CHENNAI: With the National Means Cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMS) exam scheduled on January 10 and state-run schools reopening on January 5, several government school teachers have requested that the exam be rescheduled for a later date. Teachers have alleged that students will not have enough time to prepare for the exam.
Under the Ministry of Education, the NMMS exams are conducted by the Directorate of Government Examination (DGE) every year. The exams are conducted for class 8 students in government and aided schools from economically weaker backgrounds who have shown meritorious academic performances so far.
Class 8 students who are set to appear for the exam will only have five days to prepare for the exam. With having to revise class 7 and 8 subjects, students will be stressed, ultimately reflecting poor performanceA government school teacher in Ariyalur
Usually, the NMMS exam is conducted in the last week of January or in February, but this date is quite advanced compared to previous years, claim government school teachers.
Additionally, another teacher in Chennai pointed out that class 8 students for NMMS exams have to study/revise 29 lessons in mathematics, 37 lessons in science and 57 lessons in social science.
"With just five days to the exam and special classes not allowed during holidays, the DGE should consider postponing the exam to a later date, probably in the last week of January," he added.
For the 2025-26 NMMS exam, close to 2 lakh candidates have applied, including the days DGE extended the deadline to apply.
In the 2024-25 academic year, over 2.30 lakh students from across the state applied for the exam. Among these, 6,695 class 8 students were selected.
As per the modalities of the scheme, only those from families with a total annual income of less than Rs 1.5 lakh are eligible to apply for the scholarship. The Class 8 students who clear the test would start receiving a monthly scholarship of Rs 1,000 from classes 9 to 12.