Sainik schools
Soldiering on

There was a time when a majority of the NDA cadets came from the sainik schools but now these schools are losing out to the lure of the private sector. Ajay Banerjee finds out the reasons

The Sainik School at Kapurthala last won the Defence Minister’s trophy for sending in the most number students to NDA in one year some 20 years ago in 1988 — Photos Pawan Sharma

During the 1960s the Government of India set up various sainik schools across the country. These schools were to serve as training centres for youth for entry into the armed forces. The decades of sixties and seventies were turbulent times. The nation had faced two wars. Carried away by the feeling of patriotism, people, especially those belonging to the armed forces, were vying with one another to send their wards to these schools.

Over the years, patriotism has given way to pragmatism. Defence services is just another career option and not a very sought after one, going by the shortage of men in the forces.

The social profile of students in these schools, too, has changed as now children from upper class and the upper middle class backgrounds no more turn up for admissions. The infrastructure in the 22 sainik schools, too, needs updating with changing times.

In the Sainik School, Kunjpura, in Haryana, the numbers are not dropping but the significant shift there is that children of more and more civilian families are coming forward to join the school, says its Pricipal, Col Arun Datta — Photo Ravi Kumar

But despite facing many problems, these institutions are doing very well and continue to do the task they were mandated to perform – to be a nursery for boys, who aim to join the National Defence Academy (NDA), Kharagvasla. The students here are taught communication skills, games and IT skills. Additionally, the schools also provide training to their wards to take the Services Selection Board (SSB) examination.

Thirty-one per cent of 595 NDA cadets in the present term of 2008 are from the sainik schools across the country. The numbers have steadily improved in the past. Just five years ago, in 2004, only 20 per cent of the NDA cadets were from the sainik schools. This had sent alarm bells ringing across the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

These figures are only for the NDA and do not include the boys, who join the armed forces through the technical entry scheme or through the Indian Military Academy, the Officers’ Training Academy, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy.

Apart from being the training centre for the NDA, the sainik schools continue to provide good education that is affordable. A large number of students secured first division in the Classes X and XII examinations last year. Almost all (99.87 per cent) students of Class X passed out with a first division while in Class XII, 92.05 per cent of the students achieved the same feat, according to data collated by the MoD. These numbers have been achieved through a steady progress as earlier the picture was not so rosy.

These schools are affiliated to the All-India Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). For Class XII, they offer only the science stream.

To maintain the standards, a decision has been taken to post only Colonel rank or its equivalents from the education branch as Principals of these schools. For the teaching and administrative staff there are many training programmes and workshops.

Various professional bodies like the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) have been roped in for these workshops. In 2007, two teachers, one each from Sainik School, Rewa and Sainik School, Satara, were conferred the National Teacher’s Award.

The government now wants to open more such schools. An ‘in-principle’ approval has been accorded for opening of new sainik schools in Mizoram, Sikkim and Chhattisgarh, while the foundation stone of a second school in Haryana was laid a few weeks ago at Rewari.

The northern region already has four sainik schools – at Kapurthala in Punjab, at Kunjpura in Haryana, at Nagrota in Jammu and Kashmir and at Sujanpur Tihra in Himachal Pradesh.

Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh have also demanded a second sainik school in their respective states. There are also proposals under consideration for opening of a second sainik school each in these states.

A major problem in these institutions concerns infrastructure. Almost all existing schools were started 40 years ago. The financial support, provided by the respective state governments to these schools, has not been consistent. As a result the infrastructure in many schools has been declining.

But help is on the way. The Central Government has sanctioned Rs 44 crore in the union Budget last year. This will provide Rs 2 crore to each school towards infrastructure improvement.

This is separate from the Central Government assistance these sainik schools are already getting.

The main problem these institutions face is that the entire capital expenditure on land, building, furniture and educational equipment required by them and a major portion of the running expenditure is borne by the state governments concerned. The state governments are also responsible for maintenance of the school building, roads and installations and for major replacements. They are also required to release grants-in-aid, sought for additional needs like building expansion, furniture, transport, laboratory equipment, etc. Since the state governments mostly have limited funds and these schools are not a priority sector for them.

The Ministry of Defence has formulated a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), which clearly defines the responsibilities of the major stakeholders in the running of sainik schools. So far, only three states, Bihar, Jharkhand and Karnataka, have signed the MoA, the MoD informed Parliament on December 15 last year.

The MoD says signing the MoA is an essential requirement for sustaining these unique institutions on a long-term basis. However, the role and responsibility of the state governments managing the schools will not be diluted, it clarified.

Another major change these sainik schools are facing is an altering of demographic profile of students and a change in attitude of people towards sending their wards to the forces. The Principal of Sainik School, Kapurthala, Col (Dr) A.K. Tyagi, says, "There are many reasons behind this trend. The private sector companies, major corporate houses and the MNCs offer better salary packages than the defence forces."

Another reason behind this slump, according to Colonel Tyagi, is the emerging interest of the students towards the IT sector, medical and engineering services. "A majority of brilliant students prefer opting for the various engineering and medical entrance exams like IIT, AIEEE, AIT Pune, and want to try other careers. They are quite aware of the new openings and expansions in these sectors and hence there is a decline in the number of the students from the sainik schools finally joining the defence forces."

Maj Gen Lakhwinder Singh (retd) says, "A majority of the students these days prefer going abroad and working in the private sector, which pays double the wages, instead of joining armed forces."

According to the Principal of Sainik School, Nagrota, Group Captain Ajay Kumar, the children who join this school mostly belong to the ‘not-so-affluent strata’ of the society. Their parents want them to get quality education at economical cost so the sainik schools have become their favourite destination.

But despite the drawbacks, these schools are soldiering on. It is high time the government (both Central and state) and the society recognised the yeoman service that these schools have been providing to our defence services.

Declining numbers The Sainik School at Nagrota in J&K on an average sends only eight or nine cadets every year to the NDA — Photo Anand Sharma Faced with a harsh reality that a very less number of boys from North India are clearing the National Defence Academy (NDA) entrance examinations in the past few years, states like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi need to focus on their sainik schools so as to attract more and more students. The role of these schools is unique as they allow their wards to develop qualities that are needed to be an officer. The Pune-based NDA trains youths to become officers in the Army, the Air force and the Navy. The entry is through a countrywide exam. The setting up of various sainik schools all across the country was aimed at removing the regional imbalances. The state governments are allowed to provide 67 per cent reservation in sainik schools for the boys belonging to that particular state. Brig MPS Bajwa (retd), who studied at Sainik School Kapurthala, recollects, "The school helped us develop qualities of discipline of mind body and character". The north Indian states need to act fast, says a serving officer. Youth from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, J&K and Chandigarh are slowly being out-competed and the intake from these states into the NDA had been on the decline. Only in case of Haryana the intake is somewhat static. In case of Punjab the intake has been reduced to single-digit number. Just a decade ago about 30 youth from Punjab cleared the NDA entrance, conducted every six months. In the last three batches of the NDA there is no cadet from Chandigarh, while Delhi had eight boys in the last batch. Just a decade ago Delhi’s average was more than 20 cadets for each batch. In case of Himachal Pradesh the intake has only marginally picked up but it is still on a downslide from a decade ago when the state provided a constant stream of young officers. The decline is visible, the Sainik School at Kapurthala last won the Defence Minister’s trophy for sending in the most number students to NDA in one year some 20 years ago in 1988. The Sainik School at Sujanpur Tihra, Himachal Pradesh, won that trophy some 10 years ago in 1998. The Sainik School at Nagrota in J&K on an average sends only eight to nine cadets every year to the NDA. In the Sainik School Kunjpura in Haryana, which boasts of having the present Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor and Chief Minister Bhupendra Hooda as its students, the numbers are not dropping here but a significant shift is that children of more and more civilian families are coming forward to join. — AB (With inputs from BL, TS, KA and DPG)