CHENNAI: To offer specialised degree programmes for students based on the latest job opportunities, the Higher Education department is expecting to bring more reforms to the Tamil Nadu Open University (TNOU) by tying up with other state-run universities outside Tamil Nadu.

A committee comprising HED officials, educationists and industry experts was formed recently and it suggested that open universities should collaborate with other state universities to offer courses in which Tamil Nadu has academic resources but does not have geographical jurisdiction.

"This will help students from all over Tamil Nadu to access specialized degree programmes offered by a specific state university," a senior official from the Higher Education Department said.

Though at present, in Chennai, TNOU and a few other state-run universities are collaborating to offer degree programs through distance learning, leveraging TNOU's network of learner support centres and work centres, the official said, "Apart from the existing tie-up, more state-run universities across the country will also join through the new initiative."

The official said that the single-discipline universities in the state will also collaborate to offer degree and diploma programmes in the online and distance education mode. He said that the expert panel also suggested that the state government could offer scholarships to women students to access online and distance education programmes through the open university.

"Alternatively, the open university could also offer such scholarships to women students through a process of the cross-subsidy system," he said.