NIOS the open schooling board from MHRD, Government of India

NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) managed by Ministry of Human Resources and Development, Govt Of India claims to be largest Open schooling System in the World. It was formerly known as NOS (National Open School) established in November,1989 as an autonomous organisation. The name change happened in July 2002. It started as a pilot project of CBSE (Center Board of Secondary Education) and through the Resolution of No. F.5-24/90 Sch.3 dated 14 September 1990 published in the Gazette of India on 20 October 1990) NIOS became educational board with authority to register, examine and certify students registered with it up to pre-degree level courses. In July 2002, the Ministry of Human Resource Development amended the nomenclature of the organisation from the National Open School (NOS) to the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) with a mission to provide relevant continuing education at school stage, up to pre-degree level through Open Learning system to prioritized client groups as an alternative to formal system. NIOS operates through a network of five Departments, Regional Centres and Accredited Institutions (Study Centres) in India and abroad. It has a current enrolment of about 2.71 million students at Secondary, Senior Secondary & Vocational levels which makes it the largest open schooling system in the world.