Thoughts on education... between lunch and evening tea

Educational expenses are not only the course fee. There are expenses beyond - hostel accommodation, travel expenses, food, clothes etc

- SANDEEP SINGH

The other day, I was having lunch with the CEO and the chairman of a large conglomerate. Both self-made, coming from modest non-metro backgrounds. The discussion moved towards education and both said that they could not take admission in the premium institute of the time due to financial constraints. Both highly talented, they have achieved what they should have, irrespective of the institute. What they lamented was about the missed chance to study with other brilliant students. They had a point. A good competitive environment always brings about the best in an individual.

When I left for home after lunch, this thought lingered in my mind. We at IIM Kashipur provide different kinds of scholarships like:

• Need-based scholarship
• Need-cum-merit based scholarship
• Merit-based scholarship

Besides these, there are various other scholarships offered by the state and the central government. But the student will have access to these scholarships only if he or she gets admission in the college. What about those who could not even reach the college even though eligible, because of monetary considerations?

I was wondering how to make the institute accessible to students in the first place? What if some student still misses admission at IIM Kashipur due to financial hardship?

The recent news about the honorable Supreme Court directing a premium institute to admit a student who lost his seat after missing the deadline for paying the admission fee, by invoking its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, is still fresh in the mind.