Kushalnagar: The Sainik School at Koodige in Somwarpet taluk of Kodagu district has made a historic change in its admission procedure by admitting girl students for the first time since its establishment. The school has so far remained strictly all-boys institution.

Six girl students have secured admission to sixth standard after rigorous entrance and medical tests. They will be treated as boarders and will stay inside the campus once the academic year starts after the Centre relaxes COVID-19 unlock rules for educational institutions. 

Sainik schools were established in 1951 with the aim of reducing the regional and class gaps among officers in the Indian Military. Sainik School in Kodagu is the 22nd Sainik School in the country and the second in Karnataka. It was established on Oct. 18, 2007. There are 25 such schools in the country now. 

The Kodagu School comes under the purview of Karnataka State Government and Ministry of Defence and is administered by a Local Board of Administrators. Col. G. Kannan is the Principal of the School while Lt. Col. Seema Tripathi is the Vice-Principal. 

The school trains its students in overall development while providing quality education and creating a consciousness of national integration. For admission to Class 6, child should be between 10 and 12 years, and for admission to Class 9, child should be between 13 and 15 years.

Though Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had given a nod to allow girls to take admission in these schools from 2017 onwards, the process began in 2018 with Sainik School in Chhingchhip in Mizoram becoming the first school to admit girls. Later the process began in other schools.

The six girls who have secured admission for Kodagu Sainik School were selected from a group of 455 students who wrote the All India Sainik School Entrance Examination (AISSEE). In all, 8 students have secured admission and two will be day scholars. The remaining six will stay inside the school campus. They are Deepa Ullagaddi, G.N. Priyanka, Haripriya Suresh Savadi, Tripti Kumari, Vanishree and Sanjana. Avni Avasthi and Vaishnavi Yeddula will be day scholars. 

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Vice-Principal Lt. Col. Seema Tripathi said that 10 percent of class strength will be reserved for girls. Each class has 85 students. “It will be the first batch for us and we are all eager to receive and train them to be Army officers. Infrastructure like hostel rooms, indoors and game rooms have been created in the Administrative Block and staff like lady warden, lady nurse and one lady employee have been appointed,” she said. 

“We want to make the girls feel at home. At the same time we understand that they will need some extra attention, care and counselling. We are prepared for it. The school has sent a proposal to the Government for an exclusive dormitory/ hostel for girls as the strength will increase from next year,” Lt. Col. Seema Tripathi said. 

While the academic activities will be the same for boys and girls, there will be some relaxations to girls when it comes to physical activities. “At present, we are holding daily online classes for all students in the absence of regular classroom atmosphere. But a strict ‘no gadget day’ is observed on Sundays,” she added.