CHENNAI: It is a fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us many important lessons about life. Now, what you also have is an opportunity to literally study about the virus as a subject. To ensure better preparedness among masses to deal with the pandemic, and to educate them about it, the Tamil Nadu Open University (TNOU) plans to launch a short-time course on Covid-19 next month.
Vice-Chancellor of TNOU, K Parthasarathy told TNIE the university has signed an MoU with Dr MGR Medical University in this regard, and that experts from the medical university have helped them design the course. The medical university will also help TNOU in conducting online classes for the course named “Awareness and Prevention on Covid-19”.
Any graduate can enrol for the one-month-long course, which will be free of any tuition fee. The university also plans to launch another course on the pandemic, which will be of three to four months duration. The classes and exams for both the certificate courses will be conducted online.
“The pandemic is here to stay, and the only way to fight it is to spread awareness about it. The course was designed to equip masses to deal with such epidemics and pandemic in future,” said Parthasarathy. On similar lines, but with an aim to generate revenue as well, TNOU will also be launching 10 short-term courses for nurses.
The university has entered into an agreement with the Tamil Nadu Nursing Council, and has designed courses such as comprehensive Covid-19 care, Infection prevention and control, Critical nursing care, Palliative nursing, Diabetes nurse educator, and Geriatric nursing. “We aim to admit at least 5000 candidates in the nursing-related courses this year. The certificate programmes will enhance their employability chances,” said Parthasarathy.