A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was on Monday signed between University of Kashmir (UoK), Srinagar and Chinar Corps for admission of Army soldiers to various distance education courses.

It was a historic day for the UoK and Chinar Corps of the Indian Army having established a long term relationship for provision of distance education courses to soldiers presently serving in Kashmir.

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As envisaged in the MoU, the soldiers of Indian Army posted in Kashmir will be able to seek admission to various courses being offered by the Directorate of Distance Education, University of Kashmir.

The type of courses being made available to Army personnel range from six months certificate courses to one-year diploma courses and two years post-graduate courses. A total of 18 courses are presently available for enrolment by the Army personnel, which will be increased in due course of time. After the formal signing of the MoU, Professor Talat Ahmad Vice Chancellor, UoK emphasized on core values of UoK and mentioned that the vital significance of long term MoU which will benefit the soldiers posted in Kashmir.

Lieutenant General D P Pandey, GOC 15 Corps, praised the milestone achieved in the field of education, which will empower the soldiers of the Chinar Corps in performing their duties in a challenging environment.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that the University of Kashmir, with its rich heritage, culture and academia, will provide a one of the kind opportunity for Army personnel and civil defence employees of Chinar Corps to pursue higher educational qualifications, domain specialization and subject matter expertise. The GOC also emphasized that the association of Chinar Corps with Kashmir University will also further cement bonds of Indian Army with people of Kashmir nurtured over the last 75 years.

Major General SP Vishwasrao, GOC 31 Sub Area, Prof Talat Ahmad, Vice-Chancellor UoK, Prof Farooq A Masoodi, Dean Academic Affairs, Prof Tariq A Chisti, Dean & Director School of ODL/DDE and other academia including Deans, Heads of Departments and faculty of UoK attended the event, along with senior army officers from Chinar Corps and JAK LI Regimental Centre.

The courses featuring in the MoU include MA, MSc (Maths), MA (English), MA (Urdu), MA (Education) under 2 year courses and PG Diploma (Computer Applications), PG Diploma (Web designing), PG Diploma (Cyber Law), PG Diploma (Tourism Management) etc in the Diploma category.