopt the courses in its entirety to modify the courses to suit their needs.

The Coordinator of the Center for Open and Distance Education, a Partner Institution of IGNOU in Kenya, Mr. J.M.Mbuthia says, "Our students include professionals, managers and other staff from public and private sector organizations that simply don't have the time to attend a regular class, we give them an opportunity to get quality education in a flexible way."

Dr. Silima Nanda, Director, International Division IGNOU says, "IGNOU has also started its online programs in many subjects facilitating learners in any part of the globe to pursue their education. The open source ware of digitized study materials and videos of lectures and films through the You Tube are accessible to students. The research programs have also attracted a large group of learners and professionals globally."