Published Paper Details:

Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya (OAV) is a flagship school reform launched by the Government of Odisha in 2016 to provide free, English-medium, CBSE-affiliated schooling to talented children from rural and tribal backgrounds. Although the scheme has expanded to more than three hundred blocks of the state, independent, school-level evidence on how individual OAVs actually function remains scarce. The present article reports a descriptive case study of OAV Rajapur, situated in Beguniapada block of Ganjam district, undertaken to examine its infrastructural facilities, student enrolment pattern, classroom practices and academic outcomes. Data were gathered through a self-prepared information sheet, a structured questionnaire administered to the principal and teachers, classroom observation and focus group discussion, and were analysed using simple frequency and percentage methods supplemented by qualitative description. The findings indicate that the school possesses reasonably adequate physical infrastructure, follows an inclusive admission policy that predominantly benefits Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Class learners, and records consistently high pass percentages at the Class X and Class XII CBSE board examinations. Teachers reported use of the 5E instructional model, ICT-supported and blended teaching, and art-integrated pedagogy. Persistent constraints include the absence of a boys' hostel, shortage of an auditorium or multipurpose hall, and a language gap faced by first-generation, Odia-medium entrants transitioning to an English medium of instruction. The study concludes with practical recommendations for strengthening residential provision, bridge-language support and locally contextualised teacher orientation.