National Institute of Open Schooling NIOS Online (Ni-On)
Project
WINS
National Award for e-Governance 2008-09
Silver icon for
Excellence in Government Process Re-engineering
Instituted by
Government of India
Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances
&
Department of Information Technology
Award
Winner of Silver Award for Excellence in Government Process
Re-engineering
About
NI-ON - A Unique Initiative on e-Governance in the Field
of Open Schooling
The strategy adopted for Reaching the Unreached was through the
NIOS Online(Ni On ) project which introduced policy level changes
in the Admissions system as well as effective use of technology in
governance of NIOS operations. This Project was launched by Hon'ble
Sh. Arjun Singh, Minister of HRD, on 3rd July 2007. Some
significant initiatives taken under Ni On are as follows:
NIOS Online (Ni On) Project Launched
- This project initiated online admissions to NIOS based upon
online admission application form available at the NIOS website.
This gave learners the freedom to educational access NIOS admission
from anywhere in India, at any time, without involving any outside
agents/ AIs. The salient features of the Online Admissions are as
follows:
- Faster and Simpler Admission: Direct access to NIOS
Admission;
- Choice of Study Centre: Freedom to select Study Centre of
his/her choice;
- Admission Open 24x7: Admission opened round the year for the
learners for On Demand Examination of Secondary Course;
- Better support services: Direct interaction of learners with
NIOS and faster redressal of all problems;
- Easy Payment: Payment of fee online through credit card else by
Bank Draft.
- Opening and Expanding the Existing Admission Streams and also
reducing the Digital Divide:- Under Ni On, new streams of admission
were opened in addition to the existing stream( which were now
referred to as Offline Admissions). These Online streams were as
follows:
Stream 1 -
Online Admission for all Learners:- This stream for
Online Admission was opened for all the learners as per the laid
down criteria for Secondary and Senior Secondary levels. These
learners were eligible to appear in public examination first time
in forthcoming April-May Examination.
- Stream 2 -
Online Admission for learners wanting to appear in
October-November, Examinations:- This stream for
Online admission was opened for all those learners who had appeared
but could not clear the Public Examination of Secondary /Senior
Secondary levels from any recognized Examination Board for the same
subject combination in which they had appeared. The learners of
this stream are eligible to appear in the October-November Public
Examinations of NIOS in Secondary/Senior Secondary, on the basis of
marksheet/admit card of the respective Boards.( thereby , thus
allowing such learners to save one precious year)
- Stream 3 -
Online Admission for learners wanting to appear in On Demand
Examination System (ODES) of NIOS for Secondary
Level:- This stream for Online admission was opened
throughout the year for those learners who had appeared but could
not clear the public examination of Secondary level from any
recognized examination Board and want to appear through On Demand
Examination System of NIOS for Secondary level only. The admission
under this stream was limited to the availability of seats in ODES.
The scheme was available through On Demand Examination at NIOS
Headquarter at Noida.
- Stream 4 -
Online Admission for learners wanting to appear in On Demand
Examination System (ODES) of NIOS for Senior Secondary
Level:- This stream for Online admission was opened
throughout the year for those learners who had appeared and already
passed Senior Secondary or above from any recognized
Board/University and want to take part admission in one subject or
upto four subjects for updating their qualifications, also for
learners who had appeared but could not clear the public
examination of Senior Secondary level from any recognized
examination Board in the same subject combination in which they had
appeared and want to appear through On Demand Examination System of
NIOS for Senior Secondary level only. The scheme was available
through On Demand Examination at NIOS Headquarter at Noida.
- Bringing about Transparency in Admissions:- As
a part of Ni On, a unique exercise called Capacity Data was
undertaken . This calculated the total enrolment capacity of NIOS
through its AIs. It was seen that many AIs were enrolling learners
below capacity. Moreover there were many geographical areas that
remained unreached as there were no AIs there. Through online
admissions, NIOS now sought information from the learners for their
choice of AIs (indicating those close to his/her residence). This
facility was on First Come First Served Basis. Learners could now
get the AI of their choice through a computerized system. Thus no
AI could choose a particular set of learners as it was the computer
that decided which learners should be placed in which AI. This not
only reduced the distance of learners from their homes to the AI
but also ensured that AI did not indulge in any malpractice during
admissions. Further each AI was allocated learners as per their
designated capacity thus ensuring that AI: learner ratio was
corrected maintained.
- Enhanced Efficiency due to simultaneously Admission
Data Transfer:- In NIOS, the admission data is the basic
cornerstone upon which all other transactions are dependent. This
data is the basis for the confirmation of student enrolment,
generation of Student Identity card, dispatch of Study Materials,
fnancial transactions between related to payment of Personal
Contact Classes/other Student services by NIOS to AI, allocation of
examination Centres etc. In the earlier system as has been stated
earlier , this was being done manually leading to delays in all the
processes of NIOS. Most importantly the study time available to the
learner for the April Examination was too little and further there
was no scope for introducing any innovative flexible admission
scheme for failures who wanted to appear/reappear in examinations
at an early date. The chances of the data having errors was also
considerable and once this happened the errors were compounded in
every learner related transaction. Thus the overall quality of
Student services was adversely affected due to erroneous admission
data.
Under Ni On, the strategy adopted to increase efficiency has been
to place the Admission form online on the official website of NIOS.
The form is redesigned to make it more user friendly and this
enables learners to punch their data themselves. The process is
designed in such a way that learners have the facility to edit
their own data prior to sending it to NIOS. The online facility is
able to show them what they have filled, and send it only when they
are fully satisfied. Hence the chances of errors in data are
reduced. Moreover since the data is available online it is easier
and faster for NIOS to provide Student Support Services as well as
to transfer the common learner data to Material Distribution Unit
for onward mailing of course materials to learners. Every other
department is able to plan its activities as it has a concrete
admission figure much faster. The gestation period of data
processing is thus reduced greatly due to effective use of
technology.