Srinagar: Four districts of Kashmir saw dismal response to the government of India’s scholarship scheme because of school education department failure in raising awareness
among students about the scheme.
The data accessed by Kashmir Reader shows that not a single student came forward in Kupwara, Shopian, Pulwama and Ganderbal districts for the National Merit cum Means
Scholarship (NMMS) 2019-20.
The scholarship provides an underprivileged student admitted at government schools Rs 12000 a year from classes 9 to 12.
Elsewhere, in north Kashmir’s Bandipora, only four students enrolled for NMMS of which a lone student wrote the scholarship test conducted on December 7.
Similarly, 39 and 21 students were enrolled in Budgam and Baramulla districts respectively and of them only 31 and 16 students appeared the test.
As reported by Kashmir Reader, over 200 students were deprived of this year’s NMMS allegedly due to negligence by officials in the School Education Department. Although 533
students had applied for NMMS 2019-20, only 306 students actually appeared in the test.
Last year also, the School Education Department, had failed to admit any student in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district as per official figures.
A lone student was enrolled by the department in Ganderbal district while as only 2 were enrolled in Baramulla.
Six and nine students each in Srinagar and Kupwara, and Shopian and Pulwama had qualified for last year’s NMMS. A meagre 111 students had qualified the scholarship test
prompting officials to conduct a supplementary exam on September 30 this year in which 152 additional students had been selected for the scholarship.
A top official associated with the NMMS said the left out students had been deprived from the financial benefits of the scholarship as concerned officials in the School
Education Department did not bother to aware them about the scheme and update them about the scholarship test dates as a result of which they missed the exam.
Director School Education Kashmir Dr Mohammad Younis Malik said he will look into the matter.

Irshad Khan