IGNOU signs MoU with IRT

New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and Institute of Rail Transport have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to offer high quality educative programmes in rail transport management. The MoU was signed between U.S. Tolia, Registrar of IGNOU and A.P. Ramanan, Executive Director, IRT in the presence of IGNOU Vice-Chancellor (VC), V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai and Chairman of the Railway Board, S.S. Khurana. "The aim is to develop rail transport-related vocational education training and skill development of the youths, ensuring better opportunities of employment. It might become a model for many other areas," said Pillai. According to Khurana, "The IRT will benefit from the expertise of IGNOU and help in making education more real and broadly recognized." "A slew of academic programmes - right from short-term trainings to certificate, diploma, bachelor's, master's and research programmes - would be provided in all the IRT centres across the country with a view to offering job-oriented education," said S. Mahalanobis, University Spokesperson. IGNOU along with IRT will design the course, define criteria of admission, finalize the registration process, delivery of education and training, review mechanism and redesign IRT's existing courses for developing effective students support network using the IRT facilities across the Indian railways. The cost of the project would be borne by IRT.