Applications could be submitted for admissions to class 6 at Navodaya Vidyalayas in the country for the next academic year till September 16. Navodaya Vidyalayas provide free education to students belonging to rural areas in the country and there is one such school in every district of Kerala. The website to apply is www.navodaya.gov.in

Main features of Navodaya schools

Curriculum
The CBSE curriculum is followed from Class 6 to 8. In Kerala, studies will be in Malayalam medium. From Class 9 onwards, Mathematics and Science are taught in English, and Social Science in Hindi.

Migration of students for national integration
A unique feature of the Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme is student migration between different linguistic regions. This promotes understanding of India's diverse culture. Under this scheme, 30% of Class 9 students migrate to another Navodaya for one academic year, usually between Hindi-speaking and non-Hindi-speaking districts.

Residential system
All students reside on campus, with studies, accommodation, food, uniform, and books provided free of charge.

Fees
Students in Classes 9 to 12 pay a monthly fee of Rs 600, but exemptions apply for those below the poverty line, female students, and those from Scheduled and Differently-abled categories. Children of government employees are also covered under a special fee structure.

Eligibility to apply
Applicants have to be permanent residents of the district where the Navodaya Vidyalaya is located and should be born between May 1, 2013 and July 31, 2015. No relaxation in the upper or lower age-limit is allowed for applicants belonging to any category.

Only those students who are currently enrolled in class 5 in a recognized school in the district where admission is sought can apply. Children studying in recognized open schools should produce the ‘B’ certificate. The form could be downloaded from the website. No application fee is charged for admission.

Seats, reservations
Admission will take place for 80 seats in each school. One-third seats will be reserved for girl students. SC/ST reservation will be proportional to the population figures in the district. OBC and differently-abled reservations will apply, as per rules.

A total of 75% of the seats are reserved for students from rural areas. However, these seats will be allotted only to students who were enrolled in schools in rural areas in classes 3, 4 and 5. They will not be eligible to apply if they studied in a school in an urban area for even a single day in these classes.

Students from urban areas as well as those from rural areas will be considered for admission to the remaining 25% seats.

Entrance test

Selection will take place based on a two-hour OMR-based test to be conducted from 11.30 am on January 18, 2025. There will be 80 questions for a total of 100 marks. There will be no negative marks.

Candidates can take the test in the language they studied in class 5. In Kerala, students can choose Malayalam, English, Hindi, Tamil or Kannada and the language should be mentioned in the application. A student can attempt this entrance test only once.

Question papers of previous years are available on the website and students can gain good practice by answering them.

Questions, marks and time

The entrance test will have 40 questions on mental ability, for 50 marks, which have to be answered in 60 minutes.

Students will face 20 questions from Arithmetic and the time allotted would be 30 minutes. Total marks for this section are 25.

There will also be 20 language questions for 25 marks, which also have to be answered in 30 minutes.

In short, there would be 80 questions for 100 marks and the total duration of the test is 120 minutes.

For more information and to download the application form, visit www.navodaya.gov.in.