Padma Vibhusan Dr. A.N.Khosla, the then Governor of Odisha, launched the DAV movement in the State, in 1968. As the Vice-President of the DAV College Trust and Management Society, Dr. Khosla pioneered the spread of literacy and technical education even in the far-flung areas of the State. The present school building is a result of his efforts. It initially housed the SKDAV women’s Polytechnic and was inaugurated by Dr. Triguna Sen, one-time Union Minister for Education and a member of the Rajya-Sabha, in 1968. Dr. A.N.K. DAV Public School, named after Dr. Khosla, was established in 1990 and subsequently the Polytechnic was shifted to a new campus.
From a humble beginning with 500 students, the school has grown to a strength of more than 2800 students. Located in the heart of the city it has classes from Nursery to Class XII. The school follows the CBSE curriculam, with both Science and Commerce streams at the + 2 Level. The School is one of the highly acclaimed CBSE affiliated institutions in Rourkela as it lays emphasis on academics and discipline.
On the demise of Maharishi Swami Dayanand Saraswati in 1883, a group of socially oriented people who met to mourn his death, decided to raise a memorial which they thought would be a befitting tribute to his great ideals. They formed the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) College Trust & Management Society. It got registered in 1885. This was the beginning of the great Movement, now popularly known as the 'DAV Movement'. The society established its first institution - DA\/ School, at Lahore, on June 1, 1886, with Lala Hans Raj (Later Mahatma Hans Raj) as its honorary Headmaster. The main objective of the DAV institutions is to impart such education to the children as, while it helps to imbibe in them a sense of deep patriotism and pride in their ancient culture and civilization, instils in them a disciplined outlook, deeply dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. These institutions also aim at creating an environment truly conducive to the development of the child, mentally, physically and spiritually.
The DAV College Trust & Management Society is already more than a hundred and twenty years old. This is now the biggest non-government educational organisation in India. It covers broadly the entire spectrum of educational activity in the country. The society is running more than 600 educational institutions including Arts, Science, Commerce Education and Law Colleges, Technical Institutions and Polytechnics, Ayurvedic College, Dental College, D.A.V. Pharmacy, Vedic Research Institutes and High Schools, apart from DA\/. Public Schools spread over the country and even in foreign lands. Not only the track and growth record of the D.A.\/. Society has been excellent, it has also been the envy of other organisations, for its academics and disciplined administration. It goes to the credit of Dr. A. N. Khosla, the then Governor of Odisha, for launching the DAV Movement in Odisha in 1968. As the Vice President of DAV College Trust & Management Society, for many years, he very well understood the role of this movement in the spread of literacy and technical education in the remote areas of this state. He spent all his savings as Governor for spreading education and persuaded the other office bearers of the society to set up educational institutions in Odisha. He extended official patronage for these DAV Institutions by leasing land free of cost. During his life time, the DAV society started four Degree Colleges (one for women alone), one women polytechnic, many high schools and one public school.
He got huge agricultural lands attached to the institutions to make them financially self-sufficient. However, most of these institutions are now funded by state governments and some of them have been provincialised. The DAV Trust is managing a chain of English, Odia and Bengali medium public schools in this part of the country and this chain is fast lengthening reaffirming the faith of the people in the sound educational programme of the DAVs. At present DAVs are at Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Puri, Nayagarh, Nimapada, Balasore, Rourkela, Jharsuguda. Titlagarh, lmphal, Midnapore, Bankura and Dubrajpur. Corporate sectors like Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd., Paradeep Phosphates Ltd., Orissa Power Generation Corporation Ltd., NTPC Ltd., National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd., Vedanta Aluminium Ltd., Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Ltd., Indian Institute of Technology, Steel Authority of India Ltd., Vedanta University Project and Damodar Valley Corporation Ltd. have sponsored DAV Public Schools for the benefit of their employees. More DAV Public schools are coming up every year.