The Sainik Schools () are a system of

Military high school Military high school is a type of high school that includes military cadet education and so are a form of military academy. They are found in several countries and offer a regular high school education but with an extra military training curricul ...

s 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 ...

established and managed by the Sainik Schools Society () under

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

(MoD). They were conceived in 1961 by

V. K. Krishna Menon Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974) was an Indian academic, independence activist, politician, lawyer, and statesman. During his time, Menon contributed to the Indian independence movement and India's foreign r ...

, the then

Defence Minister of India The Minister of Defence (ISO: ''Rakṣā Maṁtrī'') is the head of the Ministry of Defence and a high ranking minister of the Government of India. The Defence minister is one of the most senior offices in the Union Council of Ministers as we ...

, to rectify the regional and class imbalance amongst the officer cadre of the

Indian Military The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

. The primary objective of the Sainik Schools is to prepare students academically, mentally and physically for entry into the

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces. Here, cadets of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force train together before they go on to their respective service a ...

(NDA) and

Indian Naval Academy The Indian Naval Academy (INA or INA Ezhimala) is the Defense (military), defence service training establishment for officer cadre of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard, located in Ezhimala, Kannur district, Kerala. Situated between Ez ...

(INA). Sainik Schools, along with 1

RIMC The Rashtriya Indian Military College (abbreviated RIMC; formerly known as Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College) () is a military school for boys situated in Doon Valley, Dehradun in India. The RIMC is a feeder institution for the Nation ...

and 5 RMS (Rashtriya Military Schools), contribute 25% to 30%

officer cadet Officer cadet is a rank held by military personnel during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by personnel of University Service Units such as the University Officers' Training Corps. Th ...

s to NDA and INA. As of 2021, there were 33 Sainik Schools, and MoD will establish 100 more

boarding Boarding may refer to: *Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a: **Boarding house **Boarding school *Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where hor ...

Sainik Schools in

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sectors, private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Revie ...

(PPP) mode. MoD run Sainik Schools as joint venture with the respective state governments. MoD provides annual funding, and serving officers on deputation to school. State governments provide the land, infrastructure, and other teaching and administrative employees. Sainik Schools follow the " CBSE Plus" by using CBSE curriculum while additionally aiming to prepare children for entry into NDA and INA. Admission to Sainik Schools is granted at class VI and class IX. The reservation policy caters for SC/ST,

domicile Domicile may refer to: * Home, a place where someone lives * Domicile (astrology), the zodiac sign over which a planet has rulership * Domicile (law), the status or attribution of being a permanent resident in a particular jurisdiction See also * ...

of the respective states and the wards of Armed Forces employees and

ex-servicemen A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the armed forces. A topic of interest for resea ...

History

The inspiration for setting up the Sainik Schools came from the Royal Indian Military College (

) and Royal Indian Military Schools (now called Rashtriya Military School or RMS) which have given India many service chiefs. 1 RIMC and 5 RMS were established by the government after the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

to Indianise the British Colonial Military in India by providing western style education with the aim to prepare the potential pool of future military officers. RIMC was established in 1922. Five RMS were established, namely

Chail Military School Rashtriya Military School, Chail (also called Chail Military School; formerly King George Royal Indian Military College) () is a residential school in Himachal Pradesh, India. The school's origins lie with the establishment of King George's Roya ...

in 1922, Ajmer Military School in 1930,

Belgaum Military School Rashtriya Military School, Belgaum is one of five military schools in India. Entrance tests for the military schools are held every year in December. About 70,000 to 80,000 students attend this test and around 350 students are selected. The sch ...

in 1945,

Bangalore Military School Rashtriya Military School, Bangalore () is a military boarding school in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. It was established on 1 August 1946 and is one of only five RMS (Rashtriya Military School, formerly called Royal Indian Military Schools) of ...

in 1946 and

Dholpur Military School Rashtriya Military School, Dholpur is one of five military schools of India. It is situated in Dholpur in Rajasthan and was established in 1962 by a former defence minister, Krishnan Menon, to facilitate education of the children of the Defense ...

in 1962. First Sainik School came up in 1961. Additionally, there are several private military schools, Maharashtra has highest number of those. Oldest private military school is

Bhonsala Military School Bhonsala Military School is a secondary school in Nasik, Maharashtra, India, specialising in military education. It was founded by Dr B. S. Moonje in 1937. Establishment Bhonsala Military School, Nasik was established by Dr. Balkrishna Shiv ...

, which was established in 1937. Although

Sainik School, Lucknow Sainik School, Lucknow was established in July 1960. The only one of the sainik schools to be administered by the state government, the alumni of which, Captain Manoj Pandey, posthumously received Param Vir Chakra. It was the first Sainik Schoo ...

, established in 1960 was the first Sainik School, is not under the Sainik School Society, but rather under Uttar Pradesh Sainik Schools Society, which is registered under the

Indian Societies Registration Act The Societies Registration Act, 1860 is a legislation in British India which allows the registration of entities generally involved in the benefit of society – education, health, employment etc. The British Indian Empire, with a wish to enco ...

(1860). In 2008, in his Union Budget the

Finance minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

P Chidambaram Palaniappan Chidambaram (born 16 September 1945), better known as P. Chidambaram, is an Indian politician and lawyer who currently serves as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. He served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee o ...

, allocated 2

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

to each of the 25 Sainik schools, to counter rising attrition in the defence forces, especially at the officer level. Sainik schools are ordinary citizen's public school where deserving students get high-quality education irrespective of their income or class background. Seats are reserved for children of SC/ST and serving/retired defence personnel. The objective of the Sainik Schools is to prepare the students to lead as

officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in the Defence Services of the country. The schools select bright and promising students through a
All India Sainik School Entrance Examination
(AISSEE) and focus on moulding their overall personality with emphasis on extracurricular activities. Sainik schools resources allow cadets to develop their skills in sports, academics and other extracurricular activities. Infrastructure in Sainik Schools include

running track An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, v ...

s, cross-country tracks, indoor games,

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

grounds, boxing rings, firing ranges,

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

clubs,

horse riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

clubs,

mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

clubs,

trekking Backpacking is the outdoor recreation of carrying gear on one's back while hiking for more than a day. It is often an extended journey and may involve camping outdoors. In North America, tenting is common, where simple shelters and mountain hu ...

and

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

club, obstacles courses,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

fields, as well as

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

courts. Cadets also become a part of NCC. A cadet who completes their 12th standard usually possess a NCC B certificate. Cadets are assigned to houses. They are classified as sub-juniors, juniors and seniors respectively depending upon their class of study. Cadets compete in sports, physical training, academics, cross country, drill and various other competitions to win their house trophy.

Sainik Schools Society

The Sainik Schools Society () is an organisation under the Ministry of Defence. The Chief Executive Body of the Sainik Schools Society is a Board of Governors functioning under the Chairmanship of the

Defence Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

. For exercising closer control and supervision over the affairs of Sainik Schools there is an executive committee under the Chairmanship of Defence Secretary. The day-to-day work of the Society is managed by JS (Trg) & Hony Secretary who is assisted by Inspecting Officers, DS (Trg), Under Secretary, Sainik Schools Society (Sainik School Cell). The staff for the cell is provided by the MoD. The local administration of the school is looked after by a Local Board of Administration whose chairman is the GoC-in-C of the concerned Command where the Sainik School is located.

Sainik Schools

Existing Sainik Schools under Sainik Schools Society, MOD

Sainik School, Manasbal

It is the second Sainik School in Jammu and Kashmir, the first being in Nagrota. The school was established by the Sainik Schools Society and founded by then-Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Sheikh Abdullah in 1980. The school started on September 14, 1981. The first principal was Wing Commander J. K. Gandhi. The school comes under the control of Government of Jammu and Kashmir, supported by the Ministry of Defence. J&K Sainik School Manasbal is the second Sainik School which runs under state government, rest all of such schools are managed by the Indian Ministry of Defence. Initially, the Principals for this school were being deputed from the Army Education Corps, but since 1995 the school is managed by civil officials deputed by the Department of School Education. 2] On 26 July 2023, School Education Department, J&K, appointed Lt. Col. Gh Hassan Nath (Retd.) as Principal of the School.

:Sainik School, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh - Sainik School, Lucknow

Sainik School Lucknow was established in July 1960. The only one of the Sainik Schools to be administered by the State Government, the alumni of which, Captain Manoj Pandey, posthumously received Param Veer Chakra. It was the first Sainik School in the country, and was followed by the setting up of other Sainik Schools, under the

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 ...

, on the same lines. The education in this school is subsidised by the

Government of Uttar Pradesh The Government of Uttar Pradesh (International Organization for Standardization, ISO: ''Uttara Pradēśa Sarakāra''; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appoin ...

. It is a residential English medium school affiliated to CBSE Board. The school is run by the Uttar Pradesh Sainik Schools Society, which is registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act (1860). It is the only Sainik School which is completely financed and managed by the State Government.

Proposed Sainik Schools

#Sainik School,

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

#Sainik School,

Godda Godda is a town with a municipal council in the Godda subdivision of the Godda district in Jharkhand, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Godda district. Geography Location Godda is located at . It has an average elev ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

# Sainik School,

Alwar Alwar ( Rajasthani Pronunciation: �lʋəɾ is a city located in India's National Capital Region (NCR) and the administrative headquarters of Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan. It is located 150 km south of Delhi and 150 km ...

# Sainik School,

Gorakhpur Gorakhpur is a city in the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the West Rapti River, Rapti river in the Purvanchal , Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometres east of ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

# Sainik School, Matanhail at

Matanhail Matanhail is a large village and headquarter of eponymous Matanhail Tehsil and Block in Jhajjar District of Haryana, India. It belongs to Rohtak Division. It is located 22 km west of the District headquarters Jhajjar. It is a tehsil headquar ...

Jhajjar district Jhajjar district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana state in northern India. Carved out of Rohtak district on 15 July 1997 and with its headquarters in Jhajjar, it lies from Delhi and had developed into an important industrial center. Oth ...

was announced by the Haryana government in 2018. Foundation stone was laid in 2003 by the then Defence Minister

George Fernandes George Mathew Fernandes (3 June 1930 – 29 January 2019) was an Indian politician, trade unionist, statesman, and journalist, who served as the Minister of Defence (India), Defence Minister of India from 1998 until 2004. A veteran socialist, h ...

, but no progress was made. In 2018, with the efforts of Haryana Finance Minister, Captain Abhimanyu, the BJP Government of Haryana agreed to provide funds and 100 acre land in Matanhail and Rudiyawas villages for the establishment of this school.Matanhail Of Jhajjar District In Haryana Will Have The Third Sainik School Of The State As The Government Will Provide Land And Budget For Its Construction Soon.
Public Relations Haryana, Govt of Haryana, 2018. With this Haryana will be only state in India with 3 sainik schools.Haryana’s nod to land, budget for third Sainik School
Times of India, July 2018. # Sainik School,

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

#Sainik School, Bilaspur,

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

#Sainik School,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

# Sainik School,

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...

# Sainik School,

Etawah Etawah (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Iṭāvā''), also known as Ishtikapuri, is a city situated on the banks of Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawa ...

# Sainik School

Dausa Dausa is a city and administrative headquarters of Dausa district in the state of Rajasthan, India. It is 55 km from Jaipur, 240 km from Delhi and located on Jaipur-Agra National Highway (NH-21). Etymology The name ''Dausa'' (Hindi ...

# Sainik School

Jabalpur Jabalpur, formerly Jubbulpore, is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the 3rd-largest urban agglomeration of the state and the 38th-largest of the country. Jabalpur is the administrative h ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

# Sainik School

Udaipur Udaipur (Hindi: , ) (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura'') is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, about south of the state capital Jaipur. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Udaipur district. It is the historic capital of t ...

# Sainik School,

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

# Sainik School,

Leh Leh () is a city in Indian-administered Ladakh in the Kashmir#Kashmir_dispute, disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the WP:TE ...

# Sainik School,

Port Blair Port Blair (), officially named Sri Vijaya Puram, is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headqu ...

# Sainik School,

Silvassa Silvassa is a city and the headquarters of the Dadra and Nagar Haveli district in Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu in western India. It is today the largest city in the union territory. The city was chosen as one of t ...

, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu # Sainik School, Gurdaspur, Punjab # Sainik school,

Sikar Sikar is a city and municipal council in the Sikar district of the state of Rajasthan in India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Sikar district. It is largest city of the Shekhawati region, which consists of Sikar, Churu and Jhu ...

Finance Minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

Nirmala Sitharaman Nirmala Sitharaman (born 18 August 1959) is an Indian economist, politician and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) serving as the Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs of the Government of India since 2019. ...

announced during Budget 2021 that 100 new Sainik schools will be set up across the country in partnership with private schools and NGOs.

References

External links

Sainik Schools Society

Home of Saikapians living overseas

Sainik School Amaravathinagar Alumni Association

Old Boys of Sainik School Association

Old Boys of Balachadi Sainik School Association

Old Boys of Sainik School Kazhakoottam

Home of Saikapians Living Overseas

Sainik School Sujanpur Tira Alumni website

Sainik School Tilaiya Old Boys Association

Old Boys Association of Sainik School, Bijapur

Sainik School Goalpara, Assam Old Boys Association Forum
{{coord missing, India Military education and training in India Sainik schools Military high schools Central Board of Secondary Education Military schools in India 1961 establishments in India Educational institutions established in 1961