New rules announced by Gujarat’s education department for Gujarat State Open School (GSOS) on Sept 8 will see free-of-cost study for students from Class 9 to 12.

The education dept has announced these new sets of rules under the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP).

Free studies for Class 9 to 12

After the introduction of the new set of rules, a student can now study from Class 9 to 12 free of charge.

Students willing to complete their secondary or higher secondary education and who have not enrolled themselves in any government, grant, or private school can opt for the state‘s open schooling. This programme shall allow students who have never attended school or left their schooling midway to finish their high school education.

Open schooling requires no registration fees to be paid, and the complete education of the pupil is carried out without any fees.

The students willing to enrol themselves in any Class from 9 to 12 would have to contact their nearby government or granted secondary or higher secondary school.

The student would have to be at least 13-year-old to get admission in class 9, while the minimum age for enrolling in class 10 should be 14. And the student is supposed to be a class 10 pass out for enrolling in class 11 or 12.

Textbooks, courses to be provided

The students enrolled through GSOS will be provided with free books from the Gujarat State School Textbook Boards (GSSTB) and will get free eContent from the G-Shala application.

The examinations of these students will also be conducted under the Gujarat Secondary Higher Secondary Education Board (GSEB).

Study centres to be established for the students

A school from every Taluka will be accredited as a 'study centre’ for these students, who will undertake their class 9 to 12 education.

The preference will be given to model schools, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) schools, and government schools for being accredited as study centres.

The expenses for the study centre and support centre will be carried out under the allotted grants to the schools.

State launched Open School programme in 2010

The state’s open school programme was initially launched in 2010 under the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) initiative.

The programme is a type of board under which Class 10 and 12 students can take their board exams without enrolling in a school.

The number of students who had registered under GSOS for the Mar 2023 board examinations was 40,000. 10,000 out of them enrolled for Class 10 and 30,000 enrolled for Class 12 in the commerce stream.

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