The pre-matric scholarship scheme was designed to support parents of Scheduled Tribe students in the education of their wards studying in classes IX and X so that the occurrence of early dropouts, especially during the transition from primary to secondary and during II. education level is minimized; and improve participation of ST students in IX. and X. pre-material level so that they achieve good results and have a better chance to advance to post-matriculation levels of education.
An evaluation study of Pre-Matric Scholarship conducted by NITI Aayog in 2021 and Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) in September 2019 found that the scheme was successful in achieving its objective.
The Ministry of Education and Literacy under the Ministry of Education is the nodal department for providing universal access to quality education through its autonomous/statutory bodies i.e. CBSE, KVS, JNV, NIOS and NCTE and its centrally sponsored program Samagra Shiksha, PM Poshan, PadhnaLikhna Abhiyan and Central sectoral system of National Means cum Merit Scholarships.
The Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) Plus report released by the Ministry of Education shows that the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) for ST students in 2019-20 for Class I to VIII is 102.08, confirming that the increased class enrollment I to VIII is also representative of Scheduled Tribe populations. Similarly, the GER at the higher secondary level (Classes IX-X) increased from 62.4% in 2012–13 to 76.7% in 2019–20.
This reply was given by Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Shri Bishweswar Tudu in the Lok Sabha today.
