National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS): Precise Information

Setting up of NIOS

  • Started as a project on "Open Schooling" under the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in 1979.
  • Established in 1989 as the National Open School (NOS) by the Govt. of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). In 1990, the Govt. of India through a Gazette notification vested NOS with the authority to examine and certify learners registered with it up to Pre-Degree level Courses.
  • Re-christened as the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) in July 2002.

Regional Centres

  • Regional Centre :- ALLAHABAD , AMETHI , BENGALURU , BHOPAL, BHUBANESHWAR , CHANDIGARH , CHENNAI , DEHRADUN , DELHI , DHARAMSHALA , GANDHINAGAR , GANGTOK , GUWAHATI , HYDERABAD , JAIPUR , JAMMU , KOCHI , KOLKATA , PATNA , PUNE , RAIPUR , RANCHI , VISAKAPATNAM
  • SUB REGIONAL CENTRE :- KOTA , DARBHANGA
  • NIOS CELL :- SHILLONG , PORT BLAIR

Number of Study Centres

  • Academic (AIs) : 3530 including 26 AI in U.A.E, Nepal, Kuwait, Qatar,Muscat and Kingdom of Bahrain
  • Vocational (AVIs) : 1379
  • Open Basic Education (OBE) (AAs) : 1313

The Study Centres are known as Accredited Institutions (AIs) for Academic Courses, Accredited Vocational Institutions (AVIs) for Vocational Education Courses and Accredited Agencies (AAs) for Open Basic Education (OBE) courses.

Enrolment

Cumulative Enrolment : 4.13 million (during last 5 years)

  • Secondary - 46%
    Senior Seconadry - 49%
    Vocational - 5%
  • NIOS is the largest Open Schooling System in the world.
  • Admission in NIOS is 100% Online for Sec. (10th), Sr.Sec. (12th), Round the year with cut off Dates

Courses Offered

  • Open Basic Education (OBE) (A level, B level, C level equivalent to Class III, V, VIII respectively of formal Education) courses are offered through Accredited Agencies (AAs).
  • Secondary - leading to Secondary School Certificate.
  • Sr. Secondary - leading to Senior Secondary School Certificate.
  • Open Vocational Education.
  • Life Enrichment Programmes.

Highlights and flexibilities

  • Choice of Subjects: The learner has the option to choose subjects of his/her choice from the given list keeping in view the passing criteria.
  • Admission: The learner has the option to take admission Online under various streams or through Study Centre, Facilitation Centre, Regional Centre for the Secondary and the Senior Secondary Education Courses.
  • Examination: The Public Examinations are held twice in an year. Nine examination chances are offered to the learner in five years. A learner can appear in examination during this period as and when he/she is well prepared and can avail the facility of credit accumulation.
  • On Demand Examination: The learner has also the option to appear under the On-Demand Examination System (ODES) of NIOS at the Secondary and the Senior Secondary levels at the NIOS Headquarters, NOIDA, at the Regional Centres of NIOS, and at designated Kendriya Vidyalayas across India. A learner is eligible for On Demand Examination after the first public examination.

Study Materials

  • Printed Self Instructional study materials supported by Audio- Video programmes. A half yearly Magazine "Open Learning" is also provided to the learners.

Mediums of Instruction

  • Hindi, English, Urdu, Marathi, Telugu, Gujarati and Malayalam mediums at Secondary stage.
  • Hindi, English, Urdu mediums at Sr. Secondary stage.
  • Freedom to write reply in any schedule language.

Sanctioned Staff strength: 394

Budget

  • Plan NIL
  • Non-Plan Rs. 135.14 Crore

Certification

Year Secondary (Class X) Sr. Secondary (Class XII) Vocational OBE
2008-09 103410 95213 13784 30547
2009-10 120739 114893 13438 52414
2010-11 137993 137129 14210 32784
2011-12 127023 133316 12154 20623
2012-13 139647 155647 16981 16792
2013-14 164192 160309 16090 15289

Total No. of learners certified since 1991(Sec.+ Sr.Sec. +Voc)= 3324797

Total No. of learners certified under OBE = 487717

  • Conducts examination twice a year in Apr-May and Oct-Nov.
  • On-Demand Examination at Secondary & Sr. Secondary level at the NIOS, Headquarter and its Regional Centre

National Consortium for Open Schooling

  • NIOS provides Professional support to States to set up and develop State Open Schools particularly with Regional Mediums. The secretariat of NCOS in located in NIOS.
  • State Open Schools (SOSs) have been set up in 17 states viz., Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala,Jammu &Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Bihar.

Contact us

Website: www.nios.ac.in

Learner Support Centre: All Information at one call - User friendly Learner Support Centre JUST DIAL 1800 180 9393 (Toll Free) for the following:

  • From 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM - Supported by Executives
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