Monday, November 24, 2008
Thousands of scholarships are in the offing under the Central Sector Scheme of Scholarship for College and University Students

As many as 82,000 scholarships will be disbursed to college and university students in the country under a new scheme that has been instituted by the Centre to help low-income families meet the day-to-day expenses of students pursuing higher studies.

Students will be selected based on their performance in the senior secondary examinations (Plus Two or equivalent), with a score of 80 per cent marks being the minimum requirement.


The scheme, which the Ministry of Human Resource Development has termed the Central Sector Scheme of Scholarship for College and University Students, will be effective from this year, starting with students who have appeared for the 2008 examinations, according to information made available by the CBSE.

The scholarships will be divided equally among boys and girls — 41,000 each. Students who pursue graduate or postgraduate studies in colleges and universities or join professional courses such as medicine and engineering in the country will be considered for it. Once awarded, the scholarship will be renewed yearly till the completion of the course, provided certain conditions are met.

To be considered for the scheme, the students should belong to the non-creamy layer as officially defined by the Department of Personnel and Training and not have availed of any other scholarship. The scheme will also be subject to reservation. The students will have to submit, among other things, an income affidavit as well as a joining report from the head of the institution where the candidate has joined for the undergraduate course.

For graduate study, the scholarship amount will be Rs.1,000 a month for the first three years for college and university courses and Rs.2,000 a month for postgraduate study.

Students pursuing professional courses will receive Rs.2,000 a month in the fourth and fifth years. The scholarship will be disbursed 10 months in an academic year.

Conditions
The yearly renewal of the scholarship will depend on the student being promoted and progressing to the next year or semester of study and securing 60 per cent or more marks in aggregate in the semester or annual examinations concerned. It will also be subject to meeting attendance requirements. Maintaining discipline is also a requirement and students who give rise to complaints of ragging could forfeit their scholarship.

After earmarking the share of CBSE and ICSE students, the scholarships will be divided among the State Boards based on the population in the 18 to 25 age group in the respective States. The scholarships will be allocated in a 3:2:1 ratio among students passing out of the science, commerce and humanities streams, with an equal number going to both boys and girls. The selection will be on the basis of merit within the specified quotas.

The detailed guidelines relating to the scheme and instructions for CBSE stream candidates have been posted on the Board’s website: www.cbse.nic.in.

The last date for the submission of scholarship applications for candidates who come under the CBSE stream is November 30.

Though November 5 was the deadline fixed earlier it has been extended, CBSE sources told The Hindu EducationPlus.

Cut-off marks
Students are being provisionally considered for the award of scholarships based on the criteria of cut-off marks in their Senior School Certificate Examination 2008 conducted by the CBSE (depending on the number of scholarships available). The cut-off marks specified is an aggregate of 80 per cent and above in the first five subjects for candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes categories (for all streams). For the general category, the marks are 90 per cent and above for the science stream; 87 per cent and above for the commerce stream; and 80 per cent and above for arts and other streams. However, the offer is a provisional one and the final selection will depend on the number of scholarships available under the CBSE quota under each stream and the students being able to satisfy the eligibility criteria

The CBSE also stated that letters have been despatched to 18,475 students on the basis of the cut-off marks specified, and that these may be collected from the schools from which they have passed Class XII this year.

The authorities also said that candidates who satisfy the eligibility criteria for the scholarship, including the specified aggregate cut-off marks in the 2008 Class XII examination, could visit the Board’s website and fill up the applications as per the instructions posted there.

Applications can be made through the online and off-line modes.