Supreme Court on NIOS Exam: Supreme Court's directive, make examination center within 10 km radius from NIOS Study Center

NIOS Examination Centres: The Supreme Court has directed the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) to fix examination centers within a distance of 10 kilometers from its recognized institutions so that students can appear for the examination with certainty and ease. Can you

A vacation bench of Justices SA Nazeer and PS Narasimha observed that a large number of students who resort to open schooling always come from rural areas. The top court was hearing a petition filed by the NIOS-affiliated institute on Tuesday. The petition sought a direction from NIOS to fix examination centers for open school students at a minimum distance from their study centers.

The Supreme Court said that most of these students come from poorer sections of society, who are incredibly dependent on public transport. For all of them, the possibility of studies is for their livelihood. It is difficult to imagine the ill effects of making examination centers inaccessible and far-flung for such students. The Court held that the inability to travel long distances for each examination would only result in the student skipping the examination, which is the biggest challenge facing the country today.

The bench said that it is interesting to note that Chapter-6 of the New Education Policy, 2020 provides for socially and educationally disadvantaged groups to drop off from school through the provision of group walks, cycles, etc. The emphasis is on reducing The bench said that NIOS may endeavor to fix the examination centers within a distance of 10 kms from the recognized institutions.

During the hearing, the top court said that the NIOS must fix the examination centers in such a way that the students can appear in the examination with certainty and ease. Instead of making students travel long distances from villages and towns, additional centers should be set up for appearing in the NIOS exam.

We are aware of the fact that fixing the exam centers is a sensitive duty, which involves security and constant monitoring. We are also aware of the fact that honesty in the conduct of examinations is important from the point of view of education. Every step should be taken for this. Simultaneously, the Bench said that NIOS should have the liberty to identify, accept or reject an application offering to be the examination center.

Also Read: CUET 2022: Where and for what level questions will be asked in CUET and for how long will the admit card be issued, know here