NIOS push: 4,500 madrasa students to pursue mainstream education

With a view to joining mainstream education, 4,500 students of madrasas in the state have registered for Class 10 and 12 exams through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).

Lokesh Kumar Aluru, an official at NIOS, Bengaluru Regional Office, said, “NIOS conducts exams twice a year. Interested candidates can appear for exams to be conducted in stream 1 and stream 2. While stream 1 exams will be held between April and May, stream 2 will take place between October and November.

Students appearing for exams in April have to enroll in September so that they have sufficient time to study till March. Those writing exams in October should enroll in April or May. This year, 10,099 students will appear for stream 1 exams. Among them, 4,500 students are from madrasas.

They too want to be part of mainstream education.” Jeelani Mokashi, Director, Minority Welfare Department, said, “We signed an MoU with NIOS in 2024 to help students from madrasas join mainstream education. Interested candidates can pursue degree courses after clearing Class 10 and 12 exams. I am happy that 4,500 students have enrolled for these exams.”

He said the department has set up an Academic Intensive Care Unit (AICU) in each madrasa. Each AICU has a teacher to teach English, Kannada, Science and other subjects. Classes will be held for two hours in the morning and evening. After these classes, the students will continue Islamic studies.”

In all, 6,912 students appeared for the exams conducted by NIOS in 2024-25, 7,126 in 2023-24, 6,949 in 2022-23 and 7,233 in 2021-22.