Eklavya Prashikshan Yojana - Coaching To Scheduled Tribe Student Studying In Class Xth, XIth & XIIth

What is the Eklavya Prashikshan Yojana?

Eklavya Prashikshan Yojana is a coaching support scheme of the Department of Tribal Welfare, Government of Goa. The scheme reimburses coaching class fees for Scheduled Tribe students in Goa who are studying in Class X, Class XI (Science) and Class XII (Arts, Science and Commerce).

The purpose is preparation, not remediation. The Department's stated objective is to prepare these students for the professional courses that follow Class XII; Engineering, Medicine, Architecture, Paramedical Sciences, Law, Chartered Accountancy and similar streams. Entry to all of those runs through competitive examinations, and in Goa as elsewhere coaching has become the practical route into them. Where a family cannot fund coaching, the entrance examination effectively closes.

Goa's Scheduled Tribe communities, principally Gawda, Kunbi, Velip and Dhangar — were notified relatively recently, and the scheme is one of the Department's targeted interventions at the point where school ends and professional education begins.

How much does the scheme reimburse?

The student is reimbursed 75% of the fees paid to the coaching institute, up to a ceiling that depends on where the student lives:

The ceiling is per subject, which matters a great deal. A Class XII Science student taking coaching in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology is assessed against four separate ceilings, not one.

Payment comes in two instalments:

• 50% of the fees as the first instalment, during the first term of the academic year, on submission of the fee receipt.
• 25% of the fees as the second instalment, on submission of the attendance certificate for the first term.

Payment is made by Direct Benefit Transfer, on submission of the fee receipt along with the fee structure duly certified by the competent authority of the coaching institute.

Which subjects are covered?

The scheme reimburses coaching fees group-wise:

Class XI is covered only for the Science stream. Class XII is covered across Arts, Science and Commerce.

Who is eligible for the Eklavya Prashikshan Yojana?

A student can claim the benefit if:

• The student belongs to the Scheduled Tribe category.
• The student is a regular, full-time student in a Government school or higher secondary, or in a school recognised by the Government of Goa or by a Central or State Board of Higher Secondary Education.
• The student is in Class X, Class XI (Science) or Class XII (Arts, Science or Commerce).
• The coaching institute is within the State of Goa and is recognised by the Directorate of Education or registered under the Goa Coaching Classes Regulation Act, 2001.

A student is not eligible if:

• The student does not belong to a Scheduled Tribe.
• The student is pursuing a course through open school or any such mode of schooling. This is an express exclusion.
• The student has failed the class and is repeating it. Fees are reimbursed for a particular class once, and not for a second year in the same class.
• The coaching institute is outside Goa, or is neither recognised by the Directorate of Education nor registered under the 2001 Act.
• The subject taken is outside the five groups listed above.

The registration status of the coaching institute is worth confirming before you pay the fees. An unregistered class, however good, makes the whole claim unrecoverable.

What documents are required?

1. Caste certificate of the student.
2. Birth certificate of the student.
3. Aadhaar card of the student.
4. Bank mandate form along with the account details of the student.
5. Identity card issued by the educational institute to the student.
6. Fee receipt along with the fee structure of the courses offered by the coaching institute, group-wise.
7. Certificate of Registration issued to the coaching institute by the competent authorities.
8. Fee structure of the courses or subjects offered by the coaching institute.
9. Attendance certificate of the first term, for the second instalment.

The bank account must be in the student's own name, because the payment is made by Direct Benefit Transfer. A parent's account will not receive the credit.

How to apply for the Eklavya Prashikshan Yojana

Applications are accepted offline.

1. Visit the office of the Director or Deputy Director, Department of Tribal Welfare, Government of Goa, and request a physical copy of the proforma of the application form, or take a print of the application form format.
2. Fill in all mandatory fields, affix a passport-sized photograph signed across the corner, and self-attest the document copies where required.
3. Attach the caste certificate, birth certificate, Aadhaar card, bank mandate form, institute identity card, the certified fee receipt with the group-wise fee structure, and the coaching institute's certificate of registration.
4. Submit the duly filled and signed application form along with the documents to the concerned authority at the Department.
5. Acquire the receipt or acknowledgement of successful submission from the Department's office.
6. Submit the first-term attendance certificate later in the year to release the second instalment of 25%.

When should I apply?

The first instalment of 50% is reimbursed during the first term of the academic year, which fixes the practical timing. Enrol at the coaching institute, obtain the certified fee receipt and fee structure, and file the application in the first term rather than waiting until the year ends.

The second instalment follows the first-term attendance certificate, so the student must actually attend. Attendance is not a formality here; it is the condition on which a quarter of the reimbursement rests.

Why do claims fail?

• Coaching institute not registered under the Goa Coaching Classes Regulation Act, 2001, and not recognised by the Directorate of Education.
• Fee receipt not certified by the competent authority of the coaching institute.
• Fee structure not given group-wise, so the per-subject ceiling cannot be applied.
• Bank account in a parent's name, which blocks the DBT credit.
• Student repeating a failed class, for which a second year of fees is not reimbursed.
• Open school enrolment, which is expressly excluded.
• Attendance certificate not submitted, which leaves the second instalment unreleased.

Where do I get help or complain?

The Department of Tribal Welfare, Government of Goa, is the administering department, and its portal at tribalwelfare.goa.gov.in carries its scheme list and contact details. The office of the Director or Deputy Director handles applications and status enquiries under this scheme.

The Government of Goa's public grievance registration facility on goaonline.gov.in allows a grievance to be filed against the department and tracked by reference number.

Practical advice for families

• Verify the coaching institute's registration first. Ask to see the certificate of registration and take a copy at the time of enrolment, it is a mandatory document in your file.
• Ask for a subject-wise fee break-up, not a single consolidated figure. The ceiling is per subject, and a lump-sum receipt can cost you money.
• Open a bank account for the student and seed it with Aadhaar before the term begins.
• Keep attendance up. The second instalment depends on a first-term attendance certificate, and a student who drops out mid-term loses it.
• The Department of Tribal Welfare runs other schemes for Scheduled Tribe families in Goa, including the Ashraya Adhar housing loan through the Goa State Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation. Each has a separate application.

How to check your application status

The Eklavya Prashikshan Yojana application is filed offline, so there is no online tracking dashboard tied to this scheme specifically. Status has to be followed up through the Department itself, in one of these ways.

1. Keep the acknowledgement receipt. The receipt or acknowledgement issued at the time of submission is the reference you quote in every follow-up, so do not misplace it.
2. Visit or call the office of the Director or Deputy Director, Department of Tribal Welfare, Goa, and ask about the file using the application reference number on your acknowledgement. This is the direct route, since the scheme has no dedicated helpline number published.
3. Check the department's portal, tribalwelfare.goa.gov.in, for any circular or notice about the current year's disbursement schedule; the department sometimes lists batch-wise release dates for DBT payments rather than individual status lookups.
4. Watch the student's bank account for the actual credit. Since payment is by Direct Benefit Transfer in two instalments, a credit against the first instalment (50% of fees) is itself confirmation that the application was processed and approved; a missing credit well after the first term has closed is the practical signal to follow up in person.
5. Submit the first-term attendance certificate on time and, separately, ask the office to confirm it has been received; the second instalment (25%) will not move until this document is logged against the file, and the department will not proactively notify you that it is missing.
6. Use the state grievance portal if the file appears stuck. goaonline.gov.in carries a public grievance registration facility where a complaint against the Department of Tribal Welfare can be logged and tracked by its own reference number. This is the fallback once an in-person or telephonic follow-up at the Department has not resolved the delay.

Because there is no SMS or portal-based tracking number issued for this particular scheme, applicants should treat the acknowledgement receipt and the bank account credit as the two working proxies for status, and escalate through the grievance portal only after a direct enquiry at the Department's office has not produced an answer.