December 13, 2022
Mausam Noor’s Special Mention on the need for revoking the population criteria for building Eklavya Model Residential Schools for tribal children
Sir, the Government has planned to set up 740 tribal schools called Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS). Conceptualised in 1997-98, similar to the Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas, the EMRS have endeavoured to make high quality education accessible to tribal children while also retaining their cultural traditions. Earlier the scheme provided for the Union Government to sanction a certain number of schools and the States and Union Territories would seek more as required. The only requirement was a land area of 20
acres, and the funds would come from the grants under Article 275(1). We have 384 of these schools across the country presently. The new guidelines require 15 acres, and for the school to be set up in sub-districts where more than 20,000 Scheduled Tribe people reside comprising at least 50 per cent of the population. However, this is likely to significantly disadvantage scattered populations of tribal people who will have to travel far distances to access education.The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment had also recommended that the criteria be reviewed, pointing out that many forest and hill districts
would have trouble finding 15 contiguous acres of land for setting up of the school. I urge the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the National Education Society for Tribal Students to review the guidelines urgently.
