It is for the first time that the all-boys Sainik Schools, which serves as feeder institutions for preparing cadets for the armed forces, will finally allow girls to get admission. The Narendra Modi led government is working on revising the admission rules for Sainik Schools. As the per reports, the government is expected to finalize the details by 2020 and will begin the admission process for girls from 2021.
In order to transform the Sainik schools into co-educational institutions, the state government has asked officials of Sainik Schools to start developing a well built infrastructure to induct girls as well as required medical facilities too. As a part of the admission process 10% to 20% seats will be reserved for girls. Initially, 10% seats will be reserved. This will be increased to 15% the next year. And 20% after that.
The idea of giving admission to girls in Sainik Schools was first experimented in a pilot project at Chhingchhip, Mizoram, last year. Tasting success, the government is now planning to implement the idea in all the 28 Sainik Schools across the country. Currently, Sainik Schools only induct girls who are the children of the schools’ staff.
Right now, 15% of the seats are reserved for male SC candidates and 7.5% for male ST candidates and 25% of the remaining seats are specifically reserved for the children of serving and retired defense personnel. The balance seats are occupied by open category candidates based on the order of their merit.
Sainik Schools were established by former defence minister V. K. Krishna Menon. They are run by Sainik Schools Society which is an autonomous body functioning under the Ministry of Defence. The funding for these schools comes from the respective state governments. The first Sainik School was set up in Satara, Maharashtra, in 1961.
Sainik Schools are fully residential schools which runs on public school lines. Each school has extensive infrastructure and land to cater to needs of comprehensive training so that boys are brought up in a conducive environment.
Admission to all Sainik Schools is based on an entrance test comprising questions from mathematics, language, and intelligence for class VI; mathematics, science, english and social science for class IX, followed by interview and medical examination. The registration fee is Rs 400 for General and Defence category and Rs 250 for SC / ST category.
All the candidates who get selected on the basis of merit, they need to appear before the interview board at school and a medical Board for various tests in the Government Civil Hospital. The final merit list is announced on the basis of the marks acquired by the candidates in the written test and interview.
