Sainik School, Ghorakhal

Sainik School Ghorakhal is a Sainik School established by first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru under in 1966. It is located in Ghorakhal, at an altitude of about 6,000 feet (1,800 m) above sea level amidst the Kumaon Hills in Nainital district of the state of Uttarakhand, India.

Sainik School Ghorakhal
The sunset as viewed from the school parade ground.
Location
Nainital India
Information
Type	Public school Run by the Ministry Of Defence, India
Motto	School Motto: Buddhiryasya Balantasya (One Who has Intelligence, has True Power)
Established	21 March 1966
Founder	Wg. Cdr. Jaimal Singh
Principal	Group Captain V S Dangwal
Grades	Class VI up to XII
Gender	Boys and Girls
Age	10 to 18
Enrollment	525
Campus size	500-acre (2.0 km2)
Colour(s)	Maroon
Affiliation	Central Board of Secondary Education, India
Demonym(s)	Ghorakhalians/Ghorakhalis/Ghoras
Houses	Abhimanyu, Singh, Kumaon, Kesari, Shiwalik, Bharat, Luv, Kush, Dhruv and Bachendri
Website	http://www.ssghorakhal.org

History

Sainik School, Ghorakhal was established on 21 March 1966. The school was built on the 500 Acre Ghorakhal Estate of the then Nawab of Rampur, near Bhowali in Nainital District. It was one of the first Sainik Schools to be built. The school started with 60 students in 1966.

Campus

Bhimtal Lake as viewed from the helipad of Sainik School Ghorakhal.

The school is located 4 km from Bhowali and 7 km from Bhimtal. The major landmark is the temple of Golu Devta.

Houses

All students are assigned to their respective "Houses". In total, there are 9 houses, the Shiwalik, Kesari, Kumaon and Singh are the senior houses while Dhruv, Luv, Kush, Abhimanyu and Bharat are the junior Houses.

Admission Process

Admissions in the school are carried out annually in the month of April in Class VI and IX only and are based on the merit list of All India Sainik Schools Entrance Examination which is normally held on first Sunday of January each year and a Medical Examination conducted at a Military Hospital. The written examination is conducted by National Testing Agency(NTA). For appearing in entrance examination advertisement is published by NTA and online registration forms are made available at their website aissee.nta.nic in the month of September/October. A candidate appearing in entrance exam should be in the age limit of 10-12 years for class VI and 13-15 for class IX as on 31 March of the year in which admission is sought. Earlier there also used to be an Interview which was then followed by the medical examination, but it has been scrapped since 2019 and has invited multiple criticism since.

Achievements

Despite administrative negligence and mismanagement from those in echelons of power its Old Boys Association has always helped the school in every possible manner, the most important one being providing huge financial grants for the purpose of infrastructural and otherwise development of school and regular organization of High Quality and free Medical Camps in school. Considered to be the most prestigious Sainik School, its students have done exceedingly well to achieve the aim of the objectives of the institution. So far more than 750 cadets have joined the National Defence Academy / Indian Naval Academy and Technical Entry Scheme (all three being at 5+3+3+4 level) up to July 2023. A large number of the alumni have also joined directly at Indian Military Academy, Officers Training Academy, Air Force Academy, INA, Armed Force Medical College and various Paramilitary Forces. Many others have joined various extremely competitive prestigious government services, with Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Services being the most notable. These officers along with Commissioned Officers of Indian Military Forces hold The Commission of The President of India, and are considered as Gazetted Ranks of Group A. The school has the honour of winning "The Raksha Mantralaya Trophy" for sending the largest number of cadets to the NDA a record number of eight times since 2000.

Recently about 70 cadets cleared the 2022 NDA-II and 2023 NDA-I Union Public Service Commission Written Examination and with 2 cadets in the top 10 of overall 2023 merit list 30 cadets have been Recommended by SSB and have joined NDA so far.