What Is NIOS Board? About NIOS Board (National Institute of Open Schooling) 1. What is NIOS? NIOS stands for National Institute of Open Schooling, an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Education, Government of India. It offers flexible and open learning at secondary (10th) and senior secondary (12th) levels. 2. Purpose NIOS provides education to students who cannot attend regular schools due to personal, financial, or professional reasons. It supports open and distance learning (ODL).