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Punjab SCERT postpones scholarship exams scheduled for today, tomorrow
PSTSE will now be held on December 19 while NTSE and NMMS will be conducted on December 20
The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) have postponed the National Means and Merit Scholarship (NMMS) exam and Punjab State Talent Search Exam (PSTSE), and National Talent Search Exam (NTSE) scheduled to be held on December 12 and 13 in the state due to administrative reasons.
A letter regarding the same was issued by council director Jagtar Kulria on Friday afternoon, a day before the PSTSE was scheduled to be held.
PSTSE, which is conducted annually by the state government for students of classes 8 and 10 to provide financial help, will now be held on December 19. NTSE (stage 1), a national level scholarship exam conducted for Class 10 students, and NMMS, a centrally sponsored scheme for Class 8 students, will now be held on December 20. A total of 5,561 students have registered online to appear for PSTSE, 4,379 for NMMS, and 4,376 for NTSE.
As per the council, the time, roll number, and centres will remain the same. New admit cards will not be issued. This move by the council will give extra time to students to prepare for the exam.
The principals of over 50 government schools had been on their toes on Friday to make arrangements for the upcoming scholarship exams. Teachers of the district stated that they had even made transportation arrangements to ferry the students to the exam centres.
A government school principal said, “We had got the rooms sanitised and had made proper seating plans to ensure social distancing, but now the authorities have postponed the exams. Teachers were informed about their examination duty on Friday morning and had to be informed about the postponement in the evening.”
Students who qualify for the NTSE, become eligible for an annual scholarship of Rs 15,000 (Rs 1,250 per month) for classes 11 to 12, and Rs 2,000 per month at the undergraduate level. The students who qualify NMMS exam become eligible for Rs 12,000 per annum (Rs 1,000 per month) scholarship for four years from Class 9 to 12. Those who crack PSTSE, get Rs 200 every month till the completion of Class 12.
