The UP Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UPRTOU) is the only university in Uttar Pradesh with a jurisdiction over the entire state of 20 crore people. What’s more, being based in a Hindi-speaking region, it offers most of its 96 courses in the Hindi medium. “So, our university is a special attraction for Hindi-speaking students,” says AK Bakhshi, vice-chancellor, Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UPRTOU). Set up in 1999, it now has about 55,000 enrollees in various programmes totalling 96.
“UP’s socio-cultural background finds focus in some of our courses. For example, popular courses in Hindi medium such as postgraduate diploma in journalism and mass communication and master’s in journalism deal to a great extent with the contribution of UP in the freedom struggle and national development,” he elaborates. Students from all over India are welcome at the university.