The government has approved a new scheme named SHRESHTA (Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Targeted Areas) for the purpose of providing seats for the meritorious SC boys and girls in the best private residential schools in the country. Every year, it is expected that about (3000) students would be selected for admission in Class 9 and Class 11 under the scheme.

Objectives of the Shreshta

The objective of the Scheme for Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Targeted Areas (SHRESHTA) is as follows:

1. To enhance the reach of the development initiative of the government.
2. To fill the gap in service-deprived Scheduled Castes (SCs) dominant areas in the sector of education by collaborating with voluntary organizations.
3. To provide an environment for socio-economic upliftment and overall development of the Scheduled Castes (SCs).
4. To provide access to high-quality education to bright Scheduled Caste (SC) students so that they can explore future opportunities.

Selection of students for Shreshta

Eligibility:
i. Only SC students studying in the recognized schools – Private or Government or Local Body schools are eligible.
ii. For admission in the Class 9, the student should have passed the Class 8 in the academic year immediately preceding the year of admission.
iii. For admission in the Class 11, the student should have passed the Class 10 in the academic year immediately preceding the year of admission.
iv. The parental income shall not be more than Rs. 2.5 lakhs per year.
v. The Caste and Income certificates shall be uploaded prior tothe web counselling.
vi. Students applying under this Scheme should not be covered under Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme of the Department.

i. The admission in schools would be based on the merit as obtainedin the nation-wide merit test the “National Entrance Test for SHRESHTA (NETS)”.

ii. The NETS would be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
iii. The test would be conducted all over the county.
iv. The selected students would be offered choices of the SHRESHTA schools.
v. For exercising this option, a web counselling system shall be developed by the NIC. In order to ensure that all the seats are filled,there may be multiple rounds of web-counseling.

Number of seats:
i. The tentative number of seats for fresh admissions for each year upto 2025-
26 would be as follows:
9th Class     11th class Total*
2023-24   1500           1500        3000
2024-25    1500          1500        3000
2025-26    1500          1500        3000