The Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBSE) will offer distance education mode to the school students in the state. The chairman of the HPBSE, CL Gupta, while talking to The Tribune, said the distance education would be offered to students through open school.Earlier, open schools were being run in the state under the Union Ministry for HRD. However, there were no fixed parameters of these schools and educational standards were being compromised. The Union HRD Ministry has now allowed the Himachal School Education Board to run and control open schools in the state.Elaborating about the concept, the chairman said, for the time being the centers that would be designated as open schools would be opened in 53 government schools in each block of the state. The students that would be targeted through open schools are primarily those who fail in board examinations.Such students would be allowed to complete their 10th or 12th degrees though open schools. Evening classes would be organized for such students twice a week in the open school centers. Teachers would be hired by the board especially for this purpose.The chairman said the failed students were likely to benefit from open schools as they would be allowed credit transfer for subjects in which they have passed. They would just have to pass the subject in which they failed through open schools to get the 10th or 12th class degree.Besides, the education board is also planning to add vocational courses in its open schools. The students can get certificates for vocational training by attending open schools.The chairman said the board would also examine the infrastructure available with the open schools currently being operated in the state before allowing them to continue offering education through the state board.Presently, open schools are being run in 14 states across the country. In Punjab and Haryana, the school education boards are also running open schools. The chairman said the school education board would keep strict control over the syllabus and credit system in open schools.