OBJECTIVES OF the Telangana Open School Society (TOSS)

• To identify the educational needs of the children/persons of the State who are generally not catered to by the formal system of school education.

• To provide opportunities for school education upto pre-degree level through open and distance learning (ODL) mode.

• To identify and promote standards of learning in open and distance learning system.

• To design and develop courses, self-instructional materials (SIM) and other learning support for the courses identified at different points of time.

• To organize orientation and training programmes for the functionaries of the open schooling system in the state.

• To collaborate with other agencies within and outside the state for developing and delivering skill oriented courses of study.

• To promote and publicise open schooling programmes and activities in the State.

• To maintain standards and equivalence with formal education system, while ensuring flexible characteristics of Open Learning System.

• To assist and advise the State Government in matters related to open schooling.

• To serve as an agency for effective dissemination of information related to open learning and distance education and to discharge coordination and clearing house functions.

Accordingly, the Telangana Open School Society (TOSS) introduced SSC (TOSS) course in ODL mode in the academic year 2008-09, vide G.O. Rt. No. 723 Edn. (Budget-SSA) Dept., dt: 27.09.2008. Academic courses are integrated with vocational courses. The course is implemented through identified Government/Municipal/Aided/Recognized High Schools, which are commonly known as Accredited Institutions (AIs), in the State. It was planned to start at least one Accredited Institution (AI)/ Study Centre per mandal in all the 1129 mandals of the State. Public examinations were held for two batches of SSC (TOSS) course during 2008-09 and 2009-10 and the results were highly encouraging.

The Telangana Open School Society (TOSS) adopted the syllabus and study material of National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) for the learners of SSC (TOSS) course in academic subjects and established linkages with vocational agencies like the National Academy of Construction (NAC), Telangana Industrial Training & Technical Consultancy Organization Limited (TITTCO), Self Employment Training (SET), Rajiv Udyog Sree (RUS) etc. spread across the state, for providing practical training and skill development in vocational subjects.

The Telangana Open School Society (TOSS) introduced Intermediate (TOSS) course through ODL mode in the academic year 2010-11, vide G.O. Ms. NO. 170 Edn. (IE.II) Dept., dt: 04.09.2010.