About Ekalavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS)
- EMRS started in the year 1997-98 to impart quality education to ST children in remote areas to enable them to access the best opportunities in education and to bring them at par with the general population.
- EMRS are established in the States/UTs from the grants received under Article 275(1) of the Constitution of India.
- Features:
- EMRS are co-educational residential schools from Class VI to XII.
- Eklavya schools will be on par with Navodaya Vidyalayas and will have special facilities for preserving local art and culture besides providing training in sports and skill development.
- Each school has a capacity of 480 students with equal number of seats for boys and girls.
- Non-ST students can be admitted in these schools on seats up to 10% of the total seats.
- CBSE curriculum is followed in these schools, and education is completely free.
- The National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS), an autonomous organization has been set up under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to establish and manage EMRS across the country.
- Government Target: As per the Budget 2018-19, every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal population will have an EMRS by the year 2022.