NIOS : The Way Forward - The National Institute of Open Schooling
NIOS : The Way Forward - The National Institute of Open Schooling
NIOS : The Way Forward - The National Institute of Open Schooling
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<strong>NIOS</strong>: <strong>The</strong> <strong>Way</strong> <strong>Forward</strong> / 13<br />
2<br />
<strong>NIOS</strong> Story:<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Bold Educational<br />
Innovation”<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re is a tide in the affairs <strong>of</strong> men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to<br />
fortune.<br />
Omitted, all the voyage <strong>of</strong> their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.<br />
And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.”<br />
William Shakespeare<br />
2.1 <strong>Open</strong> School takes flight into the Indian Education Space<br />
<strong>The</strong> Beginning Decade (1979-1989)<br />
2.1 <strong>Open</strong> School takes flight into<br />
the Indian Education Space<br />
2.2 Government’s Initiative<br />
2.3 Mission <strong>of</strong> NOS<br />
2.4 Characteristics <strong>of</strong> <strong>National</strong><br />
<strong>Open</strong> School<br />
2.5 Two Decades <strong>of</strong> Growth <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Open</strong> <strong>Schooling</strong> (1989-2009)<br />
2.6 Use <strong>of</strong> ICT in <strong>NIOS</strong><br />
2.7 Summing Up<br />
What has been mentioned in the pages<br />
<strong>of</strong> the preceding chapter, as a concept<br />
frame <strong>of</strong> ODLS, may have sounded more<br />
like fiction than fact, as mere theory than<br />
what can be practiced. Many would ask:<br />
Is such a major revolution possible,<br />
especially in the field <strong>of</strong> education? In<br />
the following pages, we tell the<br />
adventurous story <strong>of</strong> the foundation and<br />
rapid growth and evolution <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Open</strong><br />
Learning System at the school level in<br />
the country.<br />
In 1978, NCERT and CBSE organized an international Seminar on <strong>Open</strong> School<br />
which was attended by experts on Distance Education <strong>of</strong> international repute.<br />
After that Seminar, the Central Board <strong>of</strong> Education (CBSE) decided to set up<br />
an <strong>Open</strong> School in July, 1979. Accepting the international thinking on <strong>Open</strong><br />
Education, CBSE decided, from the start, to make its <strong>Open</strong> School an<br />
independent project and department <strong>of</strong> the Board, and funded it. After a short<br />
period <strong>of</strong> initial preparation, <strong>Open</strong> School registered the first batch <strong>of</strong> 1672<br />
students in the academic year 1981-82. <strong>The</strong> Indian Express, while appreciating<br />
the new scheme <strong>of</strong> education, as a bold innovation, gave its editorial the title:<br />
“<strong>Open</strong> School: an empty school”. In 1983-84, CBSE conducted a separate<br />
examination, based on the separate curriculum that the <strong>Open</strong> School had<br />
developed. Encouraged by the results, CBSE approached organizations like
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