Guwahati: The Union Cabinet on Friday approved the establishment of 28 new Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVs) in several states, including Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Manipur.
It has approved Rs 8,231 crore for the expansion of central schools, sanctioning 85 new Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) across the country.
“We are committed to providing school education to every section of the society in accordance with the National Education Policy. In this regard, our government has approved 28 new Navodaya Vidyalayas across the country. This will expand residential and quality school education on a large scale,” PM Modi posted on X.
The Cabinet approved the establishment of new Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVs) in districts that are currently not covered by the Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme.
In Arunachal Pradesh, Navodaya Vidyalayas will be established in Upper Subansiri, Kra Daadi, Lepa Rada, Lower Siang, Lohit, Pakke-Kessang, Shi-Yomi, and Siang.
In Assam, it will be set up in Sonitpur, Charaideo, Hojai, Majuli, West Karbi Anglong and South Salmara-Mankachar districts.
The Navodaya Vidyalayas will be established in Manipur’s Thoubal, Kangpokpi and Noney districts.
The 85 new central schools will be established over a period of eight years starting from 2025-26, while the 28 JNVs will be set up over five years from 2024-25 to 2028-29.
Collectively, these schools are expected to create additional enrollment capacity for nearly one lakh students and generate roughly 6,600 new posts for employment.
Currently, apart from those newly approved by the Union Cabinet, there are 1,256 functional KVs and 653 functional NVs.
KVs are intended for children of central government and defence employees.
The Cabinet sanctioned 2 KVs for Tripura and one each for Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
The NVs are fully residential, co-educational schools providing good quality modern education from Class VI to XII to talented children, predominantly from the rural areas without regard to their family’s socio-economic condition. Admissions to these schools are done on the basis of a Selection Test.
In pursuance of the National Education Policy 2020, almost all Navodaya Vidyalayas have been designated as PM Shri schools, showcasing the implementation of NEP 2020 and acting as exemplary Schools for others.
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In recent years, Navodaya Vidyalayas have witnessed increasing enrollment of girls (42 percent), as well as SC (24 percent), ST (20 percent) and OBC (39 percent) children, thereby ensuring that quality education is accessible to all.
