Bhubaneswar, July 4: The Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University (SOA) here has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) for jointly offering seven academic programs in agricultural sciences under distance education system by setting up a Learner Support Centre (LSC) in SOA.
Both parties agreed to terms and conditions governing their relationship to provide educational opportunities to the communities at large.
The LSC would be set up in the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (IAS), SOA’s faculty of agricultural sciences, which would initially offer Certificate programs in Organic Farming, Bee Keeping, Poultry Farming, Diploma programs in Horticulture and Dairy Technology, Post Graduate Diploma program in Agribusiness and Post Graduate Certificate in Agricultural Policy.
The number of programs will be increased subsequently.
Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda, Vice-Chancellor of SOA and Dr. Manorama Singh, Director (RSD) of IGNOU, signed the agreement.
As per the agreement, the host institution would provide space, class rooms and extend the use of laboratory and computers to IGNOU learners for specialized programs requiring use of institutional infrastructure.
The host institute shall also extend facilities for use of library to IGNOU learners for reference purposes. It shall also, besides providing adequate number of required equipment and facilities including computers, printers, scanners and internet facility, provide a full-fledged computer lab for the purpose.
The signed documents were exchanged between SOA Vice-Chancellor Prof. Nanda and Additional Director of IGNOU’s Regional Centre at Bhubaneswar Dr. Santosh Kumar Panigrahi here on Thursday. Dr. Bimal Chandra Nanda, Deputy Director, IGNOU Regional Centre, Bhubaneswar and Prof. Santosh Kumar Rout, Dean of IAS, among others were present.
