New Delhi: The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched the ‘Scheme for Residential Education for Students in High School in Targeted Areas’ (SHRESHTA), aimed at promoting quality education and empowering students belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community.
This initiative aims to select approximately 3,000 exceptionally talented SC students annually and facilitate their admission to the most prestigious private residential schools across the country. Its primary goal is to promote education and uplift the socio-economic status of these students.
According to the ministry’s official statement, the main objectives of this effort are to increase the reach of government development programmes and close service gaps in regions of the education sector that are mostly populated by SC populations.
Key Objectives of SHRESTHA Scheme
- The scheme aims to create an environment that will elevate the socio-economic status and overall development of SC students, offering an enhanced future for them.
- It will also promote cooperation between residential high schools that provide high-quality education and grant-in-aid institutions run by non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
- The implementation of the system is divided into two different modes. The best private residential schools that are associated with the CBSE and State Board are the SHRESHTA institutions.
- In line with this, a predetermined number of exceptional SC students will be chosen each year from among the States and Union Territories (UTs) via the National Entrance Test for SHRESHTA (NETS), administered by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
- The children will subsequently be accepted to the top private residential schools connected to the CBSE/State Boards to complete their ninth through twelfth-grade education.
- A selection committee chooses these schools based on their exceptional performance; schools boasting more than 75% pass rates for classes 10 and 12 over the previous three years are chosen for admittance.
SHRESHTA Scheme: Selection criteria
- Approximately 3,000 SC children, whose parents’ combined annual income is under 2.5 lakh rupees, will be selected by the National Testing Agency (NTA), each year.
- Based on the merit, students will have a variety of school options.
- Under this scheme, entire fees for each student, including mess and tuition for the school, will be paid by the Centre.
- The specific fees that are acceptable for each class are: 9th: ₹ 1,00,000; 10th: ₹ 1,10,000; 11th: ₹ 1,25,000; 12th: ₹ 1,35,000.
