Defence Ministry approves 21 new Sainik schools

With an aim to establish 100 new Sainik schools across the country in a partnership model, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Saturday approved the setting up of 21 such schools, in partnership with NGOs, private schools or state governments.

The academic session for these new schools is scheduled to begin in the first week of May. 

Unlike the existing Sainik schools that are completely residential, seven will be day school and the rest will have residential arrangements.

Besides their affiliation to the respective education boards, the schools will function under the aegis of Sainik Schools Society and will follow the rules and regulations in partnership mode prescribed by the society. 

As far as the admission is concerned, at least 40 per cent of the intake in Class VI will be from candidates who have qualified the All-India Sainik Schools Entrance Examination (AISSEE) conducted by the National Testing Agency through e-counselling and 60 per cent will be from students enrolled in the same school and desirous of taking admission under this vertical of new Sainik schools through a qualifying test. A notification about the detailed process for this will be released soon. 

Students who have already qualified the AISSEE-2022 have been informed about the new establishments. Candidates who wish to register for counselling can visit the official website sainikschool.ncog.gov.in.

For those who are already enrolled in the new Sainik School but wish to shift to the new establishments, admission will be provided on the basis of a qualifying test that will be conducted shortly.

The portal for inviting applications for the remaining new Sainik schools for consideration in the next round is likely to be reopened in the first week of April.