Overview about Open School Society
Telangana Open School Society was established as an autonomous society registered under the Telangana Public Societies Act on 20th of February 1991 and inaugurated on the ‘Ugadi Day’, the 17th of March 1991, vide G.O. Ms. No.50 Edn. (SSE-2) Department, dt: 08.02.1991. It is the first State Open School in the country. The main objectives of TOSS, at the time of its inception have been
- To provide pre-elementary Education through Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode to School drop-outs and those missing Upper Primary stage of education and to attain Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in the State.
- To provide continuing education for adult neo-literates, working men and women to reinforce their functional literacy and not to allow them to relapse into illiteracy.
The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Telangana is the Chief Patron and the Hon’ble Education Minister of Telangana is the Patron of Telangana Open School Society. It has a General Body and an Executive Board at the State Level for which the Chief Secretary to the Government of Telangana is the Chairman. There are District level committees in the Districts with District Collector as Chairman and District Educational Officer as Member-Secretary for implementation of the scheme.
On Open and Distance Learning (ODL) the model of National Open School (NOS) was studied carefully and adapted to meet the needs of the learners of Telangana State. Initially, it was started in five districts viz., (1) Nellore, (2) Chittoor, (3) Nizamabad, (4) Medak and (5) Visakhapatnam, with the financial assistance of Government of Andhra Pradesh.
In the Second phase, during 1994-95, it was extended to another nine districts viz., (1) Srikakulam, (2) Vizianagaram, (3) Prakasam, (4) Ananthapur, (5) Kurnool, (6) Cuddapah, (7) Mahaboobnagar, (8) Warangal and (9) Ranga Reddy, with the financial assistance of Department of Non-formal Education, MHRD, Government of India, New Delhi.
In the third phase, during 1996-97, it was further extended to the remaining nine districts of the state viz., (1) Krishna, (2) Guntur, (3) Khammam, (4) Nalgonda, (5) Adilabad, (6) Karimnagar, (7) Hyderabad, (8) West Godavari and (9) East Godavari, with the financial assistance of Department of Adult Education, MHRD, Government of India, New Delhi.
While the Open Learning scheme is in implementation at Upper Primary level in all the districts of the state, during 1997-98, the TOSS has formulated Open Basic Education (OBE) Scheme through which a Bridge Course was introduced as a pilot project, to the drop-outs of classes III & IV and to the adult neo-literates who were covered under Total Literacy Campaign (TLC)/Post Literacy Campaign (PLC) programmes of Adult Education Department, in five districts viz., Visakhapatnam, Nellore, Chittoor, Nizamabad and Karimnagar with the financial assistance of Department of Adult Education, MHRD, Government of India (GOI), New Delhi.
Similarly, during 1997-98, at Upper Primary level Urdu medium centres are opened under Open Learning Scheme in Hyderabad for the benefit of the Urdu clientele, with the financial assistance of Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH), under Indian Population Project (IPP).
But, these projects were closed down after expiry of the stipulated project periods, sanctioned by MHRD, GOI, New Delhi and IPP and as such the Open Learning Scheme at Upper Primary Level in Telugu and Urdu media have been continued in the State with the financial assistance of Government of Andhra Pradesh.
As part of expansion of the scheme, the TOSS has introduced classes VIII & IX during the academic years 2001-02 and 2002-03 respectively with the financial assistance of Government of Andhra Pradesh, vide G.O. Rt. No. 485 Edn.(Prog.II-1) Dept., dt: 08.08.2001.
About 9 lakh learners are enrolled at Upper Primary and Secondary level (up to Class IX) from 1991-92 to 2007-08 and nearly 4.6 lakh learners have successfully completed the course.
With a view to enhance the access to education, to upscale the activities and to provide opportunities to the learners of all the mandals in the state, the TOSS has revamped the Open Learning Scheme with some modifications and new initiatives. The Vision, Mission and Objectives of TOSS at this stage are: