SCERT, Kerala, has invited applications for the Centrally Sponsored National Means-Cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme for students of Kerala. Under this scheme, MHRD, Government of India, proposes to award 100,000 scholarships to the gifted or meritorious students whose parental income is not more than Rs 1,50,000/- per annum from all sources. Each State /UT shall have fixed quota of scholarship which will be decided on the basis of defined criteria. The States/UTs will be conducting the test for selection of candidates for the award of Means-cum-Merit Scholarships in the State/UT.
In Kerala, the test for selection of students for the award of the Means-cum-Merit Scholarship, is being conducted by the State Council for Educational Research and Training, The test to be conducted on 2nd November, 2014 will have two parts. Part I will be the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and Part II will be the Mental Ability Test (MAT). Each test will be of 90 minutes duration and carrying 90 objective type questions, each carrying one mark. Children with disability will be given 30 minutes extra time for each part. The Scholastic Aptitude Test will have questions from Science, Social studies and Mathematics of the standard of 8th Class or of lower classes.

The Mental Ability Test will have 90 multiple-choice questions, testing verbal and non-verbal meta-cognitive abilities like reasoning and critical thinking. The questions in the test may be on analogy, classification, numerical series, pattern perception, hidden figures etc.

Applicant should be studying in Class 8 during 2014-15 in a Government/Aided School in Kerala State Syllabus. Applicant should have scored a minimum of 55% marks in the annual examination of 2013-14 in Class 7. Parental income should be less than Rs 1,50,000/- per annum from all sources. Applicants in Kerala have to apply for the scholarship, online, latest by 5 pm on 25th September, 2014, at the appropriate link at http://www.scert.kerala.gov.in/.

There is no fee for applying for the NMSCE. After submitting the application and ensuring that the information is correct, applicant should take a printout of the online application and get it attested by the Head of the Institution where the student is pursuing the course. 

Applicant should obtain and attach the original Income Certificate issued by the Village Officer. A copy of Community Certificate in case of SC/ST applicants and PH Certificate in cased of PH applicants (as applicable) should also be attached to the completed printout. The application and documents should reach ‘The Liaison Officer, NMMS Examination, SCERT, Poojappura, Thiruvananthapuram-695012’ by 5 pm on 30th September, 2014.

A student can avail only one Scholarship under any scheme. The awardees will be asked to open Joint account with parents in State Bank of India, which has core banking facility; SBI will ensure that their branches and its associates SBI Indore, Patiala, Mysore, Hyderabad, Travancore, Saurashtra, Bikaner and Jaipur will open account of such awardees without any initial deposit/minimum deposit charges and will issue ATM-cum- Debit Cards. The state will identify the awardees and hand over the list of beneficiaries to SBI for payment of scholarship;

The scholarship at the Secondary and higher Secondary stage or equivalent Classes IX to XII is payable for a maximum period of four years for studies in India only. No scholarship at this stage is payable for studying diploma/certificate level courses.

For continuing the scholarship in class X and XII the awardees should get clear promotion from class IX to class X and from class XI to class XII in the first attempt with 55% marks (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST). The awardees must obtain a minimum of 60 per cent marks in Class X (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST) exam or equivalent examination for continuation of the scholarship at higher secondary stage.

Applicants will get the facility to download their Hall ticket from the website from 16th October 2014 onwards. At the time of selection for the award of scholarship the candidate must have scored at least 55% marks or equivalent grade in Class VIII examination. There will be 5 % relaxation for SC/ST. 
For details, visit http://www.scert.kerala.gov.in/   MHRD Guidelines related to the NMMS scheme is available at http://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/Scheme_NMMS.pdf  

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