More than 6,000 Tamil Nadu students at risk of losing scholarships
TNN | Sep 9, 2019, 08.36 AM IST
TNN | Sep 9, 2019, 08.36 AM IST
CHENNAI: More than 6,600 students declared eligible for this year’s National Merit Cum Means Scholarship (NMMS) scheme from Tamil Nadu might lose out on the grant due to the negligent attitude of schools in finishing the application process. It is the responsibility of schools to upload application forms of these students to the online portal. But only 350 applications have been uploaded till September 5.
The director of school education has fixed September 30 as deadline for the submission, failing which thousands of students will lose out an opportunity to receive their scholarship.
The director of school education has fixed September 30 as deadline for the submission, failing which thousands of students will lose out an opportunity to receive their scholarship.
Launched in 2008, the centrally sponsored NMMS scheme awards Rs 12,000 a year to students from Classes IX to XII in government-funded schools to ensure they don’t drop out. Students from economically weaker sections whose parental income is less than Rs 1.5 lakh are eligible for the scholarship. State governments test eligible candidates with a qualifying exam when they are in Class VIII and those shortlisted receive the grant at the end of every academic year, till they complete schooling.
Of the 1.5 lakh students who appeared for the test last year, as many as 6,695 tested eligible to receive the grant from this year. Many among them are from cyclone Gaja-affected districts.
Tamil Nadu government conducts this test in the first week of December every year. A preparatory meeting was held in connection with this in August and schools were told to prepare a list of eligible and interested candidates from Class VIII. Besides this, they were instructed to submit scholarship renewal forms of students from Classes IX and XII. Schools were instructed to finish application submission process (fresh and renewal) before the first week of September. However, only 18 districts have submitted forms so far, of 357 eligible students, and not a single application form has come in from the remaining districts, shows data.
“The scholarship amount comes in handy when we need money to purchase study material for competitive exams like NEET,” said a student from Porur Government Girls Higher Secondary School.
Of the 1.5 lakh students who appeared for the test last year, as many as 6,695 tested eligible to receive the grant from this year. Many among them are from cyclone Gaja-affected districts.
Tamil Nadu government conducts this test in the first week of December every year. A preparatory meeting was held in connection with this in August and schools were told to prepare a list of eligible and interested candidates from Class VIII. Besides this, they were instructed to submit scholarship renewal forms of students from Classes IX and XII. Schools were instructed to finish application submission process (fresh and renewal) before the first week of September. However, only 18 districts have submitted forms so far, of 357 eligible students, and not a single application form has come in from the remaining districts, shows data.
“The scholarship amount comes in handy when we need money to purchase study material for competitive exams like NEET,” said a student from Porur Government Girls Higher Secondary School.
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