bhubaneswar higher education department is planning to introduce shortterm certificate courses for development of skills of undergraduate and post graduate students of the state it is scheduled to start these courses in different degree colleges with the help of the indira gandhi national open university ignou official sources saidthe officials of ignou have already made a presentation regarding the plan before the higher education secretary bishnupada sethi on tuesday the government is pleased to start the programme said an ignou officers k panigrahi assistant regional director of bhubaneswar regional centre of ignou said they want to introduce the short term certificate courses as addon skills for students while they continue their study in colleges we will pay the teachers for teaching our designed course material students will get course materials from us while taking admission the teaching will not hamper the normal routine of the college we will arrange the classes on sundays to avoid clashes of regular courses with certificate programmes he added according to the plan ignou will provide these sixmonth duration skill development courses in all degree colleges with a fee ranging from rs 1500 to rs 4000 scheduled caste and scheduled tribe students can enroll their names for the courses without paying any admission fee said panigrahihe said university grants commission ugc guidelines allow a student to enroll for a shortterm certificate course on skill development the student can cater to need of the job market after completion of hisher degree he added ignou has already started these courses in rajasthan we want to start it in odisha for the benefit of the students our university offers 69 certificate courses courses like ngo management beauty and wellness rural management organic farming dairy farming bee keeping it and other skill training will help the students to get a job easily or start an enterprise he added higher education secretary sethi said the state government is pleased to start the programme in the colleges with the help of the ignou we will take a decision soon regarding the introduction of such courses in the colleges he added