जवाहर नवोदय विद्यालय से एक छात्र के लापता होने का मामला सामने आया है। आवेदन में कहा गया है कि राघोपुर थाना क्षेत्र के हुलास पंचायत के नवीन ठाकुर का पुत्र प्रवीण कुमार वर्ग 9 में पढ़ता है। इसको लेकर प्राचार्य सुरेन्द्र प्रसाद ने थाना में आवेदन देकर शिकायत की है। वह अरावली हाउस में रहता था। 11 अक्टूबर की शाम पांच बजे से वह स्कूल से लापता हो गया। उसकी काफी खोजबीन की गई, लेकिन कोई पता नहीं चल सका है। इसकी सूचना छात्र के पिता को भी दी गई है। थानाध्यक्ष प्रभाकर भारती ने बताया कि लापता बालक की खोजबीन की जा रही है।

मुझे उस नवोदय विद्यालय ने जीवन दिया है, जिसकी स्थापना राजीव गांधी ने की थी। मेरे लिए सीबीएससी बोर्ड से पढ़ाई करना किसी ख़ूबसूरत सपने जैसा था। मेरे लिए दिन में दो बार दाल, सब्जी, चावल, रोटी वो भी ताजी खाना अमीर घर की थाली के हिस्से जैसा लगता था। एक बार नाश्ता, दो बार स्नैक्स किसी अमीर परिवार के मीनू जैसा लगता था। मैंने शादी-ब्याह के अलावा कभी पनीर नहीं खाया था।

मेरे लिए लाइब्रेरी किसी कहानी और फ़िल्म के हिस्से जैसी थी। हॉस्टल में रहकर पढ़ना किसी बहुत अमीर लड़के की पढ़ाई का हिस्सा लगता था। जिसका रहन-सहन प्रिंस जैसा होगा।

यह सब चीजें मेरे असल जीवन का हिस्सा बनीं।

मैं इन 7 सालों में 1 साल के प्रवास में कर्नाटक में रहा। मुझे जरूरत भर की कन्नड़ पढ़नी और समझनी आती है। थोड़ा बहुत बोलना और लिखना भी जानता हूँ। त्रिभाषा फॉर्मूले से भाषा विवाद के हल के कई सूत्र दिखते हैं। मैं कई मायनों में अभी से सेल्फ डिपेंडेंट हूँ। मेरे और मेरे जैसे करोड़ों बच्चों के सपनों को सच बनाने के लिए और मेरे हिस्से में 7 अनमोल साल देने के लिए बहुत शुक्रिया नवोदय!

शुक्रिया राजीव गाँधी!

SOURCE: NEWS PAPER

 Historically, quality education had been a luxury and entitlement for urban and wealthy families. The rural households remained underprivileged and struggled even to access to good school education.  After four decades of an Independent India, the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi aspired to set up a network of schools in every district of India to provide not only quality education but also to ensure holistic development of the students. These schools were named: Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs).

JNVs were established in the year 1986 and since then it has proven to be a silver lining in the arena of school education. The motto of JNV is ‘Pragyan Brahma’ a Sanskrit phrase which in English means ‘Pure Knowledge is God’.  P V Narsimha Rao, a distinguished scholar himself conceptualized its design as the then Human Resource Development Minister.  

As of 30th September 2019, a total of 636 JNVs are functional in the country with about 2, 65,574 students enrolled and out of which 2, 06,728 (~78%) are from rural areas. Performance-wise, in 2019, JNVs were the top-ranked C.B.S.E. schools, having a pass percentage of 98.57% and 96.62% in 10th and 12th grades respectively.

JNVs are unique in many aspects. It was set-up with an idea of inclusivity and social justice and predominantly for underprivileged and disadvantaged students from rural areas. It resembles the ancient Gurukul system of schooling, wherein gifted children are selected and provided with the best quality education along-with interpersonal skills. The education along-with boarding, lodging, uniforms and textbooks is free, a nominal fee of Rs. 200/- per month will have to be paid by the students from Grade 9 to 12. However, students belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe category, girls, differently-abled, and below poverty line families are exempted from payment of fees. 

A normal day at JNV starts with physical training followed by breakfast and morning assembly. During the morning assembly, students sing a prayer together and also take a pledge which reads “To my country and my people, I pledge my devotion. In their wellbeing and prosperity alone, I pledge my devotion”. The morning assembly ends with the beautiful chorus of students and musical instruments coming together to sing our National Anthem. 

In addition to academics, JNVs aim to foster and strengthen national integration by ‘student migration policy’. Students of grade nine would go to a JNV of a different state and get exposure of a different society and culture. The three-language formula was an innovative thought ahead of its time along with the co-curricular activities that contributes to the overall development of the student. 

In 34 years of its existence, the huge alumni community of JNVs across India has contributed immensely in building modern India as well as in shaping the policies around the world. Nowadays, the educationists and policymakers have realized that real-life learnings happen outside the classroom, JNVs envisioned the same more than three decades ago.

Having said that, like any other great institution, JNVs also need to revive itself to not only remain relevant but also be significant and effective in the coming decades.

 So, how would that look like? What could be the roadmap for JNV 2.0?

The World Bank came up with the SABER [Systems Approach for Better Education Results] model to help countries systematically strengthen their education system. It calls the element between the education system’s inputs [monetary and other resources that get into it] and its outcome [such as years of education completed, and learning acquired by the students] as a “black box”. But what is inside this box has a great deal of influence on what students learn.

The pass percentage was a good indicator probably a decade ago, but is it really a good indicator now? JNVs were the best schools in the respective districts but are that the case now? The answer is probably ‘No’. The world outside has changed drastically, but did the JNVs?

So, what needs to be done? The following suggestions could be the starting point for this marathon:

1. Upgrading the Infrastructure :

The first and foremost priority is to upgrade the existing infrastructure like Hostels, Classrooms, Libraries and Laboratories, Sports and Technology. Additionally, there should be a policy in place to review the infrastructure periodically. Students must feel proud to be the part of system and get facilities better than the best school in that particular district.

Moreover, the intake into JNVs should be increased considering India’s population growth and more resources at Government’s disposal.

Reinvigorate the pedagogy

Experiential learning is evolving as the most effective teaching methodology globally. Our traditional curriculum is biased towards intelligence quotient (IQ) and mostly leaves out emotional quotient. World Economic Forum (2016) rightly points out “Today’s job candidates must be able to collaborate, communicate and solve problems – skills developed mainly through social and emotional learning (SEL)”. Fortunately, that’s not the case with JNV students. The system is intrinsically designed to balance the development of IQ and EQ both. 

However, the JNVs now have to raise their bar. The times are changing rapidly in the field of school education and to be at par with the best in the world, some metamorphosis is needed.

JNVs were way ahead for many years and now it’s high time to revitalize the pedagogy to remain globally competitive and successful. 

Additionally, JNVs also provide opportunities to learn painting, music and sports. But it is still a secondary focus and academic talent is valued more. There is a strong need to build a path for talented students who wish to make a career in painting, music and sports. Going forward this should be one of the performance indicators. 

Systemic Improvements

The administrative system of JNV must function digitally. This would increase efficiency, transparency and effectiveness over a period of time. The online portal to track students as well as teachers’ performance is absolutely necessary.

The NITI Aayog evaluation report calls for revamping the admission procedure: “there is a need to relook into the admission procedure and criteria for making it more accessible for rural talent. An income criterion for admission is desirable as the chunk of parents with their wards studying in JNVs fall in the middle income or service category”.

Teachers are the soul  

If students are the heart of JNVs, teachers are its soul. In the residential setting teachers play the dual role of educators as well as the parents. For the first part students mostly observe and learn. Teachers must show high level of leadership, adaptability and ethical standards as they are communicating mostly through their behavior. For the second part i.e. educator, several new initiatives are required. The teachers feel that they are burdened with non-teaching assignments and that negatively affects their primary responsibility.  With more time in hand teachers can go for the exchange programmes nationally and internationally. To train the young minds, teachers also have to hone their skills regularly and this would happen only when they will have more time in hand to reflect and learn.

International partnerships

If the 20th-century design required inter-state collaboration (JNV migration policy), the 21st-century design requires international collaboration. Maybe its time for the JNVs to start teaching an additional foreign language. Furthermore, the students and teachers should be given opportunities to collaborate as well as compete with the best in the world.


This blog has been co-authored by Rashmika V. who is currently studying at National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad.

By: Parvesh Jakhar Navodayan, Founder-MD, Digital Media Solution Pvt Ltd