Govt school toppers await funds to get on road to higher studies

Rs 1 lakh for each of the 200 CBSE Class XII toppers last month. Taking cue from the ministry,the Delhi government also announced a cash prize of Rs 50,000 rupees for its five toppers,a week ago. Ankit hopes the two scholarships will help him pay his college fee (he has applied to Shri Ram College of Commerce) and eventually an MBA.

Saini is not the only one banking on these scholarships. It is the same story for the other four Delhi government school toppers.

Moomina Sheikh,the Humanities topper,wants to pursue Economics (Honours) from SRCC and eventually become an IAS officer. “College has now become a four-year affair and coaching for IAS is expensive too. I plan on using the scholarship money for my education,” she says.

Moomina’s father,a factory worker,is also banking on the scholarship to help fund his daughter’s education. “I earn

Rs 6,000 a month and have no savings. Education is expensive. I cannot possibly support my daughter’s education on such a meagre income. The scholarship would really help,” Abdullah says.

Taruna,the vocational topper has similar plans. She hopes to get through either Janki Devi Memorial College or Jesus and Mary College and go on to become an IAS officer. An auto driver,her father’s income is barely enough to support either her education or that of her four sisters. So,she plans to use up the entire scholarship money to fulfil her IAS dream.

Lalit Lakha,the science topper who wants to pursue medicine,is unsure if the government dole would be enough to fund his education. Son of a truck driver,he definitely sees the scholarship making his life easier.

“Studying medicine at a private university is out of question since their fee is outrageous. I aim to get into a good government college. If that does not happen,I plan on using the money to take coaching this year and get into a good medical college next year,” he says.

All the students have filled out the requisite forms at their schools and have been told the money will be transferred to their accounts by December,Sheikh says. When that happens,it would mean immense relief for someone like Saini,whose family has been battling financial difficulties for more than a decade now.

Saini also plans to tutor children to fund his MBA coaching,and apply for a scholarship in the college he gets through.

But what were the families’ plans had no government support come through? “Where there is a will,there is a way. If the government would not have helped,I am sure somebody else would have. She would still have studied further — though I don’t know how,” Moomina’s father Abdullah says.

Ankit’s mother echoes that thought. “I couldn’t study,but I want my son to. I don’t know where the money would have come from,but I know we would have managed like we did the past few years,” she says.