Army to sponsor education for youth of J&K and Ladakh in schools and institutions run by them

By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Indian Army has decided to sponsor undergraduate courses and school education to selected children and youth from the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh in residential schools and colleges functioning under the Army Welfare Education Society (AWES) across the country, as part of Operation Sadbhavana.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Tuesday said, “The initiative is aimed at providing quality education to deserving candidates from the Union Territories and offer them opportunities and exposure to acquire requisite competence and capability for a secure future.”

A total of 100 seats (50 each) have been earmarked for boys and girls of classes VIII and IX in two Army Public Schools (APS) at Beas (Punjab) and Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand) for the academic year 2021-22. From 2022-23 onwards, these 100 seats will include seats in Army Public Schools in Dhaula Kuan (New Delhi), Noida (UP), and Dagshai (HP).

As for the higher education six vacancies (two each) in professional colleges at Bengaluru (Army Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology and Army Institute of Fashion Design) and Guwahati / Jalandhar (Army Institute of Nursing / Army College of Nursing) respectively will be made available in the academic year 2021-22.

The colleges will offer Bachelors’ Degrees in Hospitality, Fashion Design (only girls) and Nursing (only girls). From 2022-23 onwards, two additional seats each will be provided in Army’s Management institution at Kolkata / Greater Noida (UP) and Army Institute of Education (only girls) at Greater Noida (UP).  The students will be offered MBA and B Ed / B Ed Special Education (only girls) courses in these colleges.

The scholarships will be sponsored by the Army’s Northern Command and will be only for the students domiciled residents of J&K and Ladakh and will be eligible for admissions during the academic year 2021-22.

Talking about the eligibility criteria, the MoD said, every candidate should have passed the qualifying exam relevant to a specific field of education. In addition, all aspirants will have to appear in an admission test from next year onwards.

“The scheme offers a novel opportunity to deserving children and youth from Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh to shape their future into a dream career by studying in the country’s best schools and colleges with stellar faculty, innovative pedagogy, immersive experience and state-of-the-art infrastructure.” said MoD