Summary
A series of steps have been taken to increase the participation of women in the armed forces, the minister said
He suggested the department of defence and Sainik school society devise a mechanism for ranking all Sainik schools on the basis of their performance
A total of 100 new Sainik schools are being set up across India to provide opportunities to girl students to join the armed forces and serve the country, defence minister Rajnath Singh said while addressing a webinar recently.
Singh said that the government believes in increasing the role of women in the armed forces and a series of steps have been taken in this direction, including clearing the way for admission of girls in Sainik schools and providing permanent commission to women officers.
The Union minister said that the announcement of expansion of Sainik schools is one of the many important decisions taken by the government in the last six-seven years to improve the quality of basic education of children and ensure holistic development of the country.
He hoped that with the amalgamation of defence and education, Sainik schools will play an important role in nation-building in the times to come. He said that the word ‘Sainik’ signifies unity, discipline and devotion. Sainik schools are playing a pivotal role in making children capable citizens, added Singh.
The minister lauded the Sainik school society for implementing the ideals of visionaries such as Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan who had emphasised on physical, mental, moral and spiritual development of children along with academic education.
Singh appreciated the fact that Sainik schools have contributed to the recruitment of more than 7,000 officers in the armed forces so far and have given the country officers like former chiefs of the army staff general Deepak Kapoor (Retd) and general Dalbir Singh Suhag (Retd). Besides, Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio, former RBI governor D Subbarao and film director Rakesh Roshan are also products of Sainik school.
Singh suggested the department of defence and Sainik School Society devise a mechanism for ranking all Sainik schools on the basis of their performance and audit. He said that it will lead to a healthy competition among the schools and encourage them to try innovative means of imparting lessons.
According to Singh, along with the curriculum, the idea of patriotism and loyalty towards the nation should be inculcated in children as it will help build their character and benefit the country.
The webinar was organised on January 8 to have stakeholder consultations to evolve a sound qualifying requirement (QR), affiliation bye-laws, memorandum of association (MoA) and additional curriculum to ensure smooth implementation of the initiative.
Chief of the army staff general MM Naravane, chief of the air staff air chief marshal VR Chaudhari, chief of the naval staff admiral R Hari Kumar and school education and literacy secretary Anita Karwal also attended the webinar.
Last updated on 09 Jan 2022
