Question : National Talent Search Examination

(a) whether the Government identifies and recognises students with high intellect and academic talent and provides scholarships under the National Talent Search (NTS) Scheme in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the salient features of the scheme along with the number of scholarships awarded under the scheme, for the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise;
(c) the extent to which the Government has been able to nurture scientific temper amongst students, as a result of this scholarship scheme;
(d) whether the Government has any proposal to set up Model Science Labs in the country and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise; and
(e) the details of funds allocated, released and expenditure incurred on setting up of such labs during the above period, State/UT-wise?

MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) to (e) A statement is laid on the table of the House.

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 301 ASKED BY SHRI NAGENDRA KUMAR PRADHAN REGARDING NATIONAL TALENT SEARCH EXAMINATION, DUE FOR ANSWER ON 21.12.2015.


(a) & (b) Yes, Madam. The National Talent Search (NTS) Scheme is a prestigious school level scholarship scheme, which aims at identification of talented students and awarding them scholarship to pursue their further studies and to nurture their talent. The salient features of the scheme are as under:


• Every year about 1000 scholarships are awarded.

• Students who are studying in Class X in any recognized school in the country are eligible to appear in the NTS examination.

• Talented students are identified through two- tier examination process. NTS Stage-one is conducted by States and Union Territories, which is a screening exam. There is quota earmarked for all the States/ UTs. The state quota is computed on the basis of the student’s enrolment at secondary level with a minimum of 10 for Union Territory and 25 for a State.

• Only the students selected by the States/UTs on the basis of their screening examination are eligible to appear in the stage-II examination.

• NTS Stage II examination is conducted by the National Council of Educational Research & Training (NCERT)

• There is a provision of reservation for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates based on national norms of 15 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively. There is also provision of 3 percent reservation for physically challenged students.

• .The scholarship is provided at the following rates from the year 2014-15 :

Scholarship of Rs. 1250/- per month for classes XI & XII.
Scholarship of Rs. 2000/- per month for under graduate and post graduate programmes.
Amount of scholarship for Ph.D in accordance with University Grants Commission (UGC) norms.

• The awardees studying Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, Languages, Commerce, Vocational Studies and Fine Arts are eligible to receive scholarship upto Ph.D. level, whereas the awardees studying professional courses in medicine, engineering, technology, management and law, are eligible to receive the scholarship upto second degree level.

• In order to nurture the talent of these young scholars over the years, NCERT, in collaboration with institutes of high repute such as Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs) conducts one-time nurturance programme (face to face mode) for awardees. The nurturance programme mainly focuses on providing awareness and opportunities to the awardees to excel in the academic area of their interest by way of exposing them to different areas of knowledge.

The State/UT wise details of number of scholarships awarded under the Scheme for the last 3 years and the current year are at Annexure-I.
(c) Though development of scientific temper is expected to be indirect outcome of this Scheme, the extent of the same has not been measured or quantified so far.

(d) The Central Government has launched the Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA), a convergent framework across Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Higher Education, which aims to encourage children towards learning Science and Mathematics and to develop a sense of curiosity and interest in inside and outside classroom activities related to Science and Mathematics. One of the interventions under RAA is strengthening of school Science and Mathematics laboratories. The RAA framework provides for strengthening of School Science laboratories based on set standards.

(e) In 2015-16, under RMSA, Rs. 10826.57 lakh has been approved under the initiative for various activities including training of science and mathematics teachers, organization of science exhibitions at District, State and National level, special teaching for learning enhancement, provision of Maths and Science kits and excursion trips to science museums etc. The State wise approval for Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan under RMSA is at Annexure- II.

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