Andaman and Nicobar Islands Ashram Schools

Andaman and Nicobar Islands Ashram schools are the results of an unique attempt by the education department of Andaman and Nicobar Islands to rope in the tribal populace within the folds of mainstream formal eduction. Andaman and Nicobar Islands Ashram schools are typically residential institutes that provide for lodgings, food and the education of the students free of cost, who largely come from the long deprived tribal populace of the state. There are two Ashram schools in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The Structure of Andaman and Nicobar Ashram Schools

The Ashram schools of Andaman and Nicobar Islands derive its name from the Sanskrit word signifying a center of education where the students stay to receive all round education from the preceptor and the teachers. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands ashram schools are built more or less on the same lines. The education is always free of cost and is encouraged and run by the Education department of the Government of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Ashram schools at Andaman and Nicobar Islands enjoy great popularity in the tribal areas. The tribal populace, long indifferent towards education and living a comparatively isolated life, have now woken up to the importance of education. Though the beginnings were full of doubts and trepidation, they soon gathered wide popularity.

Significance of the Ashram Schools in Andaman and Nicobar Islands

The literacy rate of Andaman and Nicobar Islands has increased manifolds in the recent years. So much so, that it presently has a literacy rate of above 70 percent, far outdoing many high-profile states of the Indian mainland. It would not have been possible for the education department to carry this out without spreading education in some of the remotest tribal areas. Andaman and Nicobar Ashram schools are the main reasons that this feat could be achieved.