CHENNAI: The integrated school education department has directed all chief education officers to advise children with proficiency in art forms, in the age group of 10-14, to apply for the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training’s Cultural Talent Search Scholarship. Under this, students will be given Rs 3,600 per year and can also claim reimbursement of fees up to Rs 9,000 paid to teachers for training.
A maximum of 650 scholarships will be awarded for each year, of which 100 is earmarked for SC/ST, 20 for differently-abled, 30 for children active in the field of creative writing/literary arts and 125 for children from families of traditional artists.
Children applying should have three years of training in the art forms and a certain level of proficiency. While the scholarship is for two years initially, it can be extended till enrolling in college by submitting half-yearly progress reports. Students who have training in various cultural fields such as traditional forms of music, dance, drama, painting, sculpture, crafts and literary arts among others can apply.
The applications will be scrutinised by the central selection committee, following which interviews will be conducted from October to award the scholarship. Priority will be given to students from poor economic backgrounds, said the letter from the integrated education department.