Tamilnadu Open University

The Tamil Nadu Open University was established by an Act (No.27 of 2002) of the Legislative Assembly of the Government of Tamil Nadu to benefit those who have been  deprived of and/or denied the access to higher education especially destitute, physically challenged, working men and women, economically weaker sections of the society, and those who discontinued education for various reasons, etc. In the main, it aims to reach the hitherto unreached. The University offers manyProgrammes in various disciplines.

The Distance Education Council, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) paid rich tributes to the Government of Tamil Nadu for having established TNOU thus:

Given the geographical extent, population and actual need of Tamil Nadu, the setting up of Tamil Nadu Open University by the Government of Tamil Nadu is the right step. We appreciate the Government of Tamil Nadu for having taken this bold and knowledgeable step. This step of the Government of Tamil Nadu shall prove a boon for women, physically challenged, rural poor and marganalised sections of the society and we are committed to support it academically as well as financially. In a short period of six months, Tamil Nadu Open University has done a remarkable work. The University, we understand has initiated steps for recruitment and the announcement of programmes, both of which would not have been possible without considerable ground work and are really commendable. We are sure the action of Government of Tamil Nadu will help us increase enrolments and move towards the targets of 10th Plan.

Tamil Nadu Open University shall make available innovative, socially-relevant educational provisions that are learner-centred, seamless and are of high-quality by employing appropriate technologies to achieve equity in education, sustainable social transformation and composite national development.

Towards becoming a Centre of Excellence in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) by offering quality programs to meet the current and emerging needs of the adult population, by widening the access to higher education and by functioning as a catalyst to bridge social, including digital divides and to build a developed India, Tamil Nadu Open University shall:    

• Evolve flexible and robust curricula to widen educational access, deepen knowledge frontiers and create entrepreneurial skill sets.
• Reach the rural communities through lifelong learning programmes for livelihood improvement.
• Establish networked environments for quality assurance.
• Foster private-public partnerships.
• Bridge the digital divide and implement ‘anywhere, anytime’ learning environments.
• Become a digital repository for ODL in the State facilitating Research and Development for new knowledge creation.
• Coordinate and implement standards in ODL