Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs)

About Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs)

• It was introduced in the year 1997-98 to provide quality upper primary, secondary and senior secondary level education to Scheduled Tribes (ST) and PVTG students (Class 6th to 12th) in tribal dominated areas,
• Aim: To enable them to access the best opportunities in education and to bring them at par with the general population.
• States and Union Territories would be responsible for seeking sanction of new schools as and when they needed it.
• Initially, the Scheme was funded under a Special Area Programme, Grants under Article 275(1) of the Constitution of India.

Findings of the Committee

• Current Status: According to the Tribal Affairs Ministry, as of November, a total of 688 schools have been sanctioned, of which 392 are functional.
  • Delay in Construction: Of the 688, 230 have completed construction and 234 are under construction, with 32 schools still stuck due to land acquisition issues.
• Land Identification and Acquisition: Difficulties are being faced in identifying and acquiring lands in several districts, especially in forested or hilly areas where a contagious 15-acre plot is hard to find.
  • This criterion would deprive scattered ST populations of the benefit of the Eklavya schools.
• Impractical Population Criteria: In hilly areas, leftwing extremism-affected areas and the northeast, the population criteria run the risk of depriving a “scattered tribal population” of the benefit of EMRS.
• Shortage of Teachers:  All functional EMRS had a teaching strength of just under 4,000 against the 11,340 recommended by NESTS.
  • Other teaching issues: Non-uniformity in the quality of teachers, not enough recruitment in reserved positions, and a large number of schools recruiting teachers contractually.
• State Board vs CBSE: Three states — Bihar, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal — have still not signed MoU and are reluctant to shift to CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) and are insisting on continuation of state board curriculum in these schools.

Eklavya Model Residential School Recommendations

• Immediately reviewed and viable solutions need to be worked out so that the delay in the acquisition of land can be prevented.
• Tribal areas with widely scattered tribal population must not be deprived of the benefits of EMRSs/EMDBS which are a means towards their educational empowerment.

Revamped Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs)

• It was revamped in Union Budget of 2018-19.
• Objective: To provide the best quality education to the tribal children in their own environment
• Goal: By the year 2022, every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons, will have an Eklavya Model Residential School.
• Eklavya schools will be on par with Navodaya Vidyalayas and will have special facilities for preserving local art and culture besides providing training in sports and skill development.
• Salient features of EMRS:
  • Set up Schools with a capacity of 480 students each, catering to students from Class VI to XII in every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons.
  • Set up Eklavya Model Day Boarding Schools (EMDBS) in sub-districts with 90% or more ST population and 20,000 or more tribal persons.
  • Minimum land of 15 acres in case of EMRS and 5 acres in case of EMDBS to make available better infrastructure facilities for academic education as well as extracurricular activities.
  • Goal: To construct 740 EMRS schools by the end of 2025-26.
  • All EMRSs are to be affiliated with CBSE in order to grant better sum per child studying in these schools.

Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA)

• It was set up in the year 1999 with the objective of providing more focused approach on the integrated socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes (STs), the most underprivileged section of the society, in a coordinated and planned manner.

National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS)

• It is an autonomous Society under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to establish, endow, maintain, control and manage schools and to do all acts and things necessary for or conducive to the promotion of such schools.
• It is entrusted with the management of the State Education Society for Tribal Students (SESTS), which would run the EMRS on the ground.

Sharing is caring!