National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS)

About National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS)

• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme launched in May, 2008.
• Objective: Award scholarships to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to arrest their dropout at class VIII and encourage them to continue the study at secondary stage.

Benefits:

• One lakh fresh scholarshipsare awarded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to selected students every year for study in classes from IX to XII in recognized Government, Government-aided, and local body schools.
• The amount of scholarship is Rs. 12000/- per annum (Rs. 1000/- per month) per student.
• NMMSS scholarships are disbursed directly into the bank accounts of selected students by electronic transfer through Public Financial Management System (PFMS) following DBT mode. 

Eligibility criteria:

• Students whose parental income from all sources is not more than Rs. 3,50,000/- per annum are eligible to avail the scholarship. 
• The students must have minimum of 55 % marks or equivalent grade in Class VII examination for appearing in selection test for award of scholarship (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST students).
• The students should bestudying as regular student in a Government, Government-aided and local body school. 
• The students studying in the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and residential schools are not eligible for the scholarships under the NMMSS.
• There is reservation as per State Government norms.

Selection Test:

• Each State and UT conducts its own test to select students for awarding the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship.
• NMMSS is boarded on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) - a one stop platform for scholarship schemes given to students. 

Q1) What are Government Aided schools?

Government aided schools are the education institutions that are owned by the private management. But the rules and regulations followed here are the same as that of the public schools. The curriculum, study materials, syllabus, examinations, etc. for each class of education are done according to the government rules. For the high school classes the final examinations will be the same as that of the public schools. The fee structure, PTA fund, etc will be collected from the students according to the rules formulated by the government for each school.

Source: NMMS Scholarship 2023-24 registration for Classes 9 to 12 begins at scholarships.gov.in; Check eligibility