Indira Gandhi Open University in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 20: The Indira Gandhi National Open University is all set to start a sub-regional centre at Phulbani from January.

“The centre will cover Kandhamal, Gajapati, Sonepur, Boudh and Balangir districts,” said S.C. Tripathy, regional director of Ignou.

“The objective is to focus on unemployment in the region and provide appropriate programmes to students,” said Tripathy.

The sub-regional office would concentrate on vocational courses such as bee keeping, weaving, hair styling and dyeing.

“We had written to the district collectors of these regions who have welcomed the efforts and have helped us in identifying as many as 11 vocational courses under the sub-regional office,” he said.

At present, there are two regional offices of Ignou in the state — one each in Bhubaneswar and Koraput.

While the Bhubaneswar regional office caters to students of 21 districts, the centre at Koraput has nine districts under its jurisdiction.

At its 101 study centres in the state, Ignou has 21,995 students pursuing various programmes.

The university is also planning to set up a placement cell in Bhubaneswar.

“The aim is to assure jobs for the local students,” said Tripathy. The varsity has a central placement cell in New Delhi, where students can register.

“The university had advised us to start a placement cell at the regional level and we have already made some efforts. Discussions have been held with local placement groups and we have sought their active participation,” Tripathy said.

Ignou is currently offering 500 different courses making it the largest university in the world. New courses such as PG diploma in urban planning and development is being launched to meet the need for trained manpower in the construction sector.

“After completing the course, students can be engaged in the construction sector, BDA, and works department,” a senior official said.

“We are also offering courses such as certificate in human trafficking for police and prison officers besides courses on disaster management,” he said.