In this article Manasvi Singh, CEO, Buddy4Study is sharing his experience on the three important questions on scholarship and Olympiad.
Question 1: Tell us briefly about what are scholarships and why should students take them seriously?
So, I believe for (a) lot of people, scholarships are free money; or you can say; entitlement but for me scholarships is(are) a launch pad. If a scholarship is given to a student on (at) the right time, he or she can pursue their dream career. There's a big myth in India regarding scholarships, people think (that) scholarships can only be acquired by meritorious students…
“That’s a big myth”
Scholarships are (of) three types in nature…
One is, Merit Based Scholarships, then Need Based Scholarships and Talent Based Scholarships.
Suppose if you’re talented enough you can crack a scholarship like Indian Oil (Indian Oil Sports Person Scholarship)...
You can crack (the) scholarship by Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Similarly, there are Merit Based Scholarships and Need Based Scholarships.
Why students should focus on scholarships? because at times, yes; there will be ( may come) a time when your family cannot afford your education; and if (at) that time if you’re enlightened enough, if you’re applying for the scholarships on a timely basis; yes, definitely you can get a grant from any of the corporates or government. I’ve, seen (in) numerous cases where students from… hailing from, small rural areas have gone and studied, you know… with (in) Florida and (at) NASA. So seeing-creating such local role models, I believe lot of students will take scholarships seriously.
Question 2: Does preparing for scholarship exams distract the students’ from their regular study or does it help them score better marks? Can you share some examples?
I believe it’s (the) other way round, when you’re preparing for any scholarship exam or Olympiad, it strengthens your learning. For example, suppose you’re preparing for, National Chemistry Olympiad or Maths Olympiad, they ask questions; very relevant to your course(s) and curriculum.
Even if you’re preparing for NTSE, which is a very famous Scholarship Exam for Class 10th students; 50% of the questions are from their board and (remaining) 50% depends on their mental ability, verbal reasoning and data analytics.
So, I believe if you’re preparing for..your..., any scholarship or Olympiads; you’re much ahead of the other people, who’re just studying for the course.
Question 3: In India, there is relatively little awareness about scholarships. While some people think that Scholarships are only meant for super-bright students, others believe that they are meant only for economically weaker students. What are your thoughts on this?
I believe scholarships are not only for students but also for teachers. People would be surprised that there are a lot of Scholarships for School teachers. Lot of times, students think that if I’m not bright enough I won’t be able to crack any scholarships; that’s the biggest that we’ve debunked in last 8 years.
A scholarship are three types in nature, Merit Based Scholarships, Need Based Scholarships and Talent Based Scholarships; so if you’re good in sports, singing, dancing there’re lots of scholarships that you can apply for.
Similarly if there’s a need, suppose you know (your) family income is less, and you cannot support their education then definitely you can apply for a lot of scholarships from government, like Ministry of Minority Affairs and Ministry of Social Employment and Justice. And also (a) lot scholarships which are given by corporate like L'Oreal for Young Women in Science Scholarships, it can be applied (for) by all girls who’re studying in class 12th, with percentage of marks more than 85% and family income less than 4 lakhs rupees.
Also there are merit based scholarships like NTSE- Kishore Vaigyanik. So I believe if you can, you know...take your car out of the garage, if you’ll work hard, if you’ll come out of your comfort zone (then) definitely, one (or the) other scholarships, you’ll get it.
“There’s no point (such) that, scholarships are only meant for meritorious students. It can be achieved by everyone.”
