Indian university eyed for PNG

The National Business

By LEMACH LAVARI
A team from India’s state-funded Indira Gandhi National Open University is expected in Papua New Guinea early this year to look into the possibility of setting up a campus here.
The government is looking at having the university help students who drop out of secondary schools.
The university is a distance learning national university located in India’s capital of New Delhi. Named after former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, the university was established in 1985 and funded by the government.
It has more than four million students and claims to be the largest university in the world.
A report on the recent government fact-finding mission to India said the Papua New Guinea delegation spoke to Indian education officials about having Gandhi National Open University develop a campus in Papua New Guinea to offer distance-learning courses.
The university can help students do degree programmes at home in their villages and districts, said National Planning and Monitoring Minister Richard Maru, pictured.
The university provides higher education opportunities, particularly to India’s disadvantaged segments of society.
It also encourages, coordinates and sets standards for distance and open education in India, and to strengthen the human resources of India through education, said promotional materials.
Maru said: “Currently Papua New Guinea has 30,000 students who are doing year 12 every year. Because of space availability, only 5000 can continue into university and colleges. Eighty per cent of our students are school drop-outs and we have no answer for them.
“Imagine if our government is able to partner with Indira Gandhi National Open University to set up a campus in Papua New Guinea and offer the same degree, masters and PhD programmes to students who cannot come to university.”
Maru said an agreement was signed with India’s ministry of education for the:

  • Recruitment of maths and science teachers;
  • Printing of textbooks;
  • E-education and online information technology courses; and,
  • Development of other areas in education that are of interest to Papua New Guinea and India.