Rushi Kumar Rath, director of National Institute of Open Schooling, Lal Bihari Himirika, ST/SC minister, and Pratap Jena, school and mass education minister, at the inauguration of the regional study centre. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, July 7: The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) today formally inaugurated its regional centre in the city.

The centre will provide education in secondary and higher secondary courses to the deprived sections, including school dropouts and other groups such as rural youth, urban poor, girls, women and physically handicapped. Moreover, the juvenile delinquents serving jail terms would also be covered under this initiative.

The centre, which had been functioning since last November on the Adivasi Exhibition Ground at Unit-I, would continue to operate from the same venue. At present, training in vocational courses such as plumbing, tailoring, driving and masonry is being imparted here. All classes are conducted on Sundays.

The regional centre will conduct a public examination twice every year during April/May and October/November. As many as 1,200 candidates have already appeared for both secondary and higher secondary level at 30 examination centres throughout the state. NIOS has a facility of “on demand examination” under which a student can appear for examinations according to his/her convenient time. The secondary and higher secondary certificates, issued by the institute, would be considered on par with certificates issued by other recognised boards.

NIOS chairman Sitansu S. Jena said the regional centre would be beneficial for students deprived of education.

“As education is a must for everyone under the Right to Education, this centre would reach out to the backward sections of the state,” said Jena.

The NIOS-Bhubaneswar has opened 153 study centres covering all districts of the state under the ST and SC development department. Today, the website for the regional centre (www.niosbbsr.org) was also launched. While inaugurating the regional centre, Lal Bihari Himirika, minister of ST/SC development, minorities and backward classes welfare, termed setting up of the NIOS centre in the capital city as a welcome step.

“Now, students and unemployed youth belonging to the weaker sections can avail secondary education,” he said.

Pratap Jena, minister of school and mass education, also appreciated the move of starting an open school.

“The vocational training provided by NIOS will definitely offer a sustainable source of income and make them self-dependent,” he said.