On Various Talent Search Examinations

The fact that the talent should be identified and nurtured from the very beginning is the genesis of all talent search examinations.  Stakeholders in education from valley are aware of many of the talent search and nurture programs but they are not aware of all the benefits of such exams. All secondary and senior secondary school teachers should take pro active role in conduct of such exams.   All Physics teachers of the valley are urged to become member of Indian Association of Physics Teachers and motivate their students for participating in Olympiad exams. Among other things Olympiads and KVPY lead to admission in prestigious basic science Institutes like IISER, NISER and UM DAE CBS.

 National Talent Search (NTS) Exam of NCERT: NTS exam of NCERT is targeted at high school students. It is conducted at  class X. NTS exam consists of two papers namely the mental ability test and scholastic aptitude test.

National Standard Examination in Sciences: Students having proficiency in basic sciences at senior secondary level can sit for prestigious exams like National Standard Examination in Physics (NSEP), National Standard Examination in Chemistry (NSEC), National Standard Examination in Biology (NSEB) and National Standard Examination in Astronomy (NSEA). NSEs  lead to National, Asian and International Olympiad Examinations. National Standard Exams are conducted on last Sunday of November and the last date for registration is September 15 (www.iapt.org.in). A student can sit for any three of the subjects. The exam fee is only Rs 100.00 per subject. No fee is required to be submitted afterwards for second and third stages.

National Olympiad  in Sciences:   These exams are conducted by Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT) under the aegis of Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (www.hbcse.tifr.res.in). Indian National Olympiad is conducted in last week of January or first week of February at about a dozen centres in different parts of the country.

International Olympiad in Sciences: About 30-35 students are selected in each of the subjects among the toppers of National Olympiad to receive  gold medals and they undergo three week long training at HBCSE, Mumbai in May/June. The top five students among them are identified in each subject to receive merit awards at the end of the training camp and to represent India in the International Biology, Chemistry, astronomy and Physics Olympiad held in July every year.

International Mathematics Olympiad: Regional Mathematics Olympiad (RMO) is held in each region normally between September and first Sunday of December each year. All high school students up to class XII are eligible to appear for RMO. On the basis of performance in RMO students are selected for Indian National Mathematics Olympiad (INMO). INMO is held on first Sunday of February each year at various centres in different regions. The top 30-35 performers in INMO receive a certificate of merit. The INMO certificate awardees are invited to a month long training camp in May-June, each year. The final team consisting of five exceptionally gifted students represents India at IMO held in July every year.

The Indian National Olympiad in Informatics (INOI): It is a nationwide competition organized annually by Indian Association for Research in Computer Science (www.iarcs.org.in/inoi) in coordination with CBSE. The goal of the competition is to identify school students with outstanding skills in algorithms and computer programming.

Green Olympiad:  They are first environment Olympiad for schools. The green Olympiad is conducted in last week of September. Registration is around mid August. Students can register online or can download form from http:/www.teriin.org/olympiad. Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF) sponsors this Olympiad and the nodal agency for exam is The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). Students of class 8, 9 and 10 are eligible. All participants receive special merit certificates from MOEF. There is cash prize for winners. Participating schools are  supported in implementing environment projects. Moreover Green Olympiads culminates in TERRAQUIZ, a 13 episode quiz programme for television. The winning team is crowned as ‘Green Ambassadors’.

Kishore Vaigyanic Protsahan Yojna: KVPY  is aimed at senior secondary as well as  graduates. It is a program started by Department of Science and Technology (DST) in 1999 to encourage students of basic science, engineering and medicine to take up research careers in these areas. A generous scholarship is provided up to the pre- Ph. D. level to the selected students. This program is administered by Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (iisc.ernet.in/kvpy)