What is the UDAAN CBSE scholarship program and its eligibility criteria?
Author: Dhruv Post Date: 19 Apr 2023 Education, especially higher education for girls, has always been the endeavor of every central government in India. It is true for every school and college in India, except perhaps in fields such as nursing, medicine, fashion, etc, where we see that the number of girls in these professions or fields of study is notably large. During my days at an engineering college too, the number of girls was abysmally low as it was not even ten per cent of the total students' strength.
Thankfully, in recent years, things are improving. There are several reasons for the same. The first thing is the growing awareness among parents in particular and society in general that girls are in no way less than boys in any field, be it engineering, IT, commerce, business, aviation, defence and so on. A good number of parents like me these days no more discriminate between a girl or a boy child. However, in small towns and rural areas, society is still biased against the girl child.
Thus to reduce the highly skewed gender gap in education, especially higher education, various governments, both in the centre and the states have from time to time launched various initiatives, like giving scholarships, quotas in seats, free or reduced examination/tuition fees, and many more. For example, in IITs and NITs these days, the reservation for girl students is 20 per cent, something which was unthinkable during the days when I went to college. At IIIT Hyderabad, I have seen that 25 per cent of the seats are booked for girl students, a very good endeavour indeed. Speaking of such endeavours, another such endeavour is the one by the central government that goes by the name UDAAN scholarship program for girls.
Coming to UDAAN, it is a CBSE-launched scholarship program for girl students in India. As per my understanding, the scholarship scheme was launched by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, GoI, to specifically encourage more and more girl students to enroll for courses at engineering colleges, including, prestigious ones like IITs and NITs. Last year I came across one parent working as a peon in our company whose daughter had won the UDAAN scholarship. What I learned from them is that the scholarship provided the daughter with much-needed support in improving her skills in cracking engineering entrance exams. She got to attend a free online course that acted as a bridge between her school education and the engineering entrance exams. The course was useful in the sense that it helped her clear the state-level engineering entrance exam, which is a highly competitive one.
Thus it can be seen that the UDAAN scholarship is one such platform for girl students in India to fulfill their engineering aspirations. It has been instrumental in many deserving girls getting selected to the best engineering institutions in the country.
After going through the details of the scholarship at the UDAAN scholarship portal, I have come across the following key features.
First thing, only Indian citizens residing in India can opt for this scheme.
The scheme is open to girl students studying in class XI in any of the KVs, Navodaya Vidyalayas, government schools of any recognized board and even privately run CBSE-affiliated schools.
The students should be enrolled in the PCM stream, i.e. Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.
They should have scored a minimum of 70% marks in aggregate in class X. For Science and Mathematics, it is 80%. In case you are from a board that follows CGPA grading, then the grades should be 8 and 9 CGPA respectively.
The annual income of the family to which the girl belongs should not exceed 6 lakh Rupees per annum. In the case of the employee who worked as a peon in our company, his income, in fact, the entire family income, was around 5 lakh and thus his daughter was eligible for the scholarship.
It should be also noted that the reservation criteria remain the same as followed by JEE Advanced exam.
How the scholarship is administered
As I mentioned in the case of the daughter of the person who worked in our company, under the scheme, the students get to attend free offline/online courses through virtual contact classes that are conducted on weekends. The students are also given study material to help them sharpen their skills and thus prepare for the competitive exams for the various engineering colleges in India.
After going through the above details, in case you are now wondering how to apply for the UDAAN-CBSE Scholarship, all you need to do is visit the official website of CBSE and fill up the online application form. See to it that you fulfil the eligibility criteria, especially the income one.
Author: Samuel Unni Post Date: 25 Apr 2023 In accordance with my study, UDAAN is a CBSE scholarship programme that offers money to economically disadvantaged and intellectually gifted class 11 and 12 students. The programme aims to motivate students from underprivileged social groups to continue higher education and give them the tools they need to compete in a variety of sectors.
A student must be an Indian citizen and fall within one of the following categories to qualify for the UDAAN CBSE scholarship programme nevertheless, their family's annual income cannot exceed 6 lakhs. In addition, the student must be enrolled in an Indian school that is associated with the CBSE and have earned at least 70% in the class 10 board exams, or an equal CGPA.
Several students who have benefited from this scholarship programme have come to my attention. My cousin, who came from a socially and economically disadvantaged group, is an example of one such student. His family's financial status was a persistent challenge for him despite his aptitude and labour. He learned about the UDAAN scholarship programme at that time and applied for it.
He was chosen for the scholarship programme after a difficult selection process, and it turned out to be a significant turning point in his life. The scholarship's financial support allowed him to complete his education without having to worry about his family's finances. He successfully completed his high school education and then enrolled in a reputable college to study engineering.
In conclusion, the UDAAN CBSE scholarship program is a great initiative that has helped several talented students from economically weaker sections to pursue their dreams of higher education. The eligibility criteria are quite reasonable, and students meeting the criteria should definitely apply for it.
Author: Arvind Kuril Post Date: 19 Apr 2023 Few of my students participated in this scholarship program. Following are a gest of the same.
The UDAAN CBSE scholarship program is a scheme launched by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to provide financial support and mentorship to meritorious students from economically disadvantaged sections of society. The program aims to help these students fulfil their potential and pursue higher education in fields such as engineering, management, and other professional courses.
1. The eligibility criteria for the UDAAN CBSE scholarship program are as follows:
2. The student should have passed Class 10th from a CBSE-affiliated school with a minimum of 70% marks or equivalent grade.
3. The student should be enrolled in Class 11th in a CBSE-affiliated school in the current academic year.
4. The student's annual family income should be less than Rs. 6 lakhs.
5. The student should belong to one of the following categories: SC, ST, OBC (Non-Creamy Layer), or a student with disabilities.
6. The student should be studying science, mathematics, or commerce stream in Class 11th.
To apply for the UDAAN CBSE scholarship program, eligible students need to register online on the official UDAAN portal. The application process generally begins in the month of October every year, and the selection process includes a test and an interview.
Author: Drupad Madhavan Post Date: 19 Apr 2023 UDAAN is a scheme launched by the Central Board of Secondary Education in partnership with the Ministry of Human Resource Development to help girl children in attaining proper education and help them build a career.
Their mission was to increase the number of Girl students in schools through social welfare, motivational sessions, orientation sessions, monetary support, free online educational portals and various numerous solutions. They also prioritized training meritorious girl students from financially backward families to attain entrance into the best engineering colleges and universities all over the country. The annual income of the family must not be more than Rs 6 lakhs per annum. I hope this empowers a lot of Indian women.