A Study On Eklavya Model Residential Schools (Emrs) In Tribal Education

Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) scheme supports the establishment and running of quality residential schools for Scheduled Tribes (STs) students with an objective to provide quality education to the tribal students. EMRS start at Class VI and admission to these schools is patterned on the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya model. Education in EMRSs is entirely free. This paper intends to evaluate the Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) with the objective to find whether the design of programme is appropriate to meet the stated objectives, whether they constitute felt needs of the community, bottlenecks if any in proper implementation of the scheme, whether these schemes are augmenting the education among STs and support to increase the literacy rate of STs. Whether there is any impact of these schemes in decreasing the dropout rates of STs. The analysis of EMR school data reveals that the EMR School is not managed as per the guidelines. The arrangement of the black boards in the class rooms is appropriate but the maintenance of the boards is poor, the number of toilets is less considering the strength of the students and maintenance was found to be poor. The study suggests, the guidelines of EMRS should indicate the organizational structure, Manpower and Educational expertise for the Tribal welfare Residential educational institutions societies on par with Navodaya Vidyalaya Model pattern. EMRS should have separate budget plan for both infrastructure, recurring, non-recurring expenditure every year and it should be included in the annual work plan & budget. Key words: Eklavya Model, Residential School, EMRS, Tribal Education