Kohima, August 7 (MExN): The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) has reopened its registration portal for the six-month Bridge Course for primary teachers, strictly in compliance with interim orders passed by various High Courts. The development comes in the wake of the Supreme Court's judgment dated April 8, 2024, in M.A. Diary No. 4303/2024 in Civil Appeal No. 5068 of 2023, which had directed all primary teachers appointed with a B.Ed degree between June 28, 2018 and August 10, 2023 to undergo the Bridge Course conducted by NIOS. Admissions under that mandate had closed on July 19, 2026.
According to the Directorate of School Education (DoSE), a number of teachers who consider themselves outside the ambit of the Supreme Court's judgment and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) Recognition Order had approached various high courts, including the Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur, through writ petitions.
The high court granted NIOS a further and final period of 15 days to reopen the portal. In compliance, NIOS has opened its registration portal strictly for teachers covered by subsisting interim orders of high courts, on terms laid down in its notification F. No. 82-20/2025/NIOS/CBC/BRIDGE/Corr. dated July 28, 2026.
As per the eligibility criteria, a teacher can seek provisional enrolment only if the applicant is a petitioner in a writ petition pending before a high court in which an interim order permitting provisional enrolment in the Bridge Course has been passed and remains in force as on the date of application.
The applicant must not be covered under, or fall within the ambit of, the Supreme Court's April 8, 2024 judgment in the case of Devesh Sharma vs Union of India and Ors, the notification stated.
The applicant must also not be covered under the NCTE Recognition Order to the extent it already governs regular enrolment, and the interim order being relied upon must not have been stayed, modified, vacated or superseded by any subsequent order of the same high court, another high court, or the Supreme Court.
The registration portal, https://bridge.nios.ac.in, will remain open from July 30 to August 30, 2026, for online applications by eligible teachers holding a valid, subsisting high court order permitting provisional enrolment.
Eligible teachers have been advised to refer to the NIOS notification dated July 28, 2026, available on the NIOS portal, for further details.
