CHENNAI: For the teenage badminton sensation P V Sindhu, who is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree, balancing sports and academics was no easy task. She claimed to have not been able to perform well in her tenth standard exams.
For such stars, managing their sports and education was tough. Fifteen-year-old Nidhitra Rajmohan, however, has worked a way out to balance both efficiently. a player at the International Tennis Federation, she is currently attempting the Secondary exams at the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).
Nidhitra dropped out of tenth standard ata normal school a few months ago. She was running short of the required attendance because she had to travel abroad and had international tennis matches to play.
With her career that requires her to travel abroad, she had to choose between her education and tennis. Pursuing the latter since she was five years old, Nidhithra chose to drop out of school to pursue playing tennis.
Enrolling herself in NIOS, she had the option to not only pursue her education and obtain a certificate, but also the freedom to take up exams at will and balance her passion accordingly. “I have come here to take up the on-demand exams. After this, I will be off to the US for a match in January. I find this arrangement convenient and easy to balance. The aspects which inconvenienced me in my previous school at Coimbatore such as attendance and inflexible exams don’t disturb me anymore,” she says. Nidhitra found the open schooling advantageous in a way that she could choose her own subjects. She has chosen Mathematics, English, Tamil, Science and Business Studies. “ In school, I could not have opted out of social studies. But after tenth, it is pretty useless, at least considering what I want to pursue. This is a win-win in every possibility,” she smiles.
For such people wishing to pursue their passion that requires them to take some time off education, NIOS is flexible, says its project director P Ravi. They not only award certificates recognised by the universities, but also the liberty to pursue courses at will, with unlimited attempts. “ Nidhitra can now write exams and play matches simultaneously. The syllabus is also designed in such a way that it does not require too much,” adds Ravi