Business Today Coverage of Navodaya - Schools Of Hope

Visiting Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) at Patiala and Shimla, two of the 560 such residential schools run by the central government in as many district of India, one meets pupils who are hugely talented but come from distinctly disadvantaged backgrounds. For schools located in rural areas and serving such children, JNVs seem to be shining, surpassing their more privileged urban counterparts. In terms of pass percentage in CBSE exams conducted for 10th and 12 classes, JNV boys and girls have been beating students of not just other government schools but also the much more privileged children from private schools. M.S. Khanna, Joint Commissioner, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), the government agency that manages these schools, says that thousands of JNV alumni have excelled in the hardest competitive exams and the got the best jobs. Here are first-person accounts of some of them.

And here are  Some of the Dignities  From Navodaya

1.

Arjun Singh (29) Vice President, GTS Technology, Citibank, N.A., Jersey City "A lot goes to the JNV for shaping me to what I'm today" I was born in a small village called Amarpur in Meerut district of UP. My father was earning as little as Rs 800 per month from his daily labour." My family was very happy when I joined JNV at Sardhana in Meerut district in 1988 as education was free there. They were confident that the school would give me a much better environment than the village, which was hardly conducive to any worthwhile education. After passing out of JNV in 1995, I got admission in BITS-Pilani from where I was selected by Citicorp Overseas Software Ltd (COSL) as part of campus placement. Located in US, now, I'm the Vice President of global IT projects, Citigroup. A lot goes to the JNV for shaping me to what I'm today.

2.

Nirmal Prakash(29) Join MD, Smarftech "I'd not have broken free from my circumstances without JNV" "I was born in Barheta village of Darbhanga district in Bihar. It was a life of struggle. In retrospect, making it to JNV was the biggest moment of my life. A couple of other boys who were at JNV with me came from one of the poorest families in our village. These boys were so poor that they didn't have a rupee to spend in all the years of their stay at JNV beyond what they were provided free at the school. We were absolutely astonished to see the facilities at the JNV - well furnished classrooms, labs, mess, and hostels. More importantly, the cross-cultural environment at JNV helped us gain confidence. Our teachers came from various states. Our school merged all caste divisions that characterise our society. In 1998, I cleared IIT. From there I got selected for Muehlbauer, a German RFID technology provider. In 2007, I joined Smarftech as joint MD. I'd not have broken free from my circumstances without JNV.

3.

Rajendra Meena (32) IRS Officer, Central Excise "The turning pointing in my life was my admission to JNV" I was born in a desert hamlet called Thikariya Bajana in Nagore district of Rajasthan. There were no schools in the vicinity. So I went to live with one of my uncles in Jaipur. The JNVs were considered quality schools as they were run by the central government on CBSE curriculum. More importantly, however, they provided free education. That was a big thing for poor families. So my family rejoiced when I got admission into JNV-Jaipur in 1986. For them it was like a scholarship-free and good education. In those days the amenities and infrastructure at JNV-Jaipur was still in the making. Some old buildings were taken up. Power supply was erratic and even food grants were scanty. Despite these problems, JNV was a great school for us poor rural kids. My school sheltered me from the discriminations and divisions of our society. In 2000, I cleared the UPSC exam for the Railways where I worked for some years. In 2004, I got selected in the Indian Revenue Service (IRS). The turning pointing my life was my admission to JNV. So I credit most of my success to JNV.

4.

Flight Lieutenant Rajani Boyapati (27) Project Manager, Goldstone Tech "JNV turned me into a smarter, more self-confident person" I was born in Ghanatasala village of Andhra Pradesh’s Krishna district in a lower middle class family. My father was a farmer and mother a housewife. I have one sibling. When I was in fifth class, one of my teachers told me about JNV, which were considered quality schools. One of their merits was the CBSE curriculum, which was regarded as more rigorous than the state board curriculum. The greatest advantage of these schools was that they provided free education, boarding and lodging. My father could never have been able to afford the kind of education I got at JNV. So my parents were happy when I got selected. It was indeed a process of continuous improvement at JNV. I was at 3rd position in the 12th class. I secured a great academic foundation for higher education. I later did BTech (Electronics & Communication Engineering) from S.V. Hindu College of Engineering at Machilipatnam ( Krishna district). By the time I completed my BTech, I got selected in Short Service Commission and joined the Indian Air Force (IAF) as an engineer and was designated as a flight lieutenant. I worked at IAF from July 2001 to July 2007 and then joined the Hyderabad-based Goldstone Technologies as a project manager. JNV turned me into a smarter, more self-confident person. That was the turning point.

5.

Rahul Mehta (12) 7th grade student, JNV Patiala "Rural kids shine at Navodaya Vidayalayas" Rahul Mehta (12) looks like a normal school kid except that his family background will make a sociologist very interested. This seventh-class student of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya at Patiala (Punjab), who comes across as intelligent and sincere, belongs to a family that most Indians never associate with the ones whose boys go on to become IAS officers. (That's what Rahul wants to become.) Rahul's father runs a fruit juice stall and mother is a housewife. One of his two brothers studies in a government-run local school and the other works as 'compounder' in a doctor's clinic in a semi-urban area in Zirakpur (Punjab). Rahul, however, has the heart and mind to remain focussed on his studies. In sixth class - his first year at JNV-Patiala - he secured 95.3 per cent marks in aggregate. His scores in both science and maths: 100 per cent.

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