The last date for submitting the online applications for admission to standard six at the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya schools is November 30. The applications are for the next academic year. The applicants must be currently studying in class 5 at a recognized school. Meanwhile, the candidates can only apply to the schools in the districts where they reside. Those who have passed standard 5 earlier need not apply. Students studying in recognized open schools have to complete ‘B’ level course before applying. There is no application fee.
There are 14 Navodaya schools in Kerala, one in each district. These schools follow CBSE syllabus in classes 6 – 12. The students have to live on campus to complete their education. The boarding school offers free education, accommodation, food, text books and uniform. There is a monthly fee of Rs 600 in classes 9 – 12. However, students below poverty line, girl students and members of scheduled caste communities need not pay the fee.
The candidates applying for admission must not be born before May 1, 2009 and after April 30, 2013. There is no age relaxation for anyone including candidates belonging to scheduled communities. The application form and the prospectus could be downloaded from the website www.navodaya.gov.in. Those who have difficulty submitting online application could seek free assistance at the nearby Navodaya schools.
Students claiming admission under the 75% rural quota should have completed their classes 3, 4 and 5 in rural areas. In case they have studied, at least for a day, in an urban area, they wouldn’t be considered for admission under this quota.
The medium of instruction until class eight is Malayalam. After that, Mathematics and Science would be in English while the medium of instruction for Social Science would be Hindi. The students can sit for the CBSE board exams in classes ten and twelve. One third of the seats are reserved for girl students. The reservation for the Scheduled Caste/ Tribe would be based on the proportion of population in each district. However, it wouldn’t go down below 15/7.5% respectively.
Candidates with disabilities would be admitted to 80 seats in a school as per the guidelines of the central government. Students who get promoted to standard 9 should transfer to a school in a Hindi speaking area, for a year.
Entrance exam dates
The selection to the Navodaya schools would be based on the entrance test that is scheduled on April 30, 2022.
Mental ability – 40 questions, 50 marks, 60 minutes
Arithmetic – 20 questions, 25 marks, 30 minutes
Language – 20 questions, 25 marks, 30 minutes
Total – 80 objective type questions, 100 marks and 120 minutes
There is no negative mark for the wrong answers. The candidates could choose the medium of instruction in class five as the language of the examination. The results of the entrance test would be published in June. This is a one - time exam which can be attempted only once. The candidates can refer the prospectus for more details including the model questions for the entrance test.