Kerala scholarship crisis: Technical failure stalls scholarships for 2.5 lakh kerala students

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The educational benefits of approximately 2.5 lakh school students from backward communities in Kerala are in jeopardy due to persistent technical failures on the state’s scholarship portal. With the application deadline scheduled for Wednesday, teachers across the state have been unable to process applications for the past week.

The disruption involves the e-Grantz 3.0 Single Window Scholarship Portal, which is essential for students in the Other Eligible Communities (OEC) and Other Backward Classes-Hindu (OBC-H) categories to receive pre-matric educational aid for classes 1 through 10. To facilitate the application process, headmasters are required to validate student credentials, including community details and annual family income, using certificates provided by parents. However, officials noted that when teachers attempt to input the necessary certificate numbers and security codes, the system consistently displays an "Invalid" error message.

This technical blockade has persisted for a week, preventing the completion of submissions for students in government, aided, and recognised unaided schools. Educators have expressed concern that if the portal issues are not resolved immediately, thousands of eligible students will lose their financial assistance.

The pre-matric scholarship provides varying levels of financial support depending on the school category. For students in government and aided schools, the assistance amounts to ₹750 for lower primary, ₹900 for upper primary, and ₹1,000 for high school students. Students enrolled in unaided schools receive higher stipends, with ₹1,333 allocated for lower and upper primary levels and ₹2,000 for high school students.

Eligibility for the OEC category is not restricted by annual income limits, covering students from seven specific communities. Conversely, students under the OBC-H category, which encompasses 30 communities, are subject to an annual family income limit of ₹6 lakh to qualify for the aid.