e-Governance Award

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

National Award for e-Governance 2008-09
 

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.

  3. 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)
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.

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