“If you educate a man, you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate an entire family”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Providing equal educational opportunities to girls has surely been on the government’s priority list in recent years. Notably, the corporate world has also come forth with multiple scholarship opportunities in their bid to support girl education and bring long-term impact through their CSR activities.
For example, L’Oréal India For Young Women in Science Scholarship supports girl students to pursue higher education in science stream. Similarly, Glow and Lovely Career Foundation Scholarship programme provides financial assistance to college-going girl students. Another example is Rolls Royce Unnati Scholarships for Women Engineering Students, which helps girl students to pursue engineering programmes.
These scholarships are bringing a transformative change in the lives of many girl students. The impact is also clearly visible in their lives and career progression.
Through this article, Buddy4Study brings stories of 3 girl students, who have been recipients of different scholarship programmes. Each of the stories highlight the powerful impact of scholarships dedicated to the cause of girl education.
Story 1: Dikshitha – Hyderabad, Telangana
Ever since Dikshitha was little, her mother has been doing everything in her capacity to keep her daughter’s studies going uninterruptedly, despite the absence of her father, who passed away when Dikshitha was in her first year of school. A private employee, Dikhshita’s mother earns Rs. 12,000 per month, of which every penny is spent towards her only daughter’s well-being. It is this incessant hard work and hopefulness of the mother-daughter duo that resulted in Dikshitha securing a seat in IIT Roorkee in Chemical Engineering Programme. In order to gain an entry into the prestigious institute, they borrowed money from their relatives to pay the admission fee. But the thought of paying the next fee instalment was always unnerving.
In a pleasant turnover of events, Dikshitha applied for the L’Oréal India For Young Women in Science Scholarship through the Buddy4Study portal and ended up being selected for the scholarship.
Today, she openly communicates her future plans of becoming an environmentalist. While talking about her long-term goals, she told us, “I want to find a way to change saline water into drinking water in a cost-efficient manner. I want to do something about the environment and climate change.”
Story 2: Gaytri Rajput – Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh
Education has a positive impact on the self-confidence and self-esteem of young girls. It gives them freedom from shame, fear and restrictions. Gaytri Rajput, a BSc Hons student who received the Glow and Lovely Career Foundation Scholarship is a remarkable example of that. Glow and Lovely Scholarship awards a significant amount to the selected scholars to pursue graduation or post-graduation or take coaching classes for certain courses. As a result, Gaytri has not only been able to continue her higher education, but she is also preparing for the UGC NET exam to fulfill her dream of becoming a professor. Despite the societal pressures, she is eager to work and become independent much before she chooses to think about marriage.
Story 3: Harshapriya D – Haveri District, Karnataka
Harshapriya’s father is a farmer and the only earning member in a family of 6. With an income of Rs. 50,000 a year, he somehow manages to provide for the family. Under such circumstances, Harshapriya could not depend on him to fulfil her educational dreams.
Hence, after gaining admission in Government Engineering College Haveri, she sought guidance from her HOD on how to overcome her monetary challenges that could potentially plague her future. That’s when she came to know about the Buddy4Study portal and ‘Rolls Royce Unnati Scholarships for Women Engineering Students’. Since she found herself perfectly eligible, she spared no time and applied for the scholarship. To her delight, she was ultimately selected as a scholar, and has been able to fund her entire college 2nd year fee herself.
Harshapriya now looks forward to becoming a Software Engineer, and in the long run, an Entrepreneur.