| National institute of Open Schooling | |
| Abbreviation: | NIOS |
| Type: | Governmental Board of Education |
| Headquarters: | Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Leader Title: | Chairman |
| Leader Name: | Prof. Saroj Sharma |
| Parent Organisation: | Ministry of Education (Government of India) |
The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), 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 (erstwhile Ministry of Human Resource Development) of the Government of India in 1989.[1]
NIOS had a cumulative enrollment of about 15 lakh (1.5 million) students from 2004 to 2009 at secondary and senior secondary levels and enrolls about 3.5 lakh (350k) students annually which makes it the largest open schooling system in the world.[2]
The NIOS collaborates with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and UNESCO.[3] It also has study centres for Indian expatriates in the Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Nepal, Canada, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States of America.[4]
NIOS offer the following courses:[5]
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 Level and Senior Secondary level in those subjects only in which candidates have taken admission in NIOS for subject wise learning.[6] Results of the public examinations are usually announced seven weeks after the last date of examinations.
| S.No | Designation | Name | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Prof. Saroj Sharma | ||
| 1 | Secretary | Col. Shakeel Ahmad | |
| 2 | Director (Academic) | Dr. Rajiv Kumar Singh | |
| 3 | Director (SSS) | Shri S. Vijaya Kumar | |
| 4 | Director (Vocational) | Sh. Kailash Bansal | |
| 5 | Deputy Director | Sh. V. Santhanam | |
| 6 | Publication Officer | Sh. D.N.Upreti | |
| 7 | System Analyst & Programmer | Sh. Naveen Bhatia | |
| 8 | Assistant Director | Sh. Aaditya Kumar | |
| 9 | Accounts Officer | Smt. Rambha Kumari |