Scholarship for Higher Education is the Dire Need of the Time

Scholarship for Higher Education is the Dire Need of the Time

Nowadays parents are fully aware of the education of their wards and in the beginning they are willing to spend any amount of money for them especially when they have one or two children. The parents feel constrain when the number of children increases and expenses get escalated. Most often the parents end up in heavy debts as the children reach the final stages of secondary education and they withdraw from their responsibility of providing higher education to their dear ones when actual support is expected from them. This mishap happens because parents think of providing expensive schooling to their children in the preliminary stage when inexpensive public education is available and get their back bone broken and harm the future of the hapless children. A way to save the children and the parents altogether is the participatory scholarship project proposed by Vijayapuram Social Service Society.

People always lament that diocese of Vijayapuram has no institution offering higher education for our children.  Even if we have, our people must have the capacity to meet the expenses for higher education. At the time of admission to institutions offering higher studies, the parents are running about laboring to amass initial amount required for ensuring the hard fought seat procured. We have the habit of thinking of tomorrow in twilight of previous day. This must be changed. Plan the education of our children in a meticulous way, spend minimum amount in the preliminary stages and save the rest for time when actual investment is required.

The participatory project for Higher Education Scholarship is envisaged in the following manner. A buffer amount of 2 crore (20 million) or more must be collected initially from various sources. The profit generated from this buffer amount can be dispersed annually to needy members of the participatory project. How can one participate in this programme.

Parents must be conscious of their children’s marriage and higher education even from the birth of the child.  They must prepare a family budget and in it provisions must be made for current expenses and expenses which are inevitable in the future.  The amount thus set apart for future needs must include the provision for the higher education of children and marriage of girl child.  Here we concentrate on higher education only.

From very early years of the child the parent must remit monthly an amount say Rs. 500/ 0r 1000/- to an account with P D C without failure. P D Cs will collect all such monthly remittance and credit it to an account in bank operated by V S S S.  V S S S in turn would invest the amount in profit generating schemes and get benefit for the children. Suppose a child participate in this programme for twelve years remitting Rs. 1000/- per month, the principle amount alone would be Rs. 144 000/- This amount along with the interest generated coupled with the support provided by V S S S would be a significant amount for the child to pursue higher education in line with his/her desire.

The snag to launch this project immediately is the inadequate buffer amount at the disposal of V S S S. Any how this is to be augmented and modes operand established so that this project would turn out to be a boon for our people.

Michael D’Cruz C D O (Education)