The Gujarat government on Tuesday announced a revised schedule for Shala Praveshotsav and Kanya Kelavani, a three-day annual statewide campaign to enrol students for the 2025-26 academic year. This year, the target is to enrol 25.75 lakh students.
The 23rd edition of the drive was earlier planned from June 18-20, but will now take place from June 26-28. The dates were changed due to bypolls in Kadi and Visavadar on June 19, gram panchayat elections in 8,326 villages on June 22, and vote counting on June 25.
The drive will be carried out in 1,529 government secondary and higher secondary schools, 5,134 grant-in-aid secondary and higher secondary schools, and 31,824 government primary schools across Gujarat.
On Tuesday, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel held an orientation meeting in Gandhinagar with ministers, officials, and around 400 IAS, IPS, and IFS officers who will take part in the three-day campaign.
According to the Education Department, 8.75 lakh students are eligible for Balvatika (pre-primary), 10.50 lakh for Class 9, and 6.5 lakh for Classes 10 and 11 admissions.
Education Minister Kuber Dindor said this year’s focus is on admissions for Classes 9, 10, and 11. Chief Secretary Pankaj Joshi called Shala Praveshotsav a “mission-mode” festival that involves all government departments. He also suggested doing social audits through meetings with School Management Committees (SMCs).
This campaign was first launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2002 when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat.
As part of the campaign, officials visit schools to review the work of School Management Committees (SMCs), School Management and Development Committees (SMDCs), and School Management Teams. Under the National Education Policy 2020, local communities are also involved to organise meetings and support schools.
The visiting teams make sure that SMCs and SMDCs have active members, explain their role in improving education, check the use of smart classes, track student progress, raise awareness among parents, and ensure regular attendance of students.