The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has been chosen by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India to set up the Dr. Ambedkar Centre of Excellence (DACE). The objective of DACE is to empower the Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates by providing them high quality coaching absolutely free of cost for civil services Examinations (Prelims and Mains).
IGNOU is the premier university of open and distance learning. A University without the conventional classrooms, as it is called, excels in reaching out to the learners through the length and breadth of the country, making use of multi-media modes of teaching-learning aids. The learner-centric approach of IGNOU includes various Television, Radio and Internet platforms like Gyan Darshan, Gyan Vani, and Facebook Live besides the printed Self -Learning Material or SLM that the University develops. IGNOU has also been striving to realise its mandate of inclusion, democratization and reaching the unreached. In the same vein, IGNOU proposes to take forward the mettle of DACE.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Admissions will take place through an All India Entrance Exam which will be conducted by the University.
- Entrance exam will have 100 objective type questions to test the candidates’ general knowledge, language skills, reasoning abilities and general aptitude.
- A list of the successful candidates shall be made purely on the basis of merit, including the 33 per cent women candidates.
Selection Criteria:
- The Scheme shall be open to only Scheduled Caste candidates.
- Minimum eligibility will be Graduation in any subject. Those who are appearing in the Graduation final year exams are expected to submit pass certificate at the time of commencement of the Coaching Program.
- All candidates must provide their duly attested caste certificates issued by competent authority.
- The selected candidates can avail the coaching facility only once, irrespective of the chances available to him or her.
- The candidates should not have received similar benefit from government under any other scheme. An affidavit to this effect should be furnished by the candidate.
- Maximum of 100 candidates shall be selected.
- Out of the 100 seats, 33 per cent shall be reserved for women candidates.
- Attendance Register of student enrolment and attendance shall be maintained.
- Accountability of candidate leaving the said Course in between will be properly fixed and entire fees will be recovered from the candidate.
The DACE aims to
- Give better opportunities to SC Candidates through effective learning, personality development and acquisition of competitive skills.
- Play a significant role in the holistic development of SC candidates.
- Provide high quality free coaching facilities to the SC students for the Civil Services Examinations conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
- Empower SC candidates through good quality coaching and fulfil the goal of enhancing their competitive skills.
