Sainik School, Kunjpura
Sainik School, Kunjpura in the state of Haryana, one of the first five Sainik Schools (military school) established in 1961 in India, is jointly operated by the Government of Haryana state and GoI's Ministry of Defence. It aims to prepare students for entry into the National Defence Academy (NDA). More than 800 students from the school have qualified for the National Defence Academy (NDA). A record 16 students qualified for joining the NDA in 2006 through the written examination conducted by UPSC and the subsequent interview conducted by SSB and the number has increased to 33  in 2020 . From 2021, admission for girl student was allowed for the first time, 10 % seats were reserved for the girls and 10 girls were given admission based on the National Testing Agency. The cadets of this school are known as ""Kunjeyans"" or ""Kunjeans"". Location. Situated west of Kunjpura village, east of NH44 (historic Grand Trunk Road) bypassing Karnal city of Haryana, the school stands on a campus and is situated 10 km northeast of Karnal city and 130 km north of Delhi. History. The school was started in July 1961 on the large property that originally belonged to the  last Nawab of Kunjpura, Ibrahim Ali Khan, who had built it in the year 1900 to house the marriage party of his daughter. The property passed into the hands of the Defence Ministry as the nawab migrated to Pakistan after the independence of India and died in Lahore in 1952. Before becoming the Sainik School, it was also the ‘sanctum sanctorum’ of the prestigious ‘Punjab Police Academy’. Sainik School, Kunjpura came into being in July 1961, at the behest of V. K. Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister of India, who took personal interest in its inception. He handed over  command of the school to Lt. Col. E J Simeon (1918–2007), a Corps of Signals officer stationed in Delhi at the time, who ran the school for the next seven years as its Founder Principal till his retirement from the Army in 1967. He was succeeded by Col. Munindra Chandra as the Principal, whose contribution in sending a record number of cadets from the 1969 and 1970 batches of the NDA, subsequent principals were Group Captain Suresh Kumar, Col Arun Datta, Group Captain L.N.Sharma (now Air Vice Marshal L.N. Sharma AVSM (Retd.)), Col. YS Parmar, SM; Col V.D. Chandola (Retd .), and now Col Vijay Rana who is the present principal of the school. Overview. Gradually, additions were made to the main building of the school in terms of new constructions. But the main building remained the ‘nerve centre’ of the school. In addition to the main building, the school has an NDA block (which serves as the new academic block), cadets Mess, the Manekshaw Auditorium, the Simeon Squash Court, gymnasium, riding school, swimming pool, athletics and sports fields, infirmary and residential areas for the staff and the boys. The Main Building houses the Administrative block, Office of the Principal, conference  hall, library and sub-junior classes. The NDA block is the Academic block, housing the staff room, computer lab, lecture hall and multimedia room. The school also has a synthetic tennis court, several basketball, volleyball, football and hockey courts and grounds. Training of National Cadet Corps (NCC) is compulsory for all the boys of the school and they receive 'B' certificate in NCC before passing out from the school. The school is a ‘Dronacharya’s Gurukul’ in the true sense of the word as it provides opportunities for growth and development in each and every segment of a student's  life, may it be academics, co-curricular activities, extra-curricular activities or career guidance, thus helping in the students' all round development.