KVPY Exam Discontinued From 2022

Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) is an initiative by the Government of India which aims to attract talented students who are exceptionally good in their academic courses of basic science and have an aptitude for a research career in science. Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) is a national-level exam conducted yearly under the supervision of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.

As per the recent notification released on the KVPY website, DST has canceled the KVPY 2022 Aptitude Test. KVPY has been merged with the Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) fellowship. So, KVPY will be discontinued in 2022.

KVPY Program Criteria

The KVPY exam criteria mentioned that students willing to apply for the KVPY program must secure a minimum of 75% marks in the last board exam, with Science and Mathematics as mandatory subjects. The KVPY aptitude test was conducted online with a maximum mark of 80 and was to be completed within 3 hours. Students in the 11th to 1st year of undergraduate studies with basic science subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology were eligible to apply for KVPY.

The exam was conducted for three streams (SA, SB, and SX), depending on the standard in which the candidate is studying. The advertisement for the KVPY exam appeared in all the national dailies generally in May and July every year. The registration process started around September. The KVPY exam was conducted by the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The candidates who qualified for the aptitude test were called for the interview round. A candidate needed to qualify for both the aptitude exam and interview to get selected for the fellowship. The final selected candidates were designated as the KVPY fellows. They received a monthly scholarship up to the pre-PhD level, provided he/she maintains a specified grade every year.

Objective of KVPY

Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana aims to identify talented students through an aptitude test and help them improve their academic potential through scholarship support. This would facilitate the growth of scientific research and development in the country. The objectives of the KVPY program are as follows:

• Identify students who have good talent and aptitude suitable for scientific research.

• Encourage students to utilize their academic potential.

• Develop skills in students to successfully pursue a career in research and development.
  
  

KVPY Exam Update

The KVPY exam update has came at a time when students were preparing for the exam, as the registration process was supposed to commence in September 2022. The students were expecting a KVPY date update on the KVPY exam, but the KVPY latest update shocked everyone. Many students found the KVPY exam quite tricky and challenging to crack while continuing studies in Class 11.

They have welcomed the decision to discontinue the exam. But for most students, the sudden announcement to discontinue the exam came as a bolt from the blue. The DST has decided without consultation with the stakeholders, which is the cause of great concern to the academicians and researchers.

KVPY Latest Update

Initially, many people thought that the KVPY exam was postponed for some reason, but DST has made it clear that the KVPY aptitude test will not be conducted from 2022 onwards. However, ongoing fellows under the KVPY will still be eligible to receive the fellowship per DST's norms. The professors, students, and research scholars have mixed reactions to KVPY's latest update regarding the exam cancellation. The professors and researchers have expressed great dissatisfaction over this sudden decision by DST. As per their opinion, this decision will likely close doors for bright students to pursue a career in science.

Conclusion

The Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) program was introduced in 1999 to encourage qualified students with scholarship programs to study and take up research careers in Science. KVPY encouraged students studying basic and natural science subjects at undergraduate and postgraduate levels to pursue research career by providing fellowships to interested and deserving students. There were provisions for about 300 fellowships each year under KVPY. The DST has assured that this number will be maintained even though the scheme has been merged with the INSPIRE program.