National Institute of Open Schooling


The National Institute of Open Schooling , formerly National Open School is a national level board of education in India, controlled and managed by the Government of India. It was established by the Ministry of Education of the Government of India in 1989.
The NIOS operates through a network of five departments, 23 regional centres, two sub-regional centres, two NIOS cells, and more than 7,400 study centres across India and abroad. It is recognized as the largest open schooling system in the world, with a cumulative enrolment of over 4.13 million learners during the last five years.
Between 2004 and 2009, NIOS recorded a cumulative enrolment of about 1.5 million students at the secondary and senior secondary levels, and it continues to enrol around 350,000 learners annually. NIOS functions as an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Education, Government of India, similar in status to other national educational boards such as the Central Board of Secondary Education.

International collaboration and overseas centres

The NIOS collaborates with the Commonwealth of Learning and UNESCO. It also has study centres for Indian expatriates in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Nepal, Canada, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States of America.

Courses offered

NIOS offer the following courses:
The public examinations are held twice a year in April–May and October–November on dates fixed by the NIOS. However, one is also eligible to appear through the On-Demand Examinations at Secondary and Senior Secondary. On Demand Exams are held through the year except for April–May and Oct–Nov i.e. when public exams are going on, ODE isn't held.
Results of the public examinations and on demand are usually announced seven weeks after the last date of examinations.

Organization & Administration

The NIOS is organized as an autonomous education board under the Ministry of Education. The organization is overseen by an Executive Board including staff from the MoE, Directors responsible for sectors of the NIOS mission, as well as a Secretary and Chairman. The current Chairman is Dr. Akhilesh Mishra.
Programs are delivered through a network of centres across India, including:
  • regional centres in Allahabad, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Kochi, Patna, Pune, Dehradun, Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru, Gandhinagar, Raipur, Chennai, Ranchi, Dhramshala, Vishakapatnam, Sikkim, Amethi.
  • sub-regional centres in Darbhanga and Kota
  • 3,530 Accredited Institutions for academic courses
  • 1,379 Accredited Vocational Institutions for vocational education courses
  • 1,313 Accredited Agencies for Open Basic Education

    Notable alumni

  1. Mary Kom, a former Indian Olympic boxer
  2. Kavya Madhavan, an Indian actress