The News Minute| September 5, 2014| 1.00 pm IST
On the basis of the 64th round of National Sample Survey (NSS) it has been found that 94% of the education scholarships provided by government and other agencies are based on caste. Scholarships provided for the financially backward students are abysmally low, only 2%.
The data compiled by Rediff Labs show that 92% of the students never enrolled or, if they did, discontinued studies. When the reasons for this were studied, it emerged that the maximum number of students, 21%, discontinued for want of money.
Scholarships, therefore, are imperative for enabling such students who are from the financially weaker sections to continue their studies. It is for such students that first priority should be given. But, the statistical findings point to something else. Only 12% of the students in India receive scholarships for education and in that only 2% belong to the financially weaker sections.
When it comes to merit, it is even worse. Only 0.7% of the total scholarships that are provided are given to meritorious students.
The maximum of all scholarships, 94%, are given away to students based on the caste to which they belong. The scholarships thus provided, keeping caste as a barometer, fail to factor in the point that scholarships, largely, are supposed to be given to those who are financially weaker.
Note: This data includes scholarships received from any agency (Government or other) by students between the ages of 5 and 29
In a country like ours where only 65.5% are literate, and in that only 6% have studied after school, the way in which scholarships are given need some serious revision.