Indira
Gandhi National Open University was established in 1985
to democratise higher education. The aim was to provide
cost-effective, quality education to large sections
of our population including those living in remote and
farflung areas. A mere fifteen years since its inception
IGNOU has carved a niche for itself among the premier
educational institutions in the country. The University
has been a pioneer in Distance Education and the recipient
of the Centre of Excellence in Distance Education award
conferred by the Commonwealth of Learning in 1993.
IGNOU has about 11,87,100 students
with extremely varied profiles, spread throughout the
length and breadth of the country. The University has
an efficient and effective networking of 48
Regional Centres (22 are IGNOU Regional Centres,
8 are IGNOU North-East Regional Centres, 5 are Army
Command Centres, 8 are IAF Command Centres, 4 are Navy
Command Centres and 1 are Assam Rifles Command), 5 Sub-Regional
Centres and over 1114 Study Centres, all over India.
As an Open University, IGNOU has come a long way since
1985, having crossed national boundaries
providing higher education as well as assisting other
developing countries in this regard.
State-of-the-art telecommunication systems have further
helped in reaching out to the hitherto unreached sections
of the society. Quality and equity have been the guiding
principles behind all our endeavours.
