IGNOU, Honghe University ink pact for ICT enabled education

IGNOU, Honghe University ink pact for ICT enabled education

The Indira Gandhi National Open University’s (IGNOU’s) School of Foreign Language (SOFL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Honghe University (HU) of China to offer degree and diploma programmes at the undergraduate and post-graduate level. The emphasis will be on research and development with the use of ICT enabled education and interactive multimedia in distance education deliveries.

The MoU was signed by Mr. U. S Tolia Registrar, IGNOU and Prof. Peng Qiang, Vice-President of HU of China in the board room of the Vice-Chancellor’s office of the university.

According to the MoU, its objectives and concerns shall be to recognise the common goals of higher education and training to empower people to participate effectively in the process of national development. The pact shall establish a network for collaboration in the field of higher education through distance education.

Prof. G. Chaudhuri, Director, SOFL, introduced the delegation members in Chinese Mandarin and translated into English to all the faculty members of IGNOU. He emphasised the importance of close Academic cooperation between HU and IGNOU and requested the HU head to provide a Chinese teacher to teach Chinese in IGNOU. He also informed delegation on existing programmes IGNOU offers in Chinese Language and Culture.

Pro VC, IGNOU, Prof. P.R. Ramanujam, also apprised the HU delegation about three MoUs which had been signed earlier with Chinese universities and he mentioned the possibility of great potentiality of such Academic Collaborations in not only Economic Domain but Tourism and Culture as well.

Prof. Peng Qiang, Vice President of HU said , “We would look forward for a teacher and student exchange programme with IGNOU focusing not only on English as a subject but Chinese, science and management as well. With a step by step approach, we also want to exchange students from management programmes and keep avenues open for other subjects like economics, financial management and international trade. Thailand and Vietnam have projects of teacher and student exchange which we also want to develop with IGNOU.”

Pro- VC, IGNOU, Dr Latha Pillai suggested that the importance of teacher education is one of the areas which can be explored for cooperation between the two universities.