COIMBATORE: More than six thousand Class VIII students appeared for National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship (NMMS) exam from Coimbatore this year, but 195 students cleared the exam. The poor performance has spurred demands from teachers that students be trained for the exam right from the beginning of an academic year rather than putting them through a short-term course.
D Sekar (name changed), headmaster of panchayat union middle school in Periyanaickenpalayam, said "Thirteen students from the school sat for the exam, but only one cleared it with a score of 76 out of 180 marks. Further, only three per cent of students from Coimbatore passed the exam. The school education department gave the students online coaching at the eleventh hour which was not enough."
D Jayapriya, a teacher, said, "For the first time, the district school education department conducted coaching classes for NMMS aspirants last year by appointing teachers specially to handle online classes. We welcome this move."
Students are attending physical classes after a tw o year gap, which affected their learning capability. They did not focus on the portion of the Mental Ability Test (MAT) and Scholastic Ability Test. This is also the reasons for the poor results, "she added.
Tamil Nadu Elementary School Teacher Federation district secretary C Arasu told TNIE, "Many students complained that MAT and SAT portions were tough. We request the school education department to give the materials for NMMS through the SCERT."
He added that it is the responsibility of teachers to prepare students for NMMS, but most teachers do not.
When asked about Coimbatore's performance, Chief Educational Officer N Geetha said they are analyzing exam result and assured that corrective steps would taken.
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What is NMMS
The NMMS is conducted by the Union government for Class VIII students in government and aided schools across the country. Successful students would get scholarship of Rs 12,000 per annum until they complete their Class XII.