Sainik School Sujanpur Tihra in Himachal Pradesh has established itself as a leading institute in the country for sending students to the Armed Forces. The school has placed second in the national rankings over the past six years with 20.23% of its cadets joining the services. Sainik School Ghorakhal in Uttarakhand topped the list with 27.57% of its cadets joining the Armed Forces, according to information shared by the Ministry of Defence.
There are 33 Sainik Schools in the country, of which eight have been established more recently and thus, have not yet produced eligible cadets for the Armed Forces. Of the remaining schools, four are located in the states of Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh, which have a rich martial tradition and provide a significant number of personnel to the defence services.
Sainik School Kapurthala, for example, has sent 10.08% of its cadets to the Armed Forces over the past six years. Meanwhile, Sainik Schools in Kunjpura and Rewari, Haryana, have sent 17.88% and 7.22% of their cadets, respectively, to the services. Last week, Sainik School Kapurthala was named the “best school” among all Sainik Schools for 2022 for sending the largest number of cadets to the National Defence Academy and the Indian Naval Academy.
Established in 1961, Sainik Schools admit students in Class VI and prepare them for entry into the National Defence Academy and Indian Naval Academy. With over 17,000 students enrolled in these schools, their alumni have gone on to attain high positions in the Armed Forces and in civil society.
In an effort to increase the number of female cadets, the Sainik School Society, which manages these institutes under the Ministry of Defence, has made all of its schools co-educational. The admission of girl cadets was first piloted in Sainik School Chhingchhip in 2018 with six girls, and now 674 girls are enrolled across all schools. The Society has set a goal of admitting over 1,000 girls for the 2023-24 academic year.
In addition to the existing schools, four new Sainik Schools are planned for the region, with two in Haryana and one each in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. These are among the 18 new schools that have been approved across the country.
(Tribune inputs)
The Chenab Times News Desk