Govt to open 31 more Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas

New Delhi, Sept 6  With an aim to increase access to quality education, the Government has decided to open 31 more Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas across the country, with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi slated to inaugurate them on Wednesday. Gandhi is also expected to interact with students of four such schools in the states of Kerala, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh through video conferencing mode from the capital, said sources in the HRD Ministry.

The programme is coinciding with the Literacy Day celebrations on Wednesday. At present, there are over 550 such schools in rural areas across the country providing free education.

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) seek to provide good quality modern education to the talented children predominantly from the rural areas. The establishment of the new schools come at a time when the Government is planning to introduce new programmes in the existing schools and widen their appeal.

While there are plans to establish ''science magnet schools'' under the ambit of JNVs, sources said deliberations are also on to set up theme based-JNVs. These schools could lay focus on particular disciplines like sports, art or music, they said.

Offering vocational education programmes are also being c