Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Delhi education secretary Sandeep Kumar and MLA Madan Lal present a certificate of appreciation to a student during a function celebrating the Class XII results of Delhi Government Schools, at Thyagraj Stadium in New Delhi, India on Saturday. (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

Delhi government on Saturday said it will pay the CBSE examination fee of students from government schools from next year.

“We are also working on providing free coaching to students for competitive exams like NEET, JEE, and eventually also for post graduation competitive exams for employment like UPSC and others,” said deputy chief minister and education minister Manish Sisodia.

The minister announced the scheme at an event to felicitate government school students who scored 90% and above marks in the class 12 board examinations this year.

“The students studying in Delhi government schools are from financially weaker families and they cannot afford taking loans from the banks because they demand guarantees. The Delhi government is ready to take the guarantee of all the talented students studying in its schools. So, we have decided to give them education loan of up to ₹10 lakh for higher education,” said Sisodia, adding that the students will have 15 years to pay back the loan.

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A similar scheme was announced by the government in 2015.

Sisodia also informed the students about the existing scholarships for government school students for higher education. “The Delhi government also gives scholarships to students who want pursue higher education in some Delhi-based university or college. The government provides 100% scholarship to those coming from the families with annual income less than ₹1 lakh. The government has dedicated to make sure that no student discontinues his or her studies due to financial constraints,” the education minister said.

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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also interacted with the government school toppers and encouraged them to avail the government schemes. “When I became the chief minister, I used to get requests every day for getting children admitted into Delhi’s big private schools. Today a majority of requests I receive are for admission into government schools. Four-five years ago, the condition of our schools was so poor that children had an inferiority complex about studying in government schools. Today, the situation has changed so much that children are proud to be studying in government schools,” he said.