Over 6,000 TN students selected for NMMS scholarship

CHENNAI: As many as 6,695 students across Tamil Nadu have cracked the exams held for the National Means-cum-Merit (NMMS) scholarship in February. The result was announced on Saturday, and the selected students will get a scholarship of Rs 1,000 per month for the period from Class 9 to Class 12.

In the exams held in February, for the 2024-25 academic year, as many as 508 students were selected from Tirunelveli, the highest in the state, followed by 479 students from Salem and 470 students from Thoothukudi districts.

However, among 38 districts, Chennai stood in 14th position with just 168 students selected for the scholarship.

Under the Union Ministry of Education, the NMMS exams are conducted by the Directorate of Government Examination (DGE) every year. The exams are conducted for Class 8 students from economically weaker backgrounds who have shown meritorious academic performances so far.

As per the data from the education department, over 2.30 lakh students across the state have applied for the exam. Among them, 6,695 Class 8 students have been selected.

And, among the selected students, 1,173 students belong to the OBC category, 1,992 students belong to the general category, 234 students to the Backward Class (Muslims), and 1,338 students to the MBC category.

Furthermore, 995 students belong to SC, 198 students to Scheduled Caste Arunthathiyar, 64 students to ST, and 79 students to the differently-abled category.

As per the modalities of the scheme, only those hailing from families with a total annual income less than Rs 1.5 lakh are eligible to apply for the scholarship. The Class 8 students who clear the test will start receiving a monthly scholarship of Rs 1,000 per month from classes 9 to 12.

Meanwhile, in the NMMS exam held for the last academic year, 5,890 Class 8 students had cleared the exam. And, Salem district topped the list with as many as 353 students successfully clearing the exam.