The Odisha State Government on Wednesday, November 24, inked a pact with EduTech firm Unacademy to provide scholarship support to meritorious Class X and XII students of government schools to prepare for competitive exams. The MoU was signed between the School and Mass Education Department and Unacademy for a period of three years and will break the geographical and affordability barriers that exist among the meritorious students of government schools when it comes to accessing proper coaching for major competitive exams, said Development Commissioner PK Jena.
As per the MoU, a total of 3,000 students will be given scholarships, 1,000 students each year, in the form of one-year 'Unacademy Plus' subscriptions for competitive exams. There will be two batches of 500 students each year, of whom 200 from Science stream will get IIT-JEE/NEET-UG scholarships, while 300 from non-Science streams will get scholarships for Defence, CA and other competitive exams, based on their choice.
The EduTech firm will conduct two aptitude tests in a year for this purpose in which the qualifying students will be selected for the scholarship on the basis of their rank. The SME department will provide the lists of students who will take part in the test to be conducted by the firm on its digital platform. SME secretary Satyabrata Sahu said that all Class X, XI, XII students from government and government-aided schools in the state will be eligible to take part.
