NIOS Board

The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), formerly National Open School, (name changed in 2002) is the board of education under the Union Government of India. It was established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Government of India in 1989 to provide education to all segments of society under the motive to increase literacy and aimed forward for flexible learning. The NIOS is a national board that administers examinations for Secondary and Senior Secondary examinations similar to the CBSE and the CISCE. It also offers vocational courses after the high school.

Offered Courses

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
• D.EL.ED. course(Diploma in Elementary Education)

Examinations

The public examinations are held twice a year in April–May and October–November on dates fixed by the NIOS. However, one also eligible to appear through the On-Demand Examinations at Level and Senior Secondary level in those subjects only in which candidates have taken admission in NIOS for subject wise learning. Results of the public examinations are announced usually six weeks after the last date of examinations.

Validity of Admission: The learner's admission is valid for a period of five years. For Public Examination at the Secondary and the Senior Secondary level, a learner may take nine or fewer chances to successfully complete the course during the validity period of admission.

Reason to Choose NIOS

Freedom to Learn:

• The main aim of NIOS is to 'reach the unreached'. The NIOS follows the principle of freedom to learn i.e., what to learn, when to learn, how to learn and when to appear for the examination are decided by the Learner. There is no restriction of time, place and pace of learning.
• Flexibility
• 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, and Regional Centre for the Secondary and the Senior Secondary Education Courses.
• Examination: The Public Examinations are held twice in a 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.

Relevance

• The NIOS courses and programmes are functional, useful in daily life and also set pathways for further studies. Successful alumni of NIOS are pursuing higher studies in institutions of international and national repute like IITs, the Delhi University, the Jamia Hamdard, the Jamia Millia Islamia, the Aligarh Muslim University, the Punjab University, the Allahabad University and many other reputed institutions of higher learning and in professional institutions.

Transfer of Credits

• The NIOS acknowledges previous knowledge by allowing transfer of credits of upto two subjects passed from International, National and State Boards of Examination / State Open Schools with whom NIOS has entered into agreements.

Recognised Quality Education

• The NIOS takes conscious steps to provide quality education. The Govt. of India has vested in NIOS the authority to conduct Public Examinations and provide the Secondary and the Senior Secondary level certificates, which are equivalent to the certificates provided by any other Board of School Education. This is because all the Boards, whether National or State, are following the National Curriculum Framework brought out by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

The NIOS is one of the three National Boards; the other two Boards are (i) the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and (ii) the Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE).

Admission Process

The NIOS has 100% online admission at Secondary and the Senior Secondary levels in order to facilitate learners to register. Under this scheme, the learner has three options:

• He/She can register online directly by visiting the website of NIOS i.e., www.nios.ac.in
• He/She may visit his/her nearest AI (Study Centre)/Facilitation Centre and take help for online registration.
• He/She may visit the concerned Regional Centre of NIOS and take help for online registration.
• He/She can use the services of the Common Services Centres of the Govt. of India for Online registration throughout the country.

Eligibility criteria for Secondary Course:

• A learner who has passed class VIII and has a valid proof that he/she has attained 14 years of age can apply for registration to the Secondary Course.
• The learner who gives a self-certificate stating that “I have studied and able to pursue the secondary course” is also eligible for admission to the Secondary Course.
• The learner who had studied at the Secondary level can also seek admission in NIOS either to complete his course or to improve his performance.
• Residential proof of the learner.

Choice in Medium of Instructions: 

➥ Hindi, English, Urdu, Marathi, Telugu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Tamil, Odia and Punjabi mediums at the Secondary stage.

➥ Hindi, English, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati and Odia mediums at the Senior Secondary stage.

Subjects:

Admission Process:

On Demand Online Admission Process:

Fee Structure:

Fee Structure for Dual Enrolment/ Part Admission/ TOC (Stream 1)

Fee Structure for Online Admission for stream 2,3 & 4.

EBooks