What fee NIOS is getting?

NIOS charges about a 1,000 Rupees from one student and with the facility of fee concession to female and certain other categories of students, it comes out to be Rs. 750 each. Out of these Rs. 250 is given to Accredited Institutions (study centers) for conduct of Personal Contact Programs (PCPs) which are often poorly organized, and we have complained that students do not attend those. As I have already suggested in an important forum, the learning material and Personal Contact Programs should be de-linked from the fee. NIOS shall charge only registration fee of about Rs. 250 from students and the students should then buy other services, if they like. The students will be empowered in this way and will have a control over the services. There may not be any issue of material not reached, or PCPs not conducted.

NIOS has already experimented and used a number of tools to help students. It is necessary to reinvent those for the benefit of students. Some of these are:

1. Give learning material to students right at the time of taking admission
2. Give study guides to them
3. Write to them/send SMS at various important points of their course of study such as Personal Contact Programmes, change of subject, Tutor Marked Assignments, filling in exam fee, practical exams, theory exam
4. Have orientation programmes
5. Provide examination practice
6. Students should be able to speak to someone in case of any need and should be able to get help in their problems
7. All the material should be transferred on audio files.

The other day, a man came to my office with his friend or someone and introduced him as the President of Congress party. His son is appearing in NIOS Sr. Secondary exam. He told me that there are problems with having exam centers at Kendriya Vidlayas (KV) such as they start the exam late etc. and wanted that I change the exam center to a private school. I could see what he wanted. I told him about the NIOS policy and that KV exam center cannot be changed. He told again and again that I should do something, and took my mobile. Today he called and said that exam center is KV only and I have not done anything. I told him I can't do anything in this case. Then he asked me to help his son in one way or the other, to which I told him, I don’t do such things and apologized.