According to an official statement issued on the CBSE website, the SHRESHTHA plan is only applicable to private residential schools connected with the CBSE up to class XII.
According to the announcement, the initiative is only available to schools that have been in existence for five years or more and have achieved a pass rate of 75% or above in classes X and XII in the previous three years. Schools must have appropriate infrastructure to accommodate at least 10 SC students in grades IX and XI, and the school’s status must be residential, according to OASIS statistics. Students can enter in classes IX and XI and continue their study until they reach class XII.
Schools chosen for the Scheme by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (DoSJE) must include this information on their website, including year-by-year, grade-by-grade admissions.
Every year, the National Testing Agency (NTA) conducts the National Entrance Test for SHRESHTA (NETS), which selects 3,000 students for the scheme. School allocation is done through an online counselling procedure, and pupils are assigned seats based on their merit and preferences.
The goal of SHRESHTA is to expand the reach of the government’s development intervention and fill the gap in service-deficient SCs dominant areas, in the sector of education through the efforts of grant-in-aid institutions (run by NGOs) and residential high schools offering high-quality education, and to provide an environment for socioeconomic uplift and overall development of the Scheduled Castes (SCs). The Scheme has been further amended to make it simpler for deserving SC kids to attend the top institutions in the country for their educational and holistic development, safeguarding their future chances.
Each year, a specified number of meritorious SC students from States/UTs will be selected through the National Entrance Test for SHRESHTA (NETS) to be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and admitted to the best private residential schools affiliated with CBSE/State Boards in classes IX and XI for completion of education up to the XII standard.
After determining the particular academic needs, provisions have been made for a bridging course in the selected schools for Scheme students outside of school hours. The bridging course will primarily focus on improving the student’s capacity to readily adjust to the educational environment.
The Ministry would monitor the growth of the students on a regular basis. Schools/Hostels managed by VOs/NGOs and other organizations with higher classes (up to class 12) that have previously received Grant-in-aid will be continued, subject to satisfactory performance.
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