NTSE stalled since 2021: Parliamentary panel calls scheme's suspension a 'severe blow' to talent pipeline, flags financial approval delay

New Delhi: Stalled since 2021, the flagship National Talent Search Examination (NTSE), which aims to scout for and nurture gifted school children and help fund their education from secondary school to doctoral level, continues to be on hold despite several reviews and inter-governmental consultations. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education is not happy with that.

The proposal is yet to get financial approval although a draft Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) memo for introducing NTSE 2.0 with 'enhanced scope and features' was circulated for inter-ministerial consultations on 24.09.2025, as per a submission made by the education ministry to the parliamentary panel. However, ET gathered that eyebrows went up at EFC over the financial implications - a stalemate that is said to persist even five years after the scheme went to pause.

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Terming the discontinuation of the national scheme a 'severe blow', the panel notes in its June 16 report - Action Taken by the Government on Demands for Grants (2025-26) of the Ministry of Education - that the inability to fill reserved faculty positions for some communities, such as the ST (Hills) in Assam, is due to the lack of a sustained effort to create 'a pipeline' where students from such communities are encouraged to stay in school from primary education up until PhD - a role that NTSE fulfilled since the 1970s.

"The discontinuation...has dealt a severe blow to the efforts to create such a pipeline," the panel said, recommending that the department should work with stakeholders to explore the possibility 'to restart NTSE'. At the core of the issue is a revamp planned back in 2021.

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The highly competitive national exam selected about 2,000 meritorious Class 10 students every year from a pool of over 8-9 lakh candidates. The selected students were offered monthly scholarships and mentoring right until post-graduate levels.