Navodya Vidyalya Entrance Exam
Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) are a system of alternate schools for gifted students in India. They are run by Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, New Delhi, an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Education, Government of India. JNVs are fully residential and co-educational schools affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi, with classes from VI to XII standard. JNVs are specifically tasked with finding talented children in rural areas of India and providing them with an education equivalent to the best residential school system, without regard to their family’s socio-economic condition.
Admission to the JNVs requires qualifying in an entrance exam, called the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Selection Test(JNVST), designed, developed and conducted by NCERT earlier and now by the CBSE, except lateral admissions in the class IX and XI to the very limited seats held on annually apparently on February 2nd Sunday. It is administered by the respective Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya regional center. The test encompasses reasoning/Mental ability skills, Maths, and Regional language. The school provides reservation as per mandate of Govt. of India, at least 75% selection of students from rural areas, maximum 25% from urban areas and fixed 33% to girl students. Applications to appear in the test are made freely available at the Vidyalayas and District Education Offices. The JNV Samiti takes extensive care to make the applications available (and to communicate their availability through multiple media outlets) to far-flung rural districts, so as to properly serve this under-served population. Every year every JNV select about 80 most meritorious students.