Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday approved reservations for OBC students in National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) Stage-II. The HRD minister made the announcement on Twitter. He said,”Approved reservation for #OBC students in #NTSE National Talent Search Examination Stage-II conducted by @NCERT.” The OBC reservation will be effective from 2019 as the process for NTSE 2018 has started. The reservation for OBCs in NTSE Stage-II will be in addition to reservation for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Physically Handicapped (PH) category, Javadekar added. Moreover, doubling of the number of NTSE Stage-II scholarships from 1000 to 2000 also being considered. The HRD minister went on to say that scholarship has also been increased to Rs 1250 for Class 11 and 12 and Rs 2000 for undergraduates (UGs) and postgraduates (PGs).

Meanwhile, the Yogi Adityanath government on Monday decided to introduce NCERT books in madrassas in Uttar Pradesh, apart from making mathematics and science compulsory at the intermediate level in these schools. The steps are intended to make madrassa students more competitive by providing them contemporary and quality education, according to Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma. “The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to introduce National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) books in the madrassas in order to make students studying there to come on a par with children of other schools,” Sharma tweeted. In January, the state government had made NCERT books mandatory for all schools affiliated to the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UP Board) from academic session 2018-19, as per PTI report.

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