The Odisha government has signed a pact with the Edutech firm Unacademy under which they will be providing scholarships to meritorious Class X and XII students of government schools – helping them prepare for competitive exams.
Signed between the School and Mass Education department and Unacademy, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aims to break the geographical and affordability barriers due to which many meritorious students from government schools fail to access proper coaching for major competitive exams. The MoU is signed for a period of three years. Development Commissioner PK Jena is positive about the potential of this initiative.
Under the MoU, a total of 3,000 students – 1,000 every year – will be provided scholarships in the form of an ‘Unacademy Plus’ subscription. These scholarships will be rolled out in two batches of 500 students each every year. Out of the 500 slots, 200 students from the Science stream will be provided assistance in preparing for exams like the IIT-JEE/NEET-UG, while the remaining 300 positions will be given to students from non-Science streams to prepare for CA, armed forces and other competitive examinations.
The scholars will be selected based on two aptitude tests conducted by Unacademy on its digital platform. The School and Mass Education department will provide the list of students who will take the test.