HRD Minister asks Navodaya Vidyalayas to go solar

Navodaya Vidyalaya fees may be hiked from next year

The tuition fee of the central government's Navodaya Vidyalayas may be hiked with effect from the next academic session.

The executive committee of the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) on Thursday discussed a proposal for increasing the tuition fee of its schools, official sources told DH.

Official sources told DH that though there was a consensus on the proposal at the meeting, a final decision on it will come only after the Ministry further examines it.

Any increase in the current fee structure of the Navodaya Vidyalayas will be applicable to students belonging to general category. Children belonging to scheduled castes (SC) and schedule tribes (ST), girls, differently-abled category and those in below poverty line will continue to remain exempted from the payment of fees, sources added.

The NVS executive committee meeting, chaired by Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar, also decided to make the application process for admissions to Navodaya Vidyalayas online from next academic session.

At the meeting, Javadekar directed the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) to take measures for adoption of solar energy at all of its schools across the country.

He asked the Samiti to “seek the guidance” of the Ministry of Power “to speed up the process” for installation of solar panels at all the Navodaya Vidyalayas to meet their demand for electricity.

The Minister also told the Samiti officials to ensure that water and solar energy harvesting remains part of the proposals for the new building plans. He asked them to explore the possibility of having water harvesting and bio-gas plants in existing campuses.

At the meeting, Javadekar also “desired” that the teachers who are deputed for training abroad under certain scholarship schemes should be asked “to share a report on their learning and its utility for the system,” the HRD Ministry said.

He directed the Samiti to conduct a study in the “positive impact” students and teachers living together at the Navodaya Vidyalaya campus. All Navodaya Vidyalayas are residential schools, set up to primarily cater to the educational need of rural students.