The Delhi Directorate of Education (DoE) is increasingly promoting the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) as a tool to prevent vulnerable students from dropping out, even as concerns persist among government school teachers about admission challenges for NIOS students in science and commerce streams.
New Guidelines for Schools
Under recent guidelines issued through DoE's NIOS Project, schools have been directed to inform parents that subjects often considered difficult, including mathematics, are not compulsory under the NIOS system. Students who clear Class X through NIOS remain eligible for admission to Class XI in their parent government schools. The intervention specifically targets students who have failed Class IX more than once and are considered at greater risk of leaving the education system.
Strengthening Retention Efforts
To strengthen retention efforts, DoE has asked all government schools to identify and counsel students who have failed Class IX twice or thrice and guide them towards continuing education. In a recent circular issued after the declaration of Class IX compartment examination results, school heads were instructed to prepare lists of such students and personally reach out to both students and their families.
Schools have been asked to invite parents for discussions at mutually convenient times and ensure that interactions are conducted in a supportive and non-judgmental environment. The circular places counselling at the centre of the intervention and directs schools to explain the long-term importance of completing school education while reassuring parents that institutional support will continue.
NIOS as an Alternative Route
In the absence of proper guidance and motivation, these students are at risk of discontinuing their education. Schools have, therefore, been directed to first encourage them to continue through the regular schooling system wherever possible, an official said. However, where students or parents are unwilling to continue in regular school, authorities have been asked to introduce the NIOS route.
Under NIOS, students can take direct admission to Class X, select subjects according to their interests and abilities, avoid compulsory mathematics if needed, and continue learning at their own pace while preventing the loss of an academic year. The circular adds that heads of schools must inform parents that after completing Class X through NIOS, students can continue in the parent school for Class XI, enabling continuity in schooling.
Teachers' Concerns and NIOS Response
The push comes even as the Government Schools Teachers' Association, Delhi, has urged the government to review what it describes as restrictive admission rules for NIOS students. In a letter, the association argued that students passing through NIOS should receive equal access to Class XI admissions across streams. The teachers' body said that despite NIOS being a recognised national board under the Union education ministry, students were being denied science and commerce admissions solely because they studied through the open schooling system.
Responding to such concerns, NIOS has maintained that the secondary and senior secondary certificates obtained from NIOS have the same recognition as certificates issued by other boards and are equivalent and on a par with certificates awarded by other recognised boards.
