Scholarship Examination for School Students - Maharashtra

A Presentation giving details of the Govt. Merit Scholarship Examination for students of std.5th & 8th studying in the recognized schools of Maharashtra State - India

1. GOVERNMENT SCHOLARSHIP EXAMINATION - FOR SCHOOL STUDENTS OF MAHARASHTRA Prepared by: Najma Kazi [email protected]

2. INTRODUCTION Government of Maharashtra conducts merit-based Scholarship Examination every year. For class 5 ( PRE-UPPER PRIMARY SCHOLARSHIP EXAMINATION - PUP) & Class 8 ( PRE- SECONDARY SCHOLARSHIP EXAMINATION - PSS) students. The assessment & evaluation process is fully computerized. Every year lakhs of students from all over the state appear for the tests. O ut of which around sixteen thousand each from std. 5 th & 8th get selected for receiving the Scholarship. For Scholarship Exam 2021, across the Maharashtra state, 47,612 schools have registered while a total of 6,32,478 students have applied, 3,88,335 for class V and 2,44,143 for class VIII."

3. INTRODUCTION MSCE (Maharashtra State Council of Examination) is the state-level organization responsible for the conduct of scholarship examinations in Maharashtra. These scholarship exams are undertaken to assist economically weaker meritorious students financially. MSCE conducts the exam on the 2 nd or 3 rd Sunday of February every year. The scholarships are awarded to the meritorious candidates based on their Exam scores and Merit.

4. OBJECTIVES To inculcate the habit of healthy competitive spirit among the students. To empower students for in-depth subject knowledge. To motivate the bright students to plan their future career. To provide financial support to the meritorious students. To enhance the cognitive skills of the students. To ensure that every deserving student gets a platform to test his/her academic skills. To improve the performance of students in various competitive exams. To provide an opportunity to the smart & dedicated teachers in identifying & supporting the gifted students.

5. ADVANTAGES Recognition from Government gives confidence to pursue future goals. Gaining extra in-depth knowledge helps in better performance in regular exams. Time Management, shortcuts & tricks learnt are useful for regular exam papers. Merit Scholarship makes the resume of the student standout. It will help in future admissions, interviews & jobs. Grooms the personality through training & practice. Provides early experience & practice for appearing in Competitive Examinations. Helps in brand & Image building of the School. Rewards & Recognition to meritorious students inspires & motivates the junior students.

6. SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT In Urban & Rural Division, Successful, Eligible S elected candidates of std.5 th receive Rs.100 per month for a period of three years & of std.8 th receive Rs. 150 per month for two years. (Subject to the condition that the awardees shall continue their studies in school with regular attendance, good conduct & satisfactory academic progress.)

7. EXAM PATTERN Mode of Exam:  Offline written Language of Exam: (8) Marathi/ English/ Hindi/ Gujarati/ Telugu/ Kannada/ Urdu/ Sindhi For Semi English : In Maths & Intelligence test, two question papers will be provided in English as well as in their medium of instruction . Types of questions:  Objective & multiple-choice questions. Number of papers:  TWO Each question paper will have four different sets. A, B, C, D Number of questions per paper:  75 Duration of Exam:  90 minutes for each paper Marks per question:  2 Negative marking:  Nil

8. MARKING SCHEME Difficulty level of Questions : (for std. 5 th & 8 th ) Easy questions – 30% Moderately difficult questions - 40% Difficult questions – 30% Important for std. 8 th only : 20% questions In the std.8 papers will have two options out of 4 which will be correct answers. It will be mandatory for the students to mark both correct options in such cases.   SUBJECT NUMBER OF QUESTIONS MARKS PAPER – I (1.5 Hrs.)     First Language 25 50 Mathematics 50 100 Total 75 150 PAPER – II (1.5 Hrs.)     Third language 25 50 Intelligence Test 50 100 Total 75 150

9. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA Student should be a resident of Maharashtra state & the Parent should be residing in Maharashtra for not less than 15 years. Student should be studying in std.5 th or std. 8 th of a Govt. Recognised Govt./Aided/Un-aided/Permanently Un-aided/ Self-Financed School of Maharashtra. Age Criteria : Student’s age as on 1 st June of the appearing academic year should not be more than as specified in the table below. CLASS For General Category For Reserved & PH Category Std.5 11 Years 15 Years Std.8 14 Years 18 Years

10. SCHOLARSHIP FOR OTHER BOARDS For C.B.S.E & I.C.S.E. Board Schools : (Govt. Order FED-4014/643/Pr.no.4/ S.D-5, Dated 15/11/2016)   Students of C.B.S.E & I.C.S.E Boards can appear for the Scholarship Exam. The above age criteria & other rules will be applicable to them. An independent merit list will be prepared for the students of these Boards. The top 50 students from the above merit list will be awarded the Certificate & the Mark list. No Cash amount will be given to these students. All the remaining students will receive their mark list only.

11. PASSING CRITERIA Students appearing for Scholarship Exams will not be declared Fail or Pass but Eligible or Ineligible. To be eligible for the Scholarship, scoring minimum 40 % marks in each paper is a must. Students scoring less than 40 % marks in one or both papers will be ineligible for the Scholarship. All students with cut off marks are not eligible for Scholarship as the no. of scholarships are limited. Scholarships are awarded to those who fulfil the criteria decided by the examining body. In case of a tie, higher percentage of marks in the second paper or seniority of age will be the deciding factor. Students will be declared eligible as per the district wise approved no. of Scholarships.

12. SYLLABUS FOR THE EXAM (Syllabus prepared by MSCERT for std.1 to 5 for PUP & for std.1 to 8 for PSS)

13. SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES AT SCHOOL Creating awareness: Engaging Stakeholders for awareness & support. (Management, Parents, Teachers, Students) Selection of Teachers: Based on their Qualification, Experience, Expertise, Aptitude, Interest, Motivation & Performance in solving scholarship papers. Training of selected Teachers: Conducting Subject-wise workshops by External Experts. Selection of Students: Based on past Academic Performance, Aptitude, Interests, and Performance in trial tests etc. Coaching Time: Before School, Weekends & Holidays. Coaching Methods: Solving Papers, Shortcuts, Practice, Mental sums, Time Management, Regular Testing, Assessment & Analysis of the Performance. Incentives for Teachers: Freehand, Extra Payment, Awards & Recognition.

14. SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES AT SCHOOL Appointing a Co-Ordinator: For Supervising, Communicating, Maintaining records of extra classes, Attendance, Performance in Practice Tests, Feedback, Remuneration etc. Financials : Nominal Fees to be charged annually for payments to the Experts, Co-Ordinator, Teachers & Support Staff. Budget to be prepared. Duration: Students to be selected in class IV & VII or earlier. Planning & preparing budget to be done for 18-20 months. Study Materials: Question Banks, Scholarship books by Government & Private Publishers, A booklet of Shortcut methods to be prepared & shared with the students. (Previous year question papers with answer keys are available on the website of MSCE – Pune with free downloading facility.) Mode of Coaching: Offline classes & Online meeting & sharing of materials & performance reports.

15. REGULATORT AUTHORITY MAHARASHTRA STATE COUNCIL OF EXAMINATION – PUNE 17, Dr. Ambedkar Marg, PUNE – 411001 Contact: 020 – 26123066/67 Website: ( i ) www.mscepune.in (ii) https:// www.mscepuppss.in

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