New course on social development

New course on social development

WITH a view to attain larger educational benefits for the vast population of people in India, the Society for Participatory Research in India (PRIA) has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou). Through this MOU an academic programme `Advanced Diploma in Managing Participatory Development Projects' (MPDP) will be delivered through the open and distance mode of learning.
   Speaking on the occasion of signing the MoU with Ignou, Rajesh Tandon, president PRIA, said that this is a historic occasion where a civil society organisation is partnering with a nationally reputed university to launch an educational programme. Tandon pointed out that though the government has invested a lot of money in development projects, they have not yielded the desired results due to the lack of skilled project managers to supervise and implement.
   According to Sanjay Bhatt, head, department of social work, Delhi University, this programme addresses the need of the hour as today social objectives are clearly lacking in the mandate of higher education. Bhatt opined that the quest for specialisation and super-specialisation has led to a lack of synergy among disciplines and resulted in narrowing the vision of higher education. "The fundamental objective of higher education should be to secure a quality life for the citizens of a country. The introduction of this programme is a step in this direction as it will sensitise people to the needs and requirements of civil society," said Bhatt.