Various types of scholarship and fee waiver schemes are implemented in India to provide equal opportunity of education to all the students of both the central and state governments. With this type of scheme they ensure quality education for all the students. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India recently launched a new scheme named SHRESHTA (Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Target Areas) with an aim to provide best in class learning experience to the meritorious students of SC category in Best private residential schools in the country.
Let’s know about the SHRESHTA
SHRESHTA is an acronym of Scheme for Residential Education for Students in Higher Classes in Target Areas which is used by government officials and people to indicate this beneficial scheme. Through this scheme, about 3,000 seats will be provided to the students of class 9th and 11th wholly funded by the Government of India. To take advantage of this scheme, students have to qualify the exam called National Entrance Test for SHRESHTA (NETS) conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
Objectives of SHRESHTA
- To increase the reach of development initiatives of the Government.
- To fill the gap in service-deprived Scheduled Castes (SCs) dominant areas in the field of education in collaboration with voluntary organizations.
- To provide an environment for the socio-economic upliftment and overall development of the members of Scheduled Castes (SCs).
- To provide access to high quality education to bright Scheduled Caste (SC) students so that they can explore future opportunities.
Residential schools under SHRESHTA scheme
Students who qualify the NETS exam will be eligible for admission in residential schools affiliated to
CBSE who have given their consent to the Government of India. For this the scholarship amount which includes school fees and hostel fees will be paid directly to the schools. To apply under SHRESHTA scheme a school must be affiliated to CBSE up to class 12th, and operated for five years or more in the last three years with a pass percentage of 75% or more in class 10th and 12th in the last three years.
Let’s know about NETS
Like SHRESHTA, NETS is also an acronym for National Entrance Test for SHRESHTA which is conducted by NTA to screen the best bonafide students to avail the benefits of SHRESHTA Scheme. This exam consists of one paper consisting of four sections Mathematics, Science, Social Science and General Awareness which will be based on NCERT syllabus of class 8 for admission in class 9 and class 10th syllabus for admission in class 11th. The language of the exam will be bilingual, which is English and Hindi and is conducted in all the states and union territories of India.
Eligibility to appear in NETS
The student must be a member of the Scheduled Caste category.
She/he is studying in class 8th or 10th in the current academic year to take admission in class IX or XI.
The annual income of the parents of the concerned student should be less than 2.5 lakhs.
NETS Exam Details
| Particulars | Details |
|---|
| Mode of Application | Online |
| Mode of Examination | Offline (Pen-Paper Mode) |
| Medium of Question Paper | Bilingual (Hindi and English)* |
| Syllabus of Examination | NCERT Syllabus of Class 8th for admission in class 9th and NCERT Syllabus of Class 10th for admission in class 11th. |
| Type of Questions | Multiple Type Questions |
| Duration of Examination | 03 Hours (180 minutes) |
| Negative Marking | No |
| Application Fee | Nil |
| Website | https://shreshta.nta.nic.in/ |
- In case of any ambiguity in the translation of any question, the English version will be treated as final.
Pattern of Examination
| Subject | No of Questions | Marks |
|---|
| Mathematics | 30 | 120 |
| Science | 20 | 80 |
| Social Science | 25 | 100 |
| General Awareness/Knowledge | 25 | 100 |
| Total | 100 | 400 |
Application Procedure
Before applying, the candidate must have the following particulars:
(i) A valid and active personal email ID or mobile number (their own or that of their parents). NTA verifies these details by sharing registration and password and can use them to send admit card links for examination and counseling.
(ii) Aadhaar number (optional) or valid ID card
(ii) Scanned Images (in JPG or JPEG format)
His/her recent passport size, colour photograph (file size should be between 10 kb to 200 kb)
and Signature (in English and in blue or black ink on white paper). (The file size should be between 4kb to 30kb)
(iii) The following certificates (in PDF format and file size should be between 50kb to 300kb)
Category Certificate (SC) [An undertaking by the candidate in case of non-availability of Caste Certificate, which can be downloaded from NTA website (A clear printout on A4 size paper, duly filled.)
Income certificate (optional)~~
A candidate can successfully apply for NETS exam after reading the information bulletin. The application process is categorized into 2 stages:
Step 1: Application Registration
- Steps to be followed in this stage
- Candidates should visit the Company’s website: https://shreshta.nta.nic.in
- Click on the “Registration for SHRESHTA-2022” option which will open a new tab named https://examinationservices.nic.in
- Now click on “New Registration” to register yourself.
- After reading all the instructions given on the page carefully, the candidate has to click on “I have downloaded the Information Bulletin of SHRESHTA - 2022, read and understood all the Instructions therein as well as those mentioned above, and will fill up the online Application Form for the SHRESHTA – 2022 accordingly.” to go ahead.
- After this a new page will appear where candidates have to fill in their name, their mother and father name, date of birth, mobile number (and email address) and complete postal address correctly and register their candidature for NETS on NTA website.
Step 2: Fill the complete application form
- After getting the registration number, a candidate has to login with the provisional registration number and password and fill the details carefully.
- After that they have to upload the particulars like images and certificates. On successful filling of the application, a confirmation page of the online application form will be generated for the candidate.
- A candidate is required to take a printout of the confirmation page which contains the details of the candidate while filling the application. They can use it for further admission processes in the near future.
Issuance of Admit Card and Exam
- An e-admit card will be issued provisionally to the candidates through the NTA website, subject to fulfillment of the eligibility conditions.
For this, candidates will have to visit NTA website by providing details about:
(i) registration number
(ii) password and
(iii) date of birth
- Candidates must affix a recent recognisable photograph on the printed admit card.
Appearing in NETS Exam
- The candidates will be required to appear at the examination centre with
(i) an admit card,
(ii) one passport size photograph (same as uploaded on the online application form) to be pasted at the specified place in the attendance sheet at the centre during the examination,
(iii) Any one of the authorised photo ID (Original, valid and non-expired) – School Identity Card / Passport / Aadhar Card (with photo) / E-Aadhaar with photo / Ration Card with photo / Bank Passbook along with photograph,
(iv) SC certificate and
(v) a simple transparent blue/black ballpoint pen.
- A candidate will have to appear for the examination on the date given in the respective admit card at his/her own risk and expense.
- Candidates will have to report themselves at the examination venue before the commencement time of the examination as mentioned on the admit card for various formalities such as frisking, biometric registration/record of manual attendance by the invigilator, document verification/admission Cross-checking of admit card, Signature, and Photo matching (to be completed by the Inspector), etc.
- Candidates reporting late after the reporting time specified on the admit card for the examination or unable to produce the physical admit card will not be allowed to take the examination.
- Candidates are advised to keep their admit card safe in good condition for future reference after appearing in the examination.
Result declaration and admission process
- The scores of the NETS exam will be made live on the NTA website: https://shreshta.nta.nic.in after successful completion of the evaluation of response sheets of candidates.
- No re-evaluation/re-checking of candidates’ response sheets will be entertained or entertained in any respect.
- Candidates fulfilling the eligibility will get admission in the school of their choice.
