KORUKONDA (VIZIANAGARAM): The Sainik School at Korukonda is all set to break new ground by admitting girl cadets for the first time since its inception in 1962. After the Sainik School at Chhingchhip in Mizoram started the induction of girls on a pilot basis three years ago, the initiative has been now extended to all 33 Sainik Schools across the country.
As part of its ‘welcome’ to the first batch of girl cadets, the school is allocating a separate hostel block and recruiting a female matron, physical training (PT) instructor, nursing assistant and an ‘ayah’. To start with, 10 seats would be allocated to girl students out of a total intake of 80 students in class VI. The admission process is already on.
Korukonda Sainik School principal Colonel Arun Kulkarni welcomed the move. “Our major objective is to prepare the cadets to become future officers. This initiative would consequently enable the girls to aspire for a career in the armed forces. This is the best step we could have taken to open more avenues for girls in defence services. All basic amenities and infrastructure such as an independent hostel and adequate female staff would be provided to girls on the campus. We are also planning to create a separate sick bay for girl cadets in the future,” Col Kulkarni told STOI.
Speaking about the typical day of a cadet on campus, he said the day starts at 6 am with physical training. “Our aim is to produce confident students and future leaders who can face any situation. Besides academic excellence, the students will participate in various co-curricular and extra-curricular activities to prepare them for life’s challenges,” he explained.
Korukonda Sainik School is regarded as one of the best institutions of its kind in this part of the country. “The school receives about 11,000 applications for 80 seats, which is one of the highest numbers in the domain of Sainik Schools. Not just academics, our cadets excel in sports too. Our school team represented Andhra Pradesh in the Subroto Cup football tournament in New Delhi after winning the U-17 state championship. The school was south zone champion in the 2019 zonal competitions,” added Col Kulkarni.
