Centre to roll out pilot programme for linking out-of-school adolescents to open school

The Union Ministry of Education convened a high-level meeting on May 16, 2026, chaired by the Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL),...

What Happened

The Union Ministry of Education convened a high-level meeting on May 16, 2026, chaired by the Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), to finalise the implementation strategy for a pilot programme linking out-of-school adolescents in the 14–18 age group to the National Institute of Open Schooling.
The programme targets over two crore children aged 14–18 who are currently out of school due to economic compulsion, domestic responsibilities, and livelihood pressures — children for whom a return to formal schooling is not feasible.
The pilot will roll out across 10 high-concentration districts in nine states and Union Territories: Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi.
Ground-level NIOS Facilitators will be deployed in these districts, educational starter kits distributed, and an app-based tracking and monitoring system used to map and follow up with identified out-of-school children.
The Ministry is executing Memoranda of Commitment with participating state governments; learnings from the pilot districts will inform a national scale-up.

Static Topic Bridges

Constitutional and Statutory Framework for the Right to Education

Article 21A, inserted by the 86th Constitutional Amendment, 2002, makes education a fundamental right under Part III of the Constitution, directing the State to provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 6 to 14 years. This was operationalised by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act), which came into force on April 1, 2010.

Section 3 of the RTE Act mandates free and compulsory education for all children aged 6–14 in neighbourhood schools; the Act does not cover children above 14 — precisely the 14–18 age group that is the focus of the NIOS pilot.
This legislative gap is a known structural limitation of the RTE Act: it was designed to universalise elementary education (Classes I–VIII) and left secondary and higher-secondary levels to other policy instruments.
The National Education Policy, 2020 (NEP 2020) addresses this gap by setting a target of 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at the secondary level by 2030 and emphasising flexible, multiple pathways including Open and Distance Learning as legitimate educational routes.
NEP 2020 also introduces the concept of "multi-entry, multi-exit" pathways — recognising that a single formal school track cannot meet the needs of all learners, particularly adolescents engaged in livelihood activities.

Connection to this news: The NIOS pilot addresses precisely the population that falls outside the RTE Act's coverage — adolescents aged 14–18 who have dropped out before or during secondary school. The initiative operationalises NEP 2020's multi-pathway approach within the existing institutional framework of NIOS and State Open Schools.

National Institute of Open Schooling: Role, Mandate, and Institutional Design

The National Institute of Open Schooling is an autonomous national board under the Ministry of Education, established in November 1989 under the National Policy on Education, 1986. It is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and is recognised as the world's largest open schooling system by cumulative enrolment.

NIOS evolved from a project within the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) initiated in 1979; the National Open School (NOS) was established in November 1989 and renamed NIOS in 2002.
It offers Secondary (Class X equivalent) and Senior Secondary (Class XII equivalent) courses through Open and Distance Learning — enabling learners to study at their own pace without leaving employment or household responsibilities.
NIOS also offers vocational education, life enrichment programmes, and is the primary vehicle for the National Curriculum Framework for Open Schooling (NCFOS).
Cumulative enrolment over the last five years exceeds 4.13 million learners — more than most formal boards — and certificates are accorded equivalence with those of formal school boards by CBSE and state boards.

Connection to this news: The pilot uses NIOS as the institutional vehicle precisely because it already has the infrastructure (study materials, examination centres, facilitator networks) to reach learners who cannot access formal schools. The programme's success will depend on deploying this infrastructure into the districts with the highest concentration of out-of-school adolescents.

Dropout Crisis: Data, Causes, and Policy Levers

India's school education system has achieved near-universal primary enrolment but faces a dramatic "dropout cliff" as children progress through the school system. The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) data reveal a structural pattern of attrition at the secondary stage.

Of every 100 children who enrol in Class I, only 62 successfully complete Class XII — a system-wide retention rate of 62%.
Dropout rates rise sharply at the secondary level: approximately 14.1% at the secondary stage versus 1.9% at the primary stage (UDISE+ 2023–24).
The Gross Enrolment Ratio at the secondary level (Classes IX–X) is approximately 77.4%; at the higher secondary level (Classes XI–XII), it falls to 56.2% — against NEP 2020's 100% target for 2030.
Principal causes of dropout among 14–18-year-olds, as identified by PLFS data: economic compulsion to enter the labour force (particularly in rural areas), domestic responsibilities (especially for girls), absence of schools offering secondary-stage classes within accessible distance, and perceived irrelevance of secondary curriculum to livelihood needs.
The Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, the umbrella centrally sponsored scheme for school education, includes dropout-reduction interventions — but its primary mandate covers only the 6–14 age group, leaving the 14–18 cohort in a policy gap.

Connection to this news: The two crore out-of-school adolescents identified by the government represent the accumulated outcome of the dropout cliff across multiple school years. The NIOS pilot is designed to address this backlog — not by returning children to formal schools (which may be infeasible for many) but by providing an alternative credential pathway that enables re-engagement with education without disrupting livelihood activities.

Key Facts & Data

Estimated out-of-school children aged 14–18: over 2 crore (20 million).
Pilot coverage: 10 high-concentration districts across 9 states/UTs — Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi.
Article 21A (86th Constitutional Amendment, 2002): free and compulsory education for ages 6–14.
RTE Act, 2009 (in force from April 1, 2010): covers ages 6–14; Section 3 mandates free education in neighbourhood schools.
NEP 2020 target: 100% GER at secondary level by 2030.
Current GER: Secondary (IX–X) — 77.4%; Higher Secondary (XI–XII) — 56.2%.
Dropout rate at secondary level: approximately 14.1% (UDISE+ 2023–24).
System-wide retention: only 62 out of 100 Class I entrants reach Class XII.
NIOS established: November 1989; cumulative enrolment in last 5 years: over 4.13 million learners.
NIOS is recognised as the world's largest open schooling system.
Implementation mechanism: NIOS Facilitators, educational starter kits, app-based tracking, Memoranda of Commitment with state governments.