'Prioritize govt students on National Means Cum-Merit Scholarship list'

AHMEDABAD: An association of primary schoolteachers has written to the state education minister, asking students from government schools be accorded priority on the merit list for the National Means Cum-Merit Scholarship (NMMS), in case of identical scores.
On Saturday, the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board announced the merit list for the NMMS exam conducted in February.The board said 5,096 of the 97,803 students who cleared the exam have been selected for the scholarship.
The NMMS is a Union government programme that aims to provide financial support to underprivileged students of Class 8 in grant-in-aid or government schools so they can complete their education till Class 12. These students are given Rs 12,000 per annum.
The Prathmik Shaikshik Mahasangh wrote as many students from government schools had scored the same as those from private schools, but the merit list included the private school students after considering their age.
The association said the board should accord priority to government students and give them the scholarship regardless of the age criteria. The letter said if the scores of a private school student and a government school student are the same, both should be included on the merit list.