From Wikipedia

The National Institute of Open Schooling, commonly known as NIOS , NOS or National Open School, is the Board of Education for school level in India. It was established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Government of India in 1989.^[1] The NIOS is a national board for Secondary and Senior Secondary examinations similar to the CBSE and the CISCE.

It has a current enrollment of about 1.5 million students at Secondary and Senior Secondary levels which makes it the largest open schooling system in the world.^[2]

International Collaboration

The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and UNESCO are among the main collaborating institutions helping in promotion of Open Schooling in India and several other developing countries.^[3] NIOS has been interacting with several developing countries in their endeavours for promotion of open schooling and capacity building besides organizing advocacy programmes which has led to setting up of an International Centre for Training in Open Schooling (ICTOS). The ICTOS offers Certificate, Advanced Certificate, and Diploma courses in open schooling.

The Open Schooling Association of the Commonwealth (OSAC), established with financial assistance from the Commonwealth of Learning(COL), and having its Secretariat at NIOS New Delhi, functions as a liaisoning agency for information dissemination, coordination and mutual consultation among member countries. The mandate for OSAC is to organise human resource development programmes for functionaries of Open Schools, promote research and development activities and take steps to ensure quality of standards. Through periodic meetings, the OSAC provides forum for discussion on issues of mutual interest and concerns.^[4]

To provide a forum across the world for scholarly discussions on concerns and issues in Open Learning/Open Schooling and for disseminating research, theory and practice, including inter-disciplinary studies, the half yearly OSAC.

Courses offered by NIOS

NIOS offer the following courses:

• Open Basic Education Programme, Which includes following three levels courses
  • OBE 'A' Level Course -Equivalent to class III
  • OBE 'B' Level Course -Equivalent to class V
  • OBE 'C' Level Course -Equivalent to class VIII
• Secondary Course-Equivalent to class X
• Senior Secondary Course-Equivalent to class XII
• Vocational Education Courses
• Life Enrichment Programmes

Examinations

The public examinations are held twice a year in the months of April-May and October-November on dates fixed by the NIOS. However, one is also eligible to appear through On Demand Examination at Secondary Level and Senior Secondary level in those subjects only in which a candidate have admission in NIOS.^[5]

Regional Offices of the Board

In order to systematise the interaction between the NIOS and the State Open Schools and other agencies, it was considered appropriate to establish a forum under the NIOS in the form of a Consortium. The Board has regional Offices in Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Kochi, Bhopal, Allahabad and Dehradun. Their jurisdictions are:

See also

• Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
• Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC)
• Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE)
• Boards of Education in India

References

External links

• NIOS official website

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