BENGALURU: In a small village of Mandya district, 25 km away from the taluk headquarters, where there is no proper public transportation connectivity, there is a government high school that has got national-level recognition. Fifty-four Class 8 students of a school located at Maragoudanahalli in Malavalli taluk, have got selected for a scholarship under the National Means cum Merit Scholarship (NMMS). It is provided by the Union Ministry for Human Resource Development (MHRD) for the 2018-19 academic year. These students are part of a total of 117 students from the entire Mandya district who are eligible for the scholarship.
Of the 151 students admitted to Class 8 during 2018-19 academic year, 120 students appeared for the exams, of which 54 were selected.NMMS is a national-level talent search examination conducted by MHRD every year, wherein students who clear the exams are eligible to get Rs 12,000 annual scholarship, which will continue until the students complete their higher education. This is under the condition that the students who get selected for the scholarship must pass the rest of the classes by securing a minimum of 60 per cent.
The proud villagers, ecstatic at the achievement of the 54 students, have put up flexes with the pictures of these children across their village and nearby villages to show off their achievements. "This was possible because of the efforts from both students and the school teachers. We have 12 teachers, including me, and we have given special coaching to these kids during the Dasara vacation by providing them residential training," said AS Devaraju, the proud head master of the school.
During Dasara vacations, the school had conducted special coaching classes for these children who were registered for NMMS exams. NMMS was conducted in December 2018 and January 2019, and the results were announced in March.