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
