School and mass education minister, Pratap Jena, launches the website of the regional centre of National Institute of Open Schooling in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, July 8: With knowledge being the keyword to success today, alternative channels of education are coming up everywhere. Education today is a right of every individual. The option of “Open Schooling” is a giant leap in this context. The Telegraph gives you a lowdown on the the admission procedure in open schools.

What is Open Schooling?

Open Schooling is a term referred to the facility of attaining secondary and higher secondary education certificates by those who missed out on an opportunity to go to school. The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), previously known as National Open School, was set up by the ministry of human resource development, Government of India. The regional centre of NIOS Bhubaneswar started operating from November 2010. It aims at providing education to deprived sections of society, including school dropouts through examinations for Class X and Plus Two levels, for which the examinee is trained at an NIOS study centre. Already, 153 study centres are operating in all educational districts for courses under NIOS.

Courses offered by NIOS

NIOS offers courses in two categories. The secondary course is equivalent to that of Class X, in which the applicant is required to appear for minimum five subjects with minimum one or maximum two language subjects. The senior secondary course is equivalent to Class XII standard, which includes minimum of five subjects with minimum one or maximum two language subjects. One can also opt for vocational courses along with academic courses.

Who can apply?

There is no upper age limit for admission, but the minimum age for enrolment is 14 years for secondary courses and 15 years for senior secondary courses. No minimum educational qualification is required for secondary courses while for senior secondary courses minimum qualification is matriculation. School dropouts can also apply for secondary courses and students who have failed to clear their examinations in senior secondary level under a recognised board can also apply.

How to apply?

From year 2010-2011, NIOS has implemented 100 per cent online application. The applicant can log on the website (www.niosbbsr.org) for details of application form. The students can also take the help of nearest regional centre in Bhubaneswar for assistance in online application. Admissions will be carried out in two phases in a year. One block of admission will be conducted between March 1 and August 31, while another block of admission will be carried out from September 1 to February 28.

Course fee

The course fee at the time of admission is Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,150 for male applicants and Rs 750 and Rs 900 for female candidates in secondary and senior secondary courses respectively. Relaxation is also there for other categories. If a candidate wishes to enrol for extra subjects apart from the five selected subjects, he/ she has to pay Rs 150 and Rs 180 extra for each subject in secondary courses and senior secondary courses respectively.

Choice of medium

The choice of medium includes Hindi, English, Urdu, Marathi, Telugu, Gujarati, Malayalam and Oriya for secondary stage, while choices for higher secondary stage are Hindi, English and Urdu.

Examinations

General examinations are conducted twice in a year. One phase of examinations is conducted in April/May and the second one is held in October/November. Students can also appear for the On Demand Examination System (Odes), in which the examination can be held at any given point of time, provided the applicant registers for Odes one month prior to the examination date.