The 34th convocation ceremony by IGNOU was held on 15 April 2021. Considering the current pandemic situation (COVID-19) Indira Gandhi National Open University, decided to go for a virtual type convocation ceremony. The convocation ceremony was held at the Babasaheb Ambedkar convention center.
The university has awarded 2,37,844 degrees, diplomas, and certificates from different sectors of educational courses taken by IGNOU. The IGNOU Convocation ceremony was shown live on many media channels such as YouTube, Swayam Prabha channels for higher education students, along with the Gyan darshan channel which is the channel of the university itself. This channel of the university is for 56 regional centers and learners all over the country.
Honorable Minister of Education, Govt. of India Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’was the chief guest at the event and virtually delivered a few words addressing the enhanced quality of education by universities across the country.
Also, he congratulated the students who have completed their courses. In his addressing speech, he applauded the efforts taken by the university to make the quality of higher education affordable and easy for the students in both ways that are open and distant.
In his speech, he added his view related to the need for improvement in the education system so that it will help in the improvement of the gross enrollment ratio by 50% till the year 2035.
He highlighted the key points of the new education policy 2020 that is the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS), as this kind of education system will provide the learners with the flexibility to choose the group of subjects of their interest. They can also complete their studies after a gap. He also appreciated the efforts of the meritorious students for their performances.
This time 29 medals were distributed to the students. 55 certificates for Ph.D. and 13 M-Phill degree certificates were conferred to students. This year female candidates are on the top. Out of 29 medals, 21 were for the female ones, and Ph.D. and M-Phil 37 medals were taken away by the female candidates.
Prof. Nageshwar Rao, the Vice-Chancellor of the university addressed and welcomed the honorable minister of education in his speech. He congratulated the university on meritorious students and the university to successfully conduct the activities throughout the year despite the pandemic situation.
He also addressed the preventive measures and efforts taken by the university related to the pandemic. He applauded the efforts of faculty members which were taken to support the learners of the university by providing the sessions through online media platforms.
Prof. Nageshwar Rao also addressed that more than 300 sessions apart from 56 regional sessions were conducted by the IGNOU faculty on the Facebook platform of the university. Some of the sessions were also conducted through the media channel of the university that is Gyan Darshan. He highlighted the future vision and mission of the university to increase the GROSS ENROLLMENT RATIO, by improving accessibility and affordability of the education to the interested and needy students.
At the convention center, proper preventive measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic were taken. Everyone wore a mask, frequently washed hands, and maintained social distancing along with the sanitization.
The Virtual Convocation ceremony by IGNOU was a successful event and attended virtually by many people across the country.
