In a rare honour for the Thiruvananthapuram Regional Centre (RC) of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), four of its students have won gold medals for securing first ranks in the national-level term-end examinations.
The winners will be presented with their medals during IGNOU’s 26th convocation being held simultaneously at its headquarters and 44 regional centres across the country on Friday.
“This is the first time the Centre is getting so many winners at the same time,” said Regional director V Girija Devi, addressing a press conference.
“We have only had at the most one gold-medallist at a time,” she said. The ceremony here will be held at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology at Poojappura.
The four medallists are Melbin Thomas from IGNOU study centre Mar Ivanios College for Master of Sociology; Bhagavathi Amma S from the study centre ST Hindu College, Nagercoil, for PG Diploma in Computer Application; Hakkim N from Balvikas Teachers Training Centre, Peroorkada, for PG Diploma in Special Education in Mental Retardation; and T R Sathyakeerthy from the centre at Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta, for PG in Distance Education. One of the medallists, Sathyakeerthy, is Assistant Regional Director of IGNOU’s Trivandrum RC.
Over 500 students from various study centres under RC Trivandrum are expected to receive their degree certificates. President Pranab Mukherjee will be the chief guest with Minister of State for Human Resource Development Jitin Prasada as the guest of honour. Their addresses will be telecast live through video-conferencing. For the regional function at the Rajiv Gandhi centre, K Jayakumar, first Vice-Chancellor of Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University, will be the guest of honour.