Entrepreneur and philanthropist Ronnie Screwvala has set up fund to provide scholarship and financial assistance to working professionals who would need to upgrade their skills through online education.
In the first year, the fund will provide scholarship and financial assistance of ₹100 crore and the objective is to mobilise and fund ₹500 crore in five years.
Mr. Screwvala has contributed ₹10 crore in his personal capacity and the rest will be mobilised from corporates, CSR funds and high networth individuals.
‘Main objective’
“My main objective is to create and support the eco-system that will allow online to create the careers of tomorrow,” he said in an interview. “This scholarship is not to finish education but promote online education and drive home the point among corporates that online is not a bad medium.”
“My main challenge is to change the thinking process of corporates who still prefer the campuses. Online has to get the acceptability and credibility and this is why I will mobilise funds from them so that they know the benefits of online education for their employees,” said Mr. Screwvala, co-founder of online education company UpGrad.
However, the scholarship is not confined to taking up online courses at UpGrad, he clarified. “The fund will provide scholarship to any online course for skill enhancement for working professionals.”
The fund will grant scholarships ranging from ₹25,000 to up to ₹2 lakh and facilitate loans for those who fail to qualify but are willing to repay once they get promoted after their online studies. The fund is aimed at skilling motivated individuals and equip them with industry relevant knowledge, he said.
