IGNOU to offer courses targeting private sector

Diploma on the BPO sector to begin Jan-Feb 2009; to launch a programme on insurance.

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), a pioneer in distance education, is planning to launch more programmes in partnership with private sector and industry bodies.

After launching programmes on fashion design, security and business process outsourcing (BPO), IGNOU will shortly launch a diploma programme targeted at the insurance sector.

The varsity is in talks with the Life Insurance Corporation of India to partner it in the design of the curriculum. To be initially offered as a diploma programme, IGNOU plans to upgrade it to an MBA programme by adding more modules.

VN Rajasekharan Pillai, vice-Chancellor, IGNOU, said: “Even though, we don’t differentiate between the private- and public sector while launching programmes, a lot of opportunities are coming up in the private sector. We have taken a policy decision to look for public-private partnership in capacity-building, training and higher education. Looking at the public perception, we are definitely trying to be partner with credible corporations and private organisations to launch programmes.”

IGNOU recently tied up with fashion design school Pearl Academy of Fashion (PAF) to offer a four-year degree programme in fashion design, textile design and fashion merchandising & production. The programmes are set to commence in September this year, and are meant for students in non-metropolitan cities wanting to pursue careers in fashion industry.

IGNOU has also tied up with the industry body Security Skills Council of India. From January next year, the varsity will be launching diploma and certificate programmes related to private security industry including security operation management and dog management.

IGNOU has also partnered with global IT services company Accenture to jointly develop a diploma programme to produce employable workforce for the BPO sector in India.

The one-year programme to be named the IGNOU-Accenture BPO Diploma course will be offered by IGNOU starting January-February next year.

The curriculum of the programme has been designed to cover cross-industry BPO services including finance and accounting, HR, corporate learning, customer contact and technical writing among others.