By M. Saraswathi
NEW DELHI (NNN-Bernama) -- In India, almost all students in public and selected government-aided universities get scholarships or fellowships.
But they are awarded based on a stringent merit system, Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Prof AL. Ramanathan said.
The scholarships cover semester fees and accommodation expenses, which include meals.
"However, securing the scholarships depends very much on your merit as well as economic background, whether you are from a backward community or forward community,” said Ramanathan, who is attached to the School of Environment Science.
Saying that there are different categories of scholarships, he added: "There are also talent fellowships, which come under certain ministries. To secure that, one needs to get through the national talent exams."
Those who top the district and state examinations can secure scholarships right up to PhD level.
However, the Indian government does not give study loans directly or to private universities or colleges, which consist of 45 per cent of the higher education institutes in India.
Ramanathan said students at these institutions could get education loans from banks with a minimum interest rate of seven to eight per cent. Previously, the interest rate was about four per cent.
According to a recent report released by the University Grants Commission, there are 634 degree-awarding institutes in India, of which 297 are state universities, 100 private universities, 129 deemed or autonomous universities, 65 institutes of national importance and other university-level institutions and
43 central universities.
About 14.616 million students enrolled in degree programmes in 2010/11, 2.049 million for post-graduate, 137,668 in research and 171,618 for diplomas/certificates.
Dr Shankari Sundararaman, an associate professor in Southeast Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said since the cost of higher education loans in India was relatively much higher, many students were also supported by their families. Hence, it is a mixture of several options, either loans or family
support, she explained.
A check on India’s Department of Higher Education website revealed that the Indian government has a scheme which provides a repayment moratorium on interest at either six months or one year after getting a job.
The benefits of the scheme are applicable to students from economically weak families, with an annual gross parental family income upper limit of 450,000 rupees (RM25,860) per year.
Unfortunately, it is not that easy to secure study loans despite the availability of such a scheme, said U. Shanthi, 32, who is struggling to pay her son’s education fees.
“There are many requirements that we need to fulfill, for instance they want a house address or utility bills under the parents' name. We are staying in rented flats, whereby the house ownership and bills come under the owner’s name,” she said.
After trying for almost a year, Shanti decided to seek a relative’s help toeducate her son, Ratwesh Udayar, 18, who is studying at a private institute.
"I was doing Bachelor of Commerce (Bcom) concurrently with Chartered Accountancy (CA) and Chartered Secretary (CS), but had to drop CS as my parents were unable to pay the fee," said Ratwesh.
Doing multiple degrees is common in India, given the difficulty in securing a job with just one qualification.
He said his grandmother (Shanti’s mother), who is a retired government servant, helped them to pay the first-year fee for Bcom and CA, which cost Rs61,000 (RM3,500).
"We are not sure how we are going to settle the subsequent fees,” said Shanti, whose husband works as a labourer and earns only Rs8,500 (RM488) a month, of which Rs5,000 (RM287) goes to house rental and electricity bills.
Shanti also has a daughter, aged 15.
Ratwesh said many of his friends have dropped out as their parents could not afford to pay the fees.
P. Vimalarasu, 18, is another teenager who is facing a similar problem. "We couldn’t apply for the education loan or personal loan,” said Vimalarasu’s mother, P. Krishnakumari, 39.
She said her family decided to send Vimalarasu to a private institute as his score in Plus Two (equivalent to Form Six in Malaysia) was not sufficient to enter a public university.
"We thought it would be easy to secure a loan. Only after we enrolled him, did we know how difficult it was,” she said, adding that although they had settled a personal loan taken much earlier, the bank had informed the family that they had to wait for five years before they can secure another loan.
The family’s income is Rs15,000 (RM861), of which Rs5,000 (RM287) goes to house rental and another Rs2,000 (RM115) for the electricity bill. Vimalarasu’s father, R. Ponnudorai, 48, works at a leather factory.
"The cost of living here is expensive, rental for this flat (which is smaller than the Kuala Lumpur City Hall flats near Taman Tasik Titiwangsa) went up by Rs1,000 (RM57). Not sure how much it will be increased next year,” she said.
Besides borrowing from friends, Krishnakumari, who has two more daughters to educate, does flower garlands for additional income. "If the sales are good, then I get about Rs100 (RM5.70) a day," she said.
The total cost of Vimalarasu’s three-year course, Bachelor of Business Administration, is Rs320,000 (RM18,387), she said, adding that getting a bank loan would have made things much easier.
Although the interest rate is rather high, between seven and eight per cent, at least the amount can be settled at once, Krishnakumari said.
"But now the only option is to ask for help from friends. We have yet to fully pay the first year’s loan. And to ensure that he is not thrown out of the institute, we have also pawned some gold jewellery to make ends meet,” she said.
Both the families have vowed to plod on and get their children to have at least a good tertiary education so that they can help to lift their economic status in time to come.
-- NNN-BERNAMA
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