The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has released guidelines for Residential Private Schools who wish to avail the Scheme for Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Targeted Areas (SHRESHTA) 2023-24 for meritorious Scheduled Caste (SC) students. The scheme is run by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), Government of India for scheduled caste students.
As per the official notification, the schools are required to adhere to the following measures-
The scheme is applicable only for private residential schools affiliated with the CBSE upto class 12. Schools must be in operation for 5 years or more and must be having its pass percentage of 75 or more in class 10 and 12 in last 3 years. Schools must have adequate infrastructure for admitting additional at least 10 SC students in class 9 and 11 (together) and the school's status must be a residential one as per OASIS data.
Students will be given entry in Class 9 and Class 11. The board informed that every year 3,000 students are selected for the scheme through the National Entrance Test for SHRESHTA (NETS) which is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). Students are allocated schools through web counselling based on their merit and choices.
The board has also asked the schools to read about the scheme carefully. The official notification by CBSE said, "For details such as maximum admissible scholarship, number of seats, the obligations on the part of selected schools, the scheme document must be carefully perused to know the specifics and also to ascertain the school's suitability and eligibility for the scheme."
Schools that get selected for the scheme have been asked to show the year-wise and grade-wise numbers of students admitted in on their website. The board informed that the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment selects the schools and the board shares the list of private residential schools with it on the basis of data.
CBSE further directed the schools to ensure that they meet the criteria while giving their consent for the scheme. The interested schools can give their consent directly to the department. Once the consent is approved, the schools cannot refuse the allotted students. For all issues on selection, funds, allocation, the schools can contact the DoSJE directly.