A. K Antony, Union Defence Minister, announced to set up four new Sainik Schools in the States of Mizoram, Sikkim, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

These schools will be set up at Chhingchhip in Mizoram, Gumla in Chattisgarh and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. The place of school to be set up in Sikkim is yet to be decided.

The Sainik Schools Society reviews the working and performance of Sainik Schools in respect of academic results and NDA intakes as well as infrastructural facilities.

The Sainik Schools are a system of schools in India conceived in 1961 by Field Marshall Sam Maneckshaw to rectify the regional and class imbalance amongst the Officer cadre of the Indian Military. The inspiration for Sainik Schools came from the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) which have given India many service chiefs and the public school system of England.

The Scheme to establish Sainik Schools was started in 1961 to broad base recruitment and remove regional imbalance in the officer’s cadre of Defence Forces. Sainik Schools are joint venture of the Central and States Governments. At present 18 Sainik Schools are being administered by Sainik Schools Society. Two Sainik Schools one each at Nalanda and Gopalgung in Bihar are being open this year. The Sainik Schools are fully residential and admit students in classes VI & IX only, strictly in order of merit decided as per the All India Sainik Schools Entrance Examination, held in February each year subject to medical fitness. The medium of instructions in Sainik Schools is English although knowledge of English is not a pre-requisite for admission in these schools. Schools give due attention to both co-curricular and extra-curricular activities for all round development of their cadets. These Schools are affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education and follow 10+2 pattern in science stream only.

The objective of the schools is to prepare the students to lead as officers in the Defence Services of the country. Along with the school students joining the armed forces, the alumni of Sainik Schools have excelled themselves in diverse walks of life. The schools selects bright and promising students through a national entrance examination and attempts to mould their overall personality with emphasis on extracurricular activities.