India, Aug. 10 -- Maharashtra school education minister Dada Bhuse on Friday said that scholarship examinations for Class 4 and Class 7 will restart from the academic year 2025-26, alongside the present facility for Class 5 and Class 8 students.

For nearly a decade, the exams were held for Class 5 and Class 8 students after a 2016 government decision that discontinued it for Class 4 and Class 7 drawing criticism from teacher associations who said it deprived a large section of students, particularly in rural areas, from competing for scholarships.

According to teachers, most zilla parishad, municipal, and government primary schools in rural Maharashtra operate only up to Class 4 or Class 7, leaving students to either transfer to another...