Bhopal: Rural Students Surpass Urban Peers In Securing National Merit Scholarship

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The schools in urban areas are lagging behind in claiming the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship (NMMS). The schools in rural areas have emerged as frontrunners in securing the NMMS scholarship in the state, overshadowing their urban counterparts.

In the recent survey conducted by the Rajya Shiksha Kendra to gauge the performance of schools in claiming the NMMS scholarship, among the top 100 schools in the state, a majority of 87 hail from rural areas, while only 13 schools from urban regions managed to secure a spot on the list.

This disparity becomes more pronounced with the absence of any school from 12 districts making it to the top 100 schools. The top performing schools of the districts is Sidhi, 10 schools excelled, followed closely by 9 schools in Seoni and 5 each in Shajapur and Dewas.

Additionally, 4 schools from Dindori, Sagar, Satna, Damoh, Gwalior, and Rewa and 2 schools from Panna, Indore, Datia, Betul, Indore, Raisen, Sehore, Bhind, Ashoknagar, Vidisha, and Narsinghpur have secured positions in the top 100 list.

On the contrary, only 1 school each from Bhopal, Narmadapuram, Mandsaur, Burhanpur, Katni, Harda, Shivpuri, Barwani, Singrauli, Guna, Dhar, Alirajpur, Niwari, Morena, Anuppur, and Rajgarh clinched spots in the top 100 schools.

Similarly, in the NMMS top 24 hostels, Dindori excelled, followed by Raisen, Dhar, Barwani, and Damoh. Bhopal is on the 24th spot. To gain a position on the list, at least four students from a hostel need to be selected for the NMMS exam.

The director of school education department, Dhanraju S, said, “This is the first time this in-depth analysis of the scholarship scheme has been done. Positive outcomes will be celebrated, while schools consistently falling behind may face penalties for underperformance.”

2.62 lakh students took NMMS exam

The criteria for a school to be included in the top 100 require at least three students to qualify for the NMMS exam. The NMMS exam was conducted by state education department, catering to 8th-grade students, witnessed participation from 2.62 lakh students from across the school of the state.

Administered by the Central School Education and Literacy Department, the NMMS offers Rs 12,000 in annual scholarships from 9th to 12th grade. This initiative aims to support students with humble backgrounds, requiring parents’ annual income to be less than 3.5 lakh.