While there are quite a few local and international scholarship programs for students to apply for, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Global Skills Scholarship is a more innovative option to invest time and effort in. It is one of the most prestigious international grants that readily identifies the innovator in your child.

However, not every aspect of the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Global Skills Scholarship is clear in front of the parents and students, leading to faulty applications and scholarship rejections. Therefore, we have enlisted seven of the more underrated aspects of this scholarship program to give you a better perspective toward the same:

1. It is a skill-based scholarship

Unlike the academically-motivated scholarships, this grant treads on the lines of innovation and has nothing to do with the marks you scored in the preceding examinations. Therefore, you can apply for the same if you have exceptional scientific or gadget-centric inclinations.

1. Excellent curriculum spread

Unlike some of the other scholarship programs that are way too picky with curriculums, the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Global Skills Scholarship is compatible with CLSP, CBSE, IBDP, Bilingual Program, and the IGCSE curriculums. 

1. Not a long tenure scholarship

The 1-year long tenure of this scholarship is something that parents often fail to consider. As the technological domain is continuously evolving, the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Global Skills scholarship is rightly restricted to the 1-year timeline, precisely for accommodating newer creative minds, in the subsequent year. However, your child can still apply after the scholarship expires, provided there is something worthwhile to back the application up.

1. Takes elusive certification into account

The scholarship is accommodating the STEM and SOF credentials relevant to Olympiads, the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Global Skills Scholarship also considers ISRO quiz rankings. 

1. Segregated into four categories

Parents often make their children apply for Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Global Skills Scholarship expecting the highest, 19 per cent waiver slab. However, as a parent, or even a student who is old enough to apply, you must realise that the scholarship value isn’t constant and can go as down as 9 per cent if the highest eligibility criteria aren’t adhered to.

1. Highest scholarship slab is hard to get

The 19 per cent waiver on tuition fee belongs to the Category A of the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Global Skills Scholarship. It requires the student to have a top 10 rank in the STEM or SOF Olympiads or other relevant technological areas.

1. Supports practical causes

In addition to the certifications, the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Global Skills Scholarship is also considered for students who have written academic papers or have played a pivotal role in innovating or inventing gadgets relevant to robotics, coding, and virtual reality, Blockchain, and app-development. 

Apart from the mentioned aspects, the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Global Skills Scholarship does consider the past academic performances, which many parents tend to ignore. Therefore, even if it has technology at the core, this scholarship program doesn’t completely ignore academics at the high or secondary school level. It might even end up subjecting students to interviews or tests or both.