Many people have questions about the number of approved Sainik Schools in India & how to get admission in Sainik School. Before knowing the answer first know about the establishment and what are Sainik Schools?Â
The concept of Sainik Schools originated in the visionary mind of V.K. Krishna Menon the then defence minister of India in the year 1961. Sainik Schools are located in various parts of the country & there is a growing demand from many States to open new Sainik Schools. The main objectives of Sainik Schools include bringing quality Public School education within the reach of the common man, all-round development of a child’s personality to prepare him for entry into National Defence Academy and removing regional imbalance in the officer’s cadre of the Armed Forces & the other objective is to promote Sainik school is to explode the myth of martial race and demolish the caste foundations of our army units, and to create a new India with an army of national pride. Currently, the list of Sainik Schools in India includes a total of 33 schools along with some proposed Sainik Schools in various states of India. In addition to 33 Sainik Schools, the Sainik School Society has approved 35 New Sainik Schools function under the aegis of the Sainik School Society. Here we have given the List of Approved Sainik Schools in India.
Why were Sainik Schools Established?
Before the establishment of Sainik Schools, there existed five Rashtriya Military Schools and one Rashtriya Indian Military College which had the same objectives as that of Sainik Schools. All three institutions are the nurseries which nurture cadets for entry into the coveted National Defence Academy.
The Sainik Schools were established with well-defined aims and objectives and having a very sound organizational structure which flowed right from the Ministry of Defence at the apex level and Local Board of Administration at the ground level where these schools are situated. The significance of Sainik Schools can be attributed to the fact that none other than Raksha Mantri himself acts as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of Sainik Schools. To consolidate and streamline the smooth functioning and operations of Sainik Schools, they have been provided with three Service Officers for the posts of Principal, Head Master and Registrar as well as APTCC/NCC instructors in addition to the requisite skilled staff. These schools are designed in a well spread out land and have sophisticated facilities for imparting education and other skills in making their cadets able officers of the Armed Forces in future.
First Five Sainik Schools in India:
- Sainik School Satara (Maharashtra)
- Sainik School Balachadi (Gujarat)
- Sainik School Kapurthala (Punjab)
- Sainik School Kunjpura (Haryana)
- Sainik School Chittorgarh (Rajasthan)
The above-given Sainik Schools are amongst the first five Sainik Schools started in various states by the Ministry of Defence in association with respective State Governments under the aegis of the Sainik School Society. Then on further demand by the various state governments to the defence ministry to open Sainik schools in their respective states was met in a phased manner.
List of Sainik Schools in India:
As of now, there are 33 Sainik Schools almost in every state except in the states of Meghalaya, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura.
| Sr. No. | State | Name of School |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andhra Pradesh | Sainik School Korukonda |
| 2 | Andhra Pradesh | Sainik School Kalikiri |
| 3 | Assam | Sainik School Goalpara |
| 4 | Bihar | Sainik School Nalanda |
| 5 | Bihar | Sainik School Gopalganj |
| 6 | Chhattisgarh | Sainik School Ambikapur |
| 7 | Gujarat | Sainik School Balachadi |
| 8 | Haryana | Sainik School Kunjpura |
| 9 | Haryana | Sainik School Rewari |
| 10 | Himachal Pradesh | Sainik School SujanpurTira |
| 11 | Jammu & Kashmir | Sainik School Nagrota |
| 12 | Jharkhand | Sainik School Tilaiya |
| 13 | Karnataka | Sainik School Bijapur |
| 14 | Karnataka | Sainik School Kodagu |
| 15 | Kerala | Sainik School Kazhakootam |
| 16 | Madhya Pradesh | Sainik School Rewa |
| 17 | Maharashtra | Sainik School Satara |
| 18 | Maharashtra | Sainik School Chandrapur |
| 19 | Manipur | Sainik School Imphal |
| 20 | Mizoram | Sainik School Chhingchhip |
| 21 | Nagaland | Sainik School Punglwa |
| 22 | Odisha | Sainik School Bhubaneswar |
| 23 | Odisha | Sainik School Sambalpur* |
| 24 | Punjab | Sainik School Kapurthala |
| 25 | Rajasthan | Sainik School Chittorgarh |
| 26 | Rajasthan | Sainik School Jhunjhunu |
| 27 | Tamil Nadu | Sainik School Amaravathi Nagar |
| 28 | Uttarakhand | Sainik School Ghorakhal |
| 29 | West Bengal | Sainik School Purulia |
| 30 | Arunachal Pradesh | Sainik School East Siang |
| 31 | Uttar Pradesh | Sainik School Mainpuri |
| 32 | Uttar Pradesh | Sainik School Jhansi |
| 33 | Uttar Pradesh | Sainik School Amethi* |
Sainik School Lucknow is not included in this list as this school is run by Uttar Pradesh Sainik School Society & it is the only Sainik School which is completely financed and managed by the State Government.
It was established in July 1960. The only one of the Sainik Schools to be administered by the state government. One thing worth mentioning is that Captain Manoj Pandey who was awarded India’s highest military honour, the Param Vir Chakra posthumously in the Kargil war was alumni of this school. It was the first Sainik School in the country and was followed by the setting up of other Sainik Schools, under the Ministry of Defence, Government of India, on the same lines. The education in this school is subsidised by the Government of Uttar Pradesh. It is a boys’ residential English medium school affiliated to CBSE Board.
List of Approved Sainik Schools in India:
It is hereby informed that in addition to the 19 New Sainik Schools, an additional 16 New Sainik Schools have been approved by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). These 35 New Sainik Schools, approved by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), will operate in partnership with NGOs/Private Schools/ State Governments. Additional New Sainik Schools would be subsequently added by the Sainik School Society during All India Sainik Schools Admission Counselling (AISSAC)-2024. These approved New Sainik Schools function under the aegis of the Sainik School Society. Admission to the Sainik School stream of Class VI of the New Sainik Schools, for the academic year 2024-25 is also through AISSEE-2024. Here is the list of approved Sainik Schools:
| Sr. No. | State | City | Name of School |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andhra Pradesh | Nellore | Adani World School |
| 2 | Arunachal Pradesh | Tawang | Tawang Public School |
| 3 | Bihar | Samastipur | Sundari DeviSaraswati Vidya Mandir |
| 4 | Bihar | Patna | Keshav Saraswati Vidya Mandir |
| 5 | Bihar | Bhagalpur | Ganpat Rai Salarpuria Saraswati Vidya Mandir |
| 6 | Chhattisgarh | Raipur | The Great India School |
| 7 | Chhattisgarh | Bilaspur | Aadharshila Vidya Mandir |
| 8 | Dadra And Nagar Haveli | Silvassa | Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Military Academy |
| 9 | Gujarat | Junagadh | Shri Brahmanand Vidhya Mandir |
| 10 | Gujarat | Mehsana | Shri. Motibhai. R. Chaudhary Sagar Sainik School |
| 11 | Gujarat | Palanpur | Banas Sainik School |
| 12 | Haryana | Fatehabad | Royal International Residential School |
| 13 | Haryana | Rohtak | Shri Baba Mastnath Residential Public School |
| 14 | Haryana | Kurukshetra | Smt Kesari Devi Lohia Public School |
| 15 | Himachal Pradesh | Solan | Raj Luxmi Samvid Gurukulam |
| 16 | Himachal Pradesh | Hamirpur | Wood Park School |
| 17 | Karnataka | Belagavi | Sangolli Rayanna Sainik School |
| 18 | Karnataka | Mysuru | Viveka School of Excellence |
| 19 | Karnataka | Bidar | National English Medium School |
| 20 | Kerala | Kozhikode | Vedvayasa Vidyalaya Senior Secondary School |
| 21 | Kerala | Alappuzha | Vidyadhiraja Vidyapeetom Central School |
| 22 | Kerala | Ernakulam | Sree Sarada Vidyalaya |
| 23 | Madhya Pradesh | Mandsaur | Saraswati Vidya Mandir Higher Secondary School |
| 24 | Madhya Pradesh | Hoshangabad | Saraswati Gramodaya Higher Secondary School |
| 25 | Maharashtra | Ahmednagar | Pd Dr. Vitthalrao Vikhe Patil Sainik School |
| 26 | Maharashtra | Sangli | SK International School |
| 27 | Maharashtra | Solapur | Adarsh Public School |
| 28 | Maharashtra | Nagpur | Bhonsala Military School |
| 29 | Punjab | Patiala | Dayanand Public School |
| 30 | Rajasthan | Jaipur | Shri Bhawani Niketan Public School |
| 31 | Rajasthan | Hanumangarh | Good Day Defence School |
| 32 | Rajasthan | Sikar | Bhartiya Public School |
| 33 | Rajasthan | Jodhpur | Shri Hanwant Senior Secondary English Medium School |
| 34 | Tamil Nadu | Tuticorin | The Vikasa School |
| 35 | Uttar Pradesh | Mathura | Samvid Gurukulam Senior Secondary School |
Proposed List of Sainik Schools in India:
The students of Sainik School develop tolerance, comradeship, a sense of team spirit and co-existence which are so relevant today. They are humble in victory and graceful in defeat. The bonds of friendship forged here become pillars of strength in later life. They get on with all sorts of people, win their confidence and lead them in various spheres. As the country is passing through a critical juncture, we need youth who are physically fit, mentally robust and socially acceptable.
These schools have excelled in their primary role as a feeder institution to the Armed Forces and have over 15000 officers to her credit as officers in the Armed Forces which other than NDA include OTA, IMA, AFA and Indian Naval Academy. A large number of alumni are IAS, IPS officers, Doctors and Engineers serving all over the country and abroad. So the government of India has planned to open new Sainik Schools in various states which are as follows:
| Sr. No. | State | Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rajasthan | Alwar | MoA Signed |
| 2 | Uttarakhand | Rudraprayag | MoA Signed |
| 3 | Telangana | Warangal | MoA Signed |
| 4 | West Bengal | Darjeeling | In-principal Approval given |
| 5 | Assam | Golaghat | In-principal Approval given |
| 6 | Jharkhand | Godda | In-principal Approval given |
| 7 | Madhya Pradesh | Bhind | In-principal Approval given |
| 8 | Assam | Kokrajhar | In-principal Approval given |
| 9 | Madhya Pradesh | Sagar | Site Survey completed |
| 10 | Punjab | Gurdaspur | Site Survey completed |
| 11 | Sikkim | Boom | Site Survey completed |
| 12 | Tripura | West Tripura | Site Survey completed |
| 13 | Haryana | Matenhail | Site Survey completed |
| 14 | Uttar Pradesh | Mirzapur | Site Survey completed |
| 15 | Uttar Pradesh | Baghpat | Formal proposal awaited |
NDA Result of Sainik Schools:
The year-wise number and percentage of cadets sent to the National Defence Academy from Sainik Schools for the last few years is as follows:-
| Course | Year | NDA Course Strength | Total Operational Schools | Cadets Selected from Sainik Schools | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 130 | 2013 | 348 | 21 | 112 | 32.18% |
| 132 | 2014 | 348 | 21 | 98 | 28.16 |
| 134 | 2015 | 348 | 21 | 101 | 29.02% |
| 136 | 2016 | 348 | 21 | 102 | 29.31% |
| 138 | 2017 | 348 | 21 | 115 | 33% |
Besides these entries, some of the students are medically out & this is the data of the cadets who have joined  NDA/NA directly through Sainik Schools. This is important to note that a sizeable number of cadets would be joining the Armed Forces subsequent to leaving the Sainik Schools and completing their graduation. no separate data is maintained by the Sainik School society or any Sainik School in particular. The government of India has already thought to do the needful to start and maintain such a data bank. One such suggestion in this regard could be incorporating one column depicting the background of Sainik School in the form which is filled for all entry streams in all the forces other than NDA.
The specific data in this regard would not only help the central govt. in its future expansion plans of Sainik Schools but the value of money spent by the Central / State Governments would also be properly quantified. The country would also be benefited as the cadets already trained in Sainik Schools who are a precious manpower resource would get the opportunity to join the Armed Forces along with the recognition of their Sainik Schools.
*These are the only authentic Sainik Schools approved by govt of India. But nowadays no schools have been started with the prefix Sainik school. It is advised to ensure the authenticity of the schools where you are going to seek your kid’s admission.