The School That Moved With Them: How Mary Kom, Dipika Pallikal, Somdev Devvarman and Armaan Ebrahim Used NIOS
MC Mary Kom, Dipika Pallikal, Somdev Devvarman and Armaan Ebrahim all completed their secondary education through NIOS. Four athletes, five sports, two decades of competition and one board that did not require them to choose between school and training.
There is a question that comes up in almost every household where a child is training seriously: what happens to school?
The question sounds administrative. It is not. It is a decision about whether the sport continues or the conventional academic path does, because at the level of training required to reach national or international competition, both rarely fit inside a single timetable.
The athletes below found an answer. It was not the only answer, and it was not discovered without difficulty. But it was documented, verifiable and used by some of the most accomplished Indian competitors of the last two decades.
They all completed their secondary education through the National Institute of Open Schooling.
Four Athletes Who Used NIOS
MC Mary Kom · Boxing · Manipur
Used NIOS to manage the national and international competition schedule.
Dipika Pallikal · Squash · Tamil Nadu
NIOS flexibility allowed full-time professional training from an early age.
Somdev Devvarman · Tennis · Karnataka
NIOS and distance education throughout a professional career.
Armaan Ebrahim · Motor Racing · Tamil Nadu
NIOS enabled the international racing circuit schedule.
NIOS is not an alternative for athletes who cannot manage regular school. It is the deliberate choice of athletes who have too much to manage.
What NIOS Is
The National Institute of Open Schooling is a government board under the Ministry of Education. It conducts Class 10 and Class 12 examinations. Its certificates are recognized by the Association of Indian Universities and are accepted for admission purposes at Indian universities across the country, including Delhi University.
The central difference between NIOS and a mainstream school board is not the curriculum (which covers the same subjects) but the structure. NIOS does not require fixed classroom attendance. Students can prepare independently, using the study materials NIOS provides, and sit for examinations at scheduled sittings. NIOS also operates an On Demand Examination system for certain subjects, which allows students to book examination dates that fit their schedules rather than a fixed calendar.
For an athlete whose year includes national championship season, selection camps, state trials and multi-city travel, this is not a minor convenience. It is the difference between being able to continue competing and having to choose.
MC Mary Kom
Mary Kom grew up in Kangathei village in Manipur and discovered boxing in 1999, when the sport was not a mainstream option for women in India and had almost no institutional support outside the state.
She went on to win the World Amateur Boxing Championship six times. She won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, the first Indian woman boxer to compete at an Olympic Games. She was the first woman to win a World Boxing Championship in five different weight categories. By any measure, she is among the most decorated Indian athletes of any era in any sport.
She completed her secondary education through NIOS.
The specific reality of competitive boxing through the early part of a career, involving training twice a day, camp selections, national competitions and travel to international events, does not leave room for the attendance requirements of a conventional school. NIOS is listed among her educational background in her documented records, which also include a degree from DM College of Arts in Imphal and subsequent academic qualifications.
Her sporting career was not built despite her education. It was built alongside it, using a system that did not require her to be in a classroom when she needed to be at training.
Dipika Pallikal
Dipika Pallikal is from Chennai and is one of the highest-ranked squash players India has produced. She has been ranked as high as world number 10. She is an eight-time national champion and has represented India at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
Squash at the level she competes requires training blocks that do not accommodate fixed school schedules. The circuit involves international tournament travel, national championships and training camps that overlap with academic calendars throughout the year.
She is a confirmed NIOS learner, listed on the institution’s proud learners record.
Her story is also notable for what came after. She married Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik and has continued to compete seriously at the national and international level while managing the demands of a public profile. The flexibility that open schooling gave her during her development years was one of the early conditions that made sustained competition possible.
Somdev Devvarman
Somdev Devvarman is from Kolkata and became one of the best Indian tennis players of the 2000s and 2010s. He won gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi in both men’s singles and doubles, the first Indian to win the singles gold at the Games in 52 years. He was India’s Davis Cup stalwart across multiple campaigns and reached a career high of 62 on the ATP singles ranking.
He is a confirmed NIOS learner.
His case adds a layer that is relevant to any young athlete thinking beyond school: Somdev went on to study at the University of Virginia in the United States, one of the institutions with a strong Division I college tennis programme under the NCAA. The NIOS qualification gave him access to international higher education options alongside his competitive tennis career.
The path from NIOS in India to university tennis in the United States is not a common one. Somdev’s career demonstrates that the academic choice made during school years does not close options. It can, with the right preparation, expand them.
Armaan Ebrahim
Armaan Ebrahim is a racing driver from Chennai who has competed in the GP2 Series, GP3 Series and various Formula championship categories. He has been a test driver for the Force India Formula 1 team, making him one of the very few Indians to work in a Formula 1 programme at any level.
He is a confirmed NIOS learner.
Motorsport at the level he competes operates across multiple countries throughout the year. The racing calendar runs from March through December, with rounds in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. There is no version of a school timetable that accommodates this. His use of NIOS during his development years reflects the practical necessity that elite young athletes in globally competitive sports face: the sport requires presence in places the school cannot follow.
His career is a data point that matters for Indian families who believe sport either means forgoing education or limiting the sport. Both of those beliefs are false. Armaan Ebrahim completed his secondary education through a legitimate government board and then competed at the highest levels of international motorsport.
What These Four Cases Mean
What NIOS Enabled for Each Athlete
| Athlete | Why NIOS specifically | Career outcome |
|---|---|---|
| MC Mary Kom | International boxing schedule incompatible with regular attendance | 5× World Champion, Olympic medallist, MP (Rajya Sabha) |
| Dipika Pallikal | Full-time professional squash training at Gopichand Academy from an early age | World No. 10, CWG medals, national team squash captain |
| Somdev Devvarman | ATP Tour schedule across continents, year-round | India No. 1 tennis, Davis Cup career, US-based collegiate coaching post |
| Armaan Ebrahim | International Formula racing calendar | Formula 2 career, Asian Le Mans, continued competitive racing |
The pattern is consistent. NIOS did not limit any of these careers. It enabled them.
The athletes above competed in five different sports: boxing, squash, tennis, Formula motorsport. They are from Manipur, Chennai, Kolkata and Chennai. Their competitive timelines span nearly two decades. The only thing they share, beyond NIOS, is that they were competing seriously at a level that made conventional schooling structurally impossible.
NIOS is not a path for athletes who are struggling academically. It is a path for athletes who are succeeding athletically to the point that the standard school structure cannot contain both. The distinction matters because the stigma around open schooling in India often assumes the former, when the documented cases demonstrate the latter.
The Association of Indian Universities recognizes NIOS. Delhi University, Jamia, most central universities and most state universities accept NIOS Class 12 certificates for admission. The certificate is not a lesser document. It is a different route to the same destination.
What to Do This Week
Go to the NIOS website (nios.ac.in) and look at the subject list and examination schedule for Class 12. Read it as an athlete, not as a student: look at the examination timing and whether it conflicts with your competition calendar. The On Demand Examination information is on the same site.
If you are currently in a mainstream school and your attendance is under pressure from your competition schedule, calculate your numbers: how many tournament days this academic year and what that leaves as your attendance percentage. Do this now, before it becomes a problem in February.
Look up the NIOS proud learners page to see the documented cases of athletes and others who have used the same route. The list includes names you will recognize. Reading those names changes the question from "can a serious athlete use NIOS" to "which serious athletes have used NIOS." The answer is some of the best India has produced.