At a time when large number of Government schools are facing closure threat due to dwindling student enrolment, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS) run schools are finding favour of parents due to very good results they are producing. In the Class XII and Class X examination of Uttarakhand Board result declared on Thursday, the students of Saraswati Vidhya Mandirs, the schools operated by RSS body, Vidhya Bharti, Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan virtually dominated top positions in the merit list. In the result of class XII, seven students of Saraswati Vidhya Mandirs were among top 10 students and in the class X result, 18 students of these schools were among top 21 positions. In class XII examination, both Shatakshi Tiwari who topped the board and Saksham who secured second rank were from Saraswati Vidya Mandir Inter College Chinyalisaur in Uttarkashi district. Similarly the topper of class X examination, Ananta Saklani was from Saraswati Vidhya Mandir Nathuwawala Dehradun. Arpit Bharthwal and Surbhi Gahtori who got second and third rank respectively were also from Saraswati Vidya Mandirs.

The Vidhya Bharati runs primary schools in the name of Sishu mandirs and senior schools named after Saraswati Vidhya Mandirs. In Uttarakhand more than 700 such schools are operational at present in different parts of the state out of which 550 are primary schools while 60 are Inter colleges ( class XII). An estimated 1.20 lakh students in Uttarakhand are enrolled in different Shishu Mandirs and Saraswati Vidhya Mandirs. The Vidhya Bharati has deployed about 15000 teachers in these schools.

When contacted by The Pioneer, the in charge of the Vidhya Bharati in Uttarakhand, Bhuwan said that special emphasis on quality is given in these schools.

“ Our students don’t go for private coaching. Our teachers provide coaching during the holidays. We charge fees in the range of Rs 700-800 per month due to which students from very modest and poor background get enrolled,’’ he said.

With success of its model, the RSS body has started a process of interacting with the successful teachers of government schools. “We conducted a two day workshop in Haridwar recently for the government school teachers. We are now planning to hold such workshop in every district,’’ Bhuwan quipped.