New Delhi: In order to attain larger educational benefits for the vast masses of people in India, PRIA Continuing Education and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the delivery of its academic programme "Advanced Diploma in Managing Participatory Development Projects" (MPDP) through Open and Distance mode of learning.

On the occasion of signing the MoU with IGNOU, Dr. Rajesh Tandon, President - PRIA said, "This is a historic occasion where a premier civil society organization PRIA is partnering with a nationally reputed university IGNOU to launch a new educational programme to prepare human resources for the effective implementation of development projects in the country".

"The collaboration with IGNOU will enable PRIA to deliver its academic programme to learners from India and abroad, and will give diploma status to the academic programmes. This will increase the employability for the learners", Tandon added.

According to Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice Chancellor of IGNOU, "The partnership with PRIA will enable IGNOU to build a cadre of professionally trained project managers who can undertake responsibilities in implementing various development programmes of the government, the private sector and the NGOs in the country and beyond".

Many corporate enterprises have evolved their own higher education programmes for their new entrants. Many NGOs have enormous practical knowledge of training and capacity building in some of these themes of social development.

Many educational institutions are designing new curriculum to respond to these and other issues.

New approaches to partnership and cross-sectoral collaboration may be needed to harness and synergies the available capacities in a more impactful ways. The seminar attempted to explore such issues and possibilities.

On this occasion, PRIA Continuing Education also organized a seminar on Higher Education and the Challenges of Human and Social Development at the India Habitat Center.

The main objective of the seminar was to discuss the diverse competencies available in different sectors of Indian society.

The discussion contributed significantly towards the professional upgradation of human resources needed for the development sector in the coming period.

Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice Chancellor - Indira Gandhi National Open University; Ms. Martha Farrell, Director - PRIA; Dr. Rajesh Tandon, President - PRIA; Prof. Sachchidanand Joshi, Vice Chancellor - Kusha Bhau Thakare University of Journalism and Mass Communication (KTUJM), Raipur; Prof. Sanjay Bhatt, Head - Department of Social Work, University of Delhi; Dr. Arabinda Mishra, Dean - Faculty of Policy and Planning, TERI University; Dr. B. Shukla, Pro Vice Chancellor - Amity University; Prof. A. S. Narang, President - Shastri Indio-Canadian Institute; Ms. Shobha Mishra, Joint Director & Team Leader - Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) were present to share their ideas on Higher Education and the Challenges of Human and Social Development.