In news– Recently, the Union Minister of Social Justice and empowerment has launched the “SHRESHTA”-Scheme for residential education for students in High school in Targeted Areas.
About the scheme-
- The Scheme for Residential Education for Students in Targeted Areas (SHRESHTA) has been formulated with the objective to provide quality education and opportunities for even the poorest Scheduled Caste(SC) students, as per the Constitutional mandate.
- Scheme provides for high quality education for meritorious but poor SC students in CBSE-affiliated reputed residential schools across the country.
- Approximately 3,000 seats are provided each year for admission in class 9th and 11th and the entire cost of the school fee and residential charges are borne by the Department.
- The students, belonging to SC, studying in class 8th and 10th in the current academic year are eligible for availing the benefits of scheme are selected through a transparent mechanism through a National Entrance Test for SHRESHTA (NETS), which is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission in class 9th and 11th.
- Students belonging to marginalised income group within the SC community, whose parental annual income is upto Rs.2.5 Lakh are eligible.
- Successful candidates, after following the e-counselling process, are given admission in the school of their choice anywhere in the Country for their academic persuasion.
- The Ministry shall bear the total cost of the school fee and hostel charges till completion of their academic upto class 12th.
- Thereafter the students of the scheme may avail benefits of other schemes of the Ministry for their higher education.
The objectives of the SHRESHTA are as follows:
- To enhance the reach of the development initiative of the government.
- To fill the gap in service-deprived Scheduled Castes (SCs) dominant areas in the sector of education by collaborating with voluntary organizations.
- To provide an environment for socio-economic upliftment and overall development of the Scheduled Castes (SCs).
- To provide access to high-quality education to bright Scheduled Caste (SC) students so that they can explore future opportunities.
Source: PIB
