(Hindi: केन्द्रीय विद्यालय) (Hindi for Central School) is a system of central government schools under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (India).
The system came into being in 1965 under the name "Central Schools", and has been affiliated with CBSE since then. Later, the name was changed to < font color="red"> It serves the children of people in the Indian defence services who are often posted to remote places. With the army starting its own Army Public Schools, the service was extended (but not restricted to) to all central government employees. The uniform curriculum followed by these schools all over India ensures that the children of government employees do not face educational disadvantages when their parents are transferred by providing a common syllabus and system of education.
A body known as the (Central School Organization) oversees the functioning of these schools. It operates from its headquarters situated in New Delhi.
Presently, there are 981 schools known as Kendriya Vidyalayas, from which 977 are in India and four are abroad. A total of 10,33,516 students (as of September 30, 2009) and 49,276 employees (including outsoursed) are on rolls (as of November 1, 2009). These have been divided amongst 21 regions each headed by an Assistant Commissioner.
The four Kendriya Vidyalayas schools outside India are in Kathmandu, Moscow, Tehran, and Kuwait. They are intended for children of Indian Embassy staff and other expatriate Indian central government employees. One school in Tshimalakha, Bhutan, was transferred to the Bhutanese government, thus having ceased to be a Kendriya Vidyalaya (then known as Indo-Bhutan Central School (IBCS)) in 1989, after one of the major Indo-Bhutan projects (The Chukhha Hydal power project) was near completion and Indian government employees were gradually transferred back to their home country.