NTSE stalled: Panel flags 'severe blow'

Since 2021, the National Talent Search Examination (NTSE), a key program aimed at identifying and supporting gifted students from secondary school through doctoral studies, has remained stalled in India. Despite multiple reviews and inter-governmental consultations, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education expresses dissatisfaction.

A draft Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) memo for NTSE 2.0, which proposes enhanced scope and features, was circulated for inter-ministerial consultations on September 24, 2025. However, concerns over financial implications have stalled progress.

The Parliamentary Committee highlights the severe impact of this halt, particularly the inability to fill reserved faculty positions for communities like ST (Hills) in Assam. This inability to create a pipeline for students from these backgrounds, a role the NTSE fulfilled since the 1970s, constitutes a significant setback. The committee urges the department to collaborate with stakeholders to consider restarting NTSE.

Originally designed to select about 2,000 meritorious Class 10 students annually from a pool of over 8-9 lakh candidates, the NTSE provided monthly scholarships and mentoring until post-graduate levels. Yet, evaluations have indicated design and delivery deficiencies, with a notably urban and male bias in scholar selection. Furthermore, the average number of scholarship recipients has remained alarmingly low at only 5-6 per lakh enrolled students, implying that many deserving candidates are being deprived of this crucial opportunity. The scholarship amount itself is considered inadequate.

In response, the Education Ministry decided to pause the scheme post-2020 to address these issues and align it with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. By 2023, the Ministry had drafted a revamp plan, known as NTSS 2.0, which introduces significant changes such as a two-stage exam: the first to select beneficiaries from classes 9-12 and the second for college and beyond.

The Ministry seeks to substantially increase the number of scholarships, boosting them from around 2,000 to over 12,000. Additionally, the proposed scholarship amounts are higher, increasing from about a thousand rupees per month for classes 9-12 and undergraduate/post-graduate students to Rs 5,000 per month.