From 2022 onwards, the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) will offer board exams online. Every year, roughly five lakh candidates out of a total of 40 lakh students sit for the final board exams.
After considering the present pandemic situation, the decision to conduct online exams has been made. As it is unclear when the situation would normalise, Dr Rajiv Kumar Singh, Director (Academics) of NIOS, told TOI that the assessment procedure will be conducted online alongside virtual classes. He went on to say that the exams would be held in the remote proctored mode.
However, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIOS) is not ruling out the possibility of offline exams due to the digital divide. According to NIOS, the goal is to reach out to the unreached, so students will have access to both online and offline options.
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NIOS has also introduced the first virtual school of its kind, which will offer not just online lessons but also practical classes, resource materials through its digital library, and self-learning resources in audio and video formats.
NIOS is also the country's only education board that offers secondary and senior secondary education in 14 different languages. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was unable to hold board exams in both 2021 and 2020.
"Earlier, learners were supported by personal contact programmes at study centres. Personal contact programmes were unable to take place due to the pandemic. Students can now not only access learning information on the dynamic virtual schooling platform, but also ask questions to the mentor, who will be able to clear their problems," Singh told TOI.