Jharkhand Government Schools of Excellence Excels in Receiving 30k Applications for 12k Seats:

An official said on Thursday that over 30,000 applications have been received for admission to 12,000 places in 80 Jharkhand government-run Schools of Excellence.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren opened 80 Government Schools of Excellence on May 2 as part of an academic reform to provide children attending government schools with quality English-medium education on par with private institutions.

"A total of approximately 30,000 applications were received across the state by the school management until May 17 for admissions to Schools of Excellence (SoEs) against a total of 12,146 available seats." "The number of applications is 246% greater than the number of available seats," an official said. Deoghar received the most applications (3,247), followed by Lohardaga (2,254), Giridih (1,708), Palamu (2,322), and Ramgarh (1,489). Due to parental demand, the deadline for applying to Schools of Excellence (SoEs) has been extended until May 25.

Previously, the administration had set the application deadline for May 2 to May 15. The selection test will be held on May 30, the first merit list will be published on June 7, and admissions will begin on June 12. These 80 district-level Schools of Excellence are part of the government's goal of providing quality education opportunities to 15 lakh schoolchildren enrolled in government schools in the second phase, which includes plans to establish 325 block-level schools and 4,091-gram panchayat-level model schools across the state.

Last month, at least ten students from Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) in the Khunti district qualified for the JEE (Mains), as part of a government program to decrease gender gaps in rural areas and among disadvantaged populations. The National Centre for School Leadership provided online training to principals of 80 Schools of Excellence in two phases. The Azim Premji Foundation also completed in two phases the training of principals of 80 Schools of Excellence. IIMs provided training to principals in January to help them enhance their capacity.

The government previously declared that all students in these 80 Schools of Excellence will get vocational training in 11 trades. Agriculture, IT, ITES, clothes and make-up, home furnishings, media and entertainment, automotive, tourism and hospitality, beauty and wellness, multi-skilling, electronics and hardware, retail, and healthcare are among them.