Government launches SRESHTA scheme for SC students

NOIDA: Aspiring to become IAS officers and entrepreneurs, several students belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) took a step towards fulfilling their dream after getting selected for a newly-launched government scheme wherein they can study at private residential schools free of cost. Union minister for social justice and empowerment Virendra Kumar launched the Scheme for Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Targeted Areas (SRESHTA) which aims to provide quality education and opportunities to the poorest SC students, as per the constitutional mandate.

Under the scheme, SC students from across states and UTs are selected through a transparent mechanism of a National Entrance Test for SRESHTA (NETS), conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). Several students were awarded scholarships under SRESHTA at the event by Kumar.

Anjana, 17, said this scheme will help her in fulfilling her dream of becoming an entrepreneur and launching a start-up. She said she faced difficulty in getting a quality education at the government school she was studying in Ghaziabad. "There were no science teachers in any nearby government schools and also no lab facility," she said. Anjana, who will now study at Mahamaya Ballika Inter college under the scheme, where the launch event was also held, said she is hoping to fulfil her mother's dream of scoring well in the Class 12 examination.

Under the scheme, 177 private schools have been identified, and 1,300 seats in Class 9 and 1,700 seats in Class 11 are reserved for these students. To qualify for the scheme, the parental income of the students shall not be more than Rs 2.5 lakh per year and the scholarship will cover school fees (including tuition fees) and hostel fees (including mess charges). The scholarship amount for Class 9 is Rs 1 lakh, Class 10 Rs 1.10 lakh, Class 11 Rs 1.25 lakh and Class 12 is Rs 1.35 lakh per annum.

Also read | Space short, MBBS students of UP medical college allege they took turns to go to campus

Anjali Singh, 14, said she was facing many difficulties in her previous school in Najafgarh in Delhi. "Government school teachers do not pay attention to students and there were lack of facilities so when I found about this scheme, I jumped at the opportunity. I am very excited for my future now," Singh who aspires to become a doctor, said.

Fourteen-year-old Astitva Anand said he hopes to be more confident in his new school. "There was no atmosphere to study in my previous school in Meerut due to which I lost my confidence to do anything in life. I hope staying in a hostel, I will get my confidence back and could pursue my dream of becoming a doctor," he said.

Also read | NAS 2021: Class 3 to Class 8, SC, SC, OBC students steadily fall behind peers

Addressing the students here, Kumar said that through the scheme, the government aims to empower students from the SC community. "We want to give them the same exposure that any other student studying in a good school would get," he said. He said every year, the National Testing Agency would conduct a nationwide computer-based test and the admission to schools would be based on the merit obtained in the nationwide test. The selected students would be offered choices of the schools through a web-based counselling system, he added.