Sainik Schools now open for girls as well: All you need to know

A key announcement made by prime minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on 75th Independence Day was that Sainik Schools, which traditionally admit only boys, will now be open for girls as well. “I got messages from lakhs of girls from across the country expressing their desire to study in Sainik Schools. Hence, the government has decided that all such schools across the country will now be open for girls as well,” PM Modi said.

Here’s all you need to know about Sainik Schools:

(1.) These schools are the brainchild of VK Krishna Menon, who was the Union defence minister from April 1957 to October 1962. Menon conceived this idea in 1961.

(2.) An All India Sainik School Entrance Examination (AISSEE) is conducted for admission to Sainik Schools, which follow the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) curriculum. For classes 6 and 9, students are granted admission on the basis of their performance in the entrance exam. For class 11, the basis of admission is marks scored in class 10 board exams.

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(3.) However, it is to be noted that 67% seats are reserved for students who are from the home state of a Sainik School. The remaining 33% students are admitted from outside the home state. There is reservation also on the basis of Scheduled Castes (15%), Scheduled Tribes (7.5%), Other Backward Classes (27%) and for wards of current and former servicemen (25%).

(4.) At present, there are 33 such schools in the country. Uttar Pradesh has three Sainik Schools, while Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan have two schools each.

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(5.) These schools are run by the Sainik Schools Society under the Union ministry of defence (MoD). As the name suggests, Sainik Schools prepare students for a career in the armed forces. Hence students here are called “cadets” and have to follow strict rules, which are on the lines of those in military academies.

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(6.) As a pilot project, Sainik School in Mizoram’s Chhingchhip began admitting girls from October 2019. PM Modi mentioned the school while making the announcement.