The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan () is a system of

central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or deleg ...

schools in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Governed by the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. , it has a total of 1,257 schools in

, and three abroad, in

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

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and

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. It is one of the world's largest chains of schools and the largest chain of schools in India. It is controlled by 25 Regional Offices and 05 ZIETs (Zonal Institute of Education and Training) under the KVS headquarters. In April 2022, the Centre decided to remove an MP quota for KV students, invalidating parliamentarians' recommendations for admission to the schools.

History

It is a system of central government schools in

and other countries that have been instituted under the aegis of the Ministry of Education and came into being in 1963 under the name Central Schools. Later, the name was changed to Kendriya Vidyalaya. It is a

non-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

. Its schools are all affiliated to the

Central Board of Secondary Education The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a national-level board of education in India for public and private schools, controlled and managed by the Government of India. Established in 1929 by a resolution of the government, the Board ...

(CBSE). Its objective is to educate children of the Indian Defence Services personnel who are often posted to remote locations. With the army starting its own Army Public Schools, the service was extended but not restricted to all central government employees. A uniform curriculum is followed by schools all over

. By providing a common syllabus and system of education, the Kendriya Vidyalayas are intended to ensure that the children of government employees do not face educational disadvantages when their parents are transferred from one location to another. The schools have been operational for more than 60 years.

Management

The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan or Central Schools Organisation (as previously known), oversees the functioning of the schools with its headquarters in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

Schools

, there were 1,256 schools named Kendriya Vidyalayas, having started with only 20 schools in the year 1963. It is one of the largest school chains in world with 1,253 schools in

and three operated abroad. A total of 14,30,442 students () and 43,888 employees were on the rolls (). KVS has been recognized as an independent State by Bharat Scouts & Guides Movement as around 2,49,198 students enrolled as the Scouts, Guides, Cubs and Bulbuls. Kendriya Vidyalayas are spread among 25 regions, each headed by a deputy commissioner. The three Kendriya Vidyalayas outside India is in

, and

situated inside Indian Embassies of these countries and their expenditures are borne by the Ministry of External Affairs. They are intended for children of Indian embassy staff and other expatriate employees of the Government of India. One school in Tsimalakha,

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

, was transferred to the Bhutanese Government, thus ceasing to be a Kendriya Vidyalaya (then known as Indo-Bhutan Central School (IBCS)) in 1989, after one of the major Indo-Bhutan projects (the Chukhha Hydal power project) was near completion. Indian Government employees were gradually transferred back to their own country. All the schools share a common syllabus and offer bilingual instruction, in English and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

. They are co-educational.

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

is taught as a compulsory subject from classes VI to VIII and as an optional subject until class XII. Students in classes VI to VIII could study the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

until November 2014, when the scheme was discontinued. But was again recontinued and is available in some schools until class 10. In

, students are given an opportunity to choose

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as their third or second language. Tuition fees are charged for Kendriya Vidyalaya students have to pay the school development fund (''Vidyalaya Vikas Nidhi''), with the proceeds spent on the development of that particular school. Students from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and children of KVS employees are exempt from tuition fees. Girls who are their parents'

only child An only child is a person with no siblings, by birth or adoption. Overview Throughout history, only-children were relatively uncommon. From around the middle of the 20th century, birth rates and average family sizes fell sharply for a number of ...

from class VI onward are exempt from tuition and school development fund. A significant aspect of Kendriya Vidyalaya culture is the daily recitation of a common prayer during morning assemblies. This prayer, often delivered in Sanskrit or Hindi, includes the verse: "Daya kar daan vidya ka humein paramatma dena". Translation: "O God, be merciful and grant us the gift of knowledge." This ritual not only instills a sense of discipline but also reflects the educational ethos of seeking divine guidance in the pursuit of knowledge. KVS also had the MP Quota which involved some special provision under which admissions are given. Members of

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

and

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

could recommend a few number of students for the admission. These Special Provisions only worked in KVs located in the constituency of the MP concerned. All members of parliament could recommend up to six students from their constituency for admission to a Kendriya Vidyalaya. From the academic session 2016–17, the quota had been increased to 10 students. However, it is since the academic session 2022-23 all admission under special provisions like MP quota, quota of sponsoring agency (chairman quota) have been made dysfunctional. The

Quality Council of India The Quality Council of India (QCI) was set up as a public private partnership model on the model existing in Netherlands at the time, where although the National Accreditation Body (NAB) was not owned by the government, the government supported i ...

(QCI) has accredited three of KV schools: KV RK Puram, KV IIT Powai and KV Bhinga. The Kendriya Vidyalaya Gole Market school in

Central Delhi Central Delhi is an administrative district of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India. It is bounded by the Yamuna River on the east and by the districts of North Delhi to the north, West Delhi and North West Delhi to the west, New Del ...

has earned notice for upgrading to "E-Classroom" and

e-Learning Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning and teaching. When referred to with its abbreviation, "EdTech" ...

teaching processes with the implementation of Smart Boards in the classroom. This school produces an annual school magazine called ''Vidyalaya Patrika''. The organisation is one of the few schools that offers all varieties in sports, games, activities and the largest scope of subjects offered by CBSE to its students and is known for its holistic focus. It has been felicitated with many awards by Government of India including the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar in 2017 and Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar on the occasion of Hindi Diwas in 2018–19.

References

External links

{{Authority control School types Educational institutions established in 1965 1965 establishments in India Education policy in India Recipients of the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar

History

Management

Schools

See also

References

External links