Boost For Rural Education: HRD Ministry Approves Addition Of 5,000 Seats In Navodaya Vidyalayas

Union Human Resource Development Ministry has approved an increase of 5,000 seats in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNV) for the academic year 2019-20, reports Press Information Bureau.

There are presently 46,600 seats in JNVs, which are residential schools for talented rural children. The addition of 5,000 seats will take the number of seats to 51,000.

With this addition of 5,000 seats, the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi shall record a total increase of 14,000 seats. In the next four years, the government is reported to envisage an addition of 32,000 seats.

“This is a step in the right direction. This unprecedented expansion of JNVs, nearly free- of-cost residential schools, will provide more opportunity for talented children from rural areas to get quality education," HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar was quoted as saying by PIB.

Navodaya is the lone system where students give an entrance examination for admission into Class 6. Almost 31.10 lakh students registered for the entrance examination in 2019.

The HRD Minister also said the government was also actively considering setting up of a Navodaya Vidyalaya each in newly carved out district in various states.