IGNOU to waive fees of sex workers, street children

KOLKATA - The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), one of the world’s largest universities, has decided to waive the fee of sex workers and street children enrolling for its courses to help them become educated and empowered.

Disclosing this at a media meet here Monday, IGNOU Vice Chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai said the university’s Kolkata Regional Centre ran a study centre at Durbar Mahila Samannya Samiti, an organisation of 65,000 sex workers, to educate them as also their wards.

He said the university has recently tied up with the Cochin International Airport Authority to conduct focused management courses in aviation and airport infrastructure and technology after realising there was a paucity of aviation industry professionals.

He said: “The University had been working on a series of new and path-breaking ideas to meet the diverse and often daunting expectations of a large number of learners who cannot afford to acquire education from a conventional university. Many of the new programmes are being expressly aligned to the needs of industry.”

Pillai said IGNOU was very keen to reach out to the victims of violence and help them resurrect their lives through education.

It has also started a short term training programme for school head masters of the Sunderban region initially on a pilot basis to develop skills of the concerned to serve more effectively.

Pillai said the placement cell of the university was gearing up to meet employability demand through planned industry presentations and contact drives, and by working out a system of enhancing communication and personality skills, which have been identified as key need areas for several students.

The University Monday morning organised an inter-school quiz contest and exhibition in the city.