NTSE: 25, including 2 govt school students, clear stage 1 of scholarship exam in Ludhiana
Students who qualify the second stage will be eligible to receive an annual scholarship of ₹15,000 for two years through Classes 11 and 12 and ₹2,000 per month as undergraduates
Twenty-five students from the district, including two studying in government schools, have cleared the first stage of the prestigious National Talent Search Examination (NTSE), the results of which were declared by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) on Tuesday.
As many as 4,376 students had applied for the exam, of which 3,691 had taken the test on December 20. Students who qualify the second stage will be eligible to receive an annual scholarship of ₹15,000 ( ₹1,250 per month) for two years through Classes 11 and 12 and ₹2,000 per month as undergraduates.
A total of 194 students will appear for the second stage of the scholarship examination, of which 18 students are from government schools across Punjab.
The two government school students who cleared the first stage are Kriti Verma, a Class-11 student at Government Senior Secondary School, Gill (GSSS, girls) and Bhavdeep Singh of GSSS, Baddowal Cantt. While Kriti scored 133 of a possible 200 marks, Bhavdeep scored 131 marks.
Kriti, who is pursuing the non-medical stream, said, “I attended online classes regularly and took mock tests online, which helped me clear the examination. I am glad my hard work paid off. Our science teacher, Shaffy Makkar, and principal, Smriti Bhargav, encouraged me to take the exam.”
14-year-old Bhavdeep Singh, who aims to become an IAS officer, said, “This is a huge achievement. I am glad that I cleared the exam. I will work harder to clear Stage 2 of the exam. My teachers and district mentor for mathematics Sanjeev Taneja helped me prepare for the examination.”
Singh devoted three hours a day for NTSE preparation and said he found that his score was improving in each online test. His father, Jatinder Singh, is a driver and mother, Rupinderjit Kaur, is a housewife.
District education officer, secondary, Lakhvir Singh congratulated the students, staff, and school principals for the result. He also gave a shout out to former NTSE nodal officer Balwinder Kaur and district block mentors who had provided free-of-cost coaching to these students.
Top scorers
Shivam, a student of Kundan Vidya Mandir School scored 191 marks, Samrath Jain of DAV Public School, BRS Nagar, scored 190 marks and Anvit Singh Bindra of Bal Bharti Public School (Primary) scored 189.
