National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) is an autonomous institution formed under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs that oversees Eklavya Model Residential Schools. NESTS began its journey in 2018 to offer high education to tribal kids in their home surroundings.
It manages schools in several states where different State Education Societies for Tribal Students have already been established. While NESTS guided curriculum, school standards, and so on, on-the-ground management was handled by SESTS. Following the reform, the ministry would be required to eliminate all SESTSs and establish Regional Offices (RO) under the direct authority of NESTS.
After that, once the employees were authorised at the ROs, the NESTS would be authorised to directly authorise the number of teaching posts and recruit by the Central reservation regulations the schools were obligated by.
What is the Eklavya Model Residential Schools?
- EMRS is an initiative to build model boarding schools for Scheduled Tribes throughout India. It all started in 1997-98. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is its coordinating body.
- The scheme’s purpose is to build schools in line with Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas with a focus on specialised state-of-the-art facilities for preserving local arts and tradition and recreational and skill-upgrading training.
- The CBSE curriculum is followed in the EMR School. The Cabinet authorised the overhaul of the EMRS system in 2018-19.
- Since the new standards were implemented, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has approved 332 of the intended 452 schools through 2021-22. As of November 2022, 688 institutions have been authorised, with 392 operational. Of the 688 schools, 230 have been built, 234 are now under construction, and 32 are currently stalled owing to land acquisition concerns.
What were the previous guidelines?
Although the Central government had approved a specific number of preliminary EMRS, it was the responsibility of the states and union territories to obtain approval for more schools as and when they were required.
The finances for these institutions were to derive from payments under Article 275(1). The guidelines stipulated that states could not be authorised to finance new schools unless such institutions designated by the Centre were finished. Aside from the infrastructure requirements of 20-acre tracts for each EMRS, the rules did not specify where the EMRS may be established, putting it to the prerogative of state governments.
What are the new guidelines?
The revised rules for 2018-19 provided the Union government additional authority to censure and oversee schools. The administration of the State Education Society for Tribal Students, which would operate the EMRS on the field, was handed to the National Education Society for Tribal Students.
The amended guidelines set the goal of creating an EMRS in every tribal sub-district and stated the “population requirements” for doing so. One EMRS will be established for each sub-district with at least 20,000 Scheduled Tribe (ST) people, which must constitute 50% of the overall population in that region. The required minimum land area for establishing an EMRS has been cut from 20 to 15 acres.
