Strengthening State Open Schools: A Need for a Dedicated and Focused Policy for School Dropouts

India’s school dropout problem is increasingly concentrated at the secondary stage. While participation at the elementary level is near universal, retention declines sharply after Grade 8, with fewer than two-thirds of students continuing to Grade 10 and less than half completing secondary education. Age-specific estimates show that over one-fifth of adolescents aged 14–17 are out of school, with exclusion concentrated in a small number of high-population states and disproportionately affecting girls and first-generation learners. This paper examines the role of India’s open schooling system—centred on the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and State Open Schools (SOS)—in addressing secondary-stage exclusion. Using UDISE+ data, age-cohort out-of-school estimates, audited financial accounts of NIOS, and state-level institutional evidence, the paper finds a mismatch between the role envisaged for open schooling under the National Education Policy 2020 and its current institutional and financing arrangements. NIOS operates largely through fee-based financing, limiting accessibility for economically vulnerable learners, while State Open Schools show uneven capacity due to weak integration with state education planning. The paper argues that open schooling should be treated as core public infrastructure for secondary education rather than a residual pathway. It concludes that public financing, stronger scheme convergence, and decentralised state-led delivery are necessary to strengthen secondary completion and support inclusive labour market outcomes.