Five years after plans to elevate Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) to match Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs), little progress has been made in centralizing their administration and improving infrastructure.
Proposals for central recruitment of over 6,000 school staff, setting up regional offices, and increasing per-child costs have been delayed for months.
The National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) lacks authority over the State societies managing daily operations of EMRS schools.
While the government has sanctioned 728 new EMRS schools, with 477 functioning, NESTS operates with very limited staff, compared to the much larger staff of JNVs.
The second round of recruitment for 6,000 staff members is pending, following issues with the first round.
NESTS uncovered financial mismanagement and irregularities in school operations, such as improper allocation of funds and missing student resources.
Filling NESTS positions is difficult due to low pay and limited promotion opportunities.
Ekalavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS)
EMRS started in the year 1997-98 to impart quality education to ST children in remote areas to enable them to access the best opportunities in education and to bring them at par with the general population.
EMRS are established in the States/UTs from the grants received under Article 275(1) of the Constitution of India.
Features:
EMRS are co-educational residential schools from Class VI to XII.
Eklavya schools will be on par with Navodaya Vidyalayas and will have special facilities for preserving local art and culture besides providing training in sports and skill development.
Each school has a capacity of 480 students with equal number of seats for boys and girls.
Non-ST students can be admitted in these schools on seats up to 10% of the total seats.
CBSE curriculum is followed in these schools, and education is completely free.
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