Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday approved the proposal to allow the admission of girls in Sainik schools across the country from the 2021-2022 academic session.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Defence, the decision was taken following the success of the pilot project started for admission of girls in Sainik School, Chhingchhip in Mizoram two years ago.
The minister has directed the concerned authorities to ensure the availability of necessary infrastructure and sufficient female staff in Sainik Schools for smooth implementation of the directive.
The admission of girls in Sainik schools will begin from academic session 2021-22 in a phased manner.
"The decision is in line with the objective of the Government towards greater inclusiveness, gender equality, enabling greater participation of women in Armed Forces and strengthening the motto of ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’, propagated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi", the statement said.
The Sainik Schools are a system of schools in India established and managed by the Sainik Schools Society under the Ministry of Defence. They prepare future officers for the armed forces. At present, there are 31 Sainik Schools in the country.
Earlier this year, Rajnath Singh had announced that the government has plans to open five more Sainik schools at Amethi (Uttar Pradesh), Alwar (Rajasthan), Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand), Sambalpur (Odisha) and Warangal (Telangana).
In April last year, a Sainik School in Lucknow opened its doors for girls for the first time. As many as 15 girls from different family backgrounds got admission in the Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey Uttar Pradesh Sainik School (India's only military school that does not come under the Ministry of Defence) in class 9 for the academic year 2018-19.
