The traditional practice of providing langar at gurdwaras was on the weekend extended to education with the famous Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib setting up a free ‘career guidance camp’ for students. The organisers even refer to it as ‘ langar of education’ which they say “makes education fairs more accessible” to students.
Harvinder Bhatnagar, education career consultant and one of the organisers, said education fairs in the city are usually held in five-star hotels and other places that may appear daunting to students. “This may dissuade many students from going to such places. So we thought why not hold a free camp at a hall that is otherwise used for weddings and community gatherings.”
“This camp is completely free and institutes, schools and colleges have set up stalls without paying even a penny. Just like a langar provides food to all communities, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee’s education cell that organised this camp felt such services should be available to all students for free,” added Ms. Bhatnagar.
Fours friends – Prabhjot, Harpreet, Kartar and Jagpreet – who studied together at Guru Tegh Bahadur school in Mansarovar Garden decided to stop by for some career guidance on Saturday afternoon.
“We have all just finished Class XII and some of us have attempted common entrance exams for engineering. But after having had a long chat with a career counsellor here, I may take up computer science,” said 17-year-old Prabhjot Singh. His friend Kartar Singh, 18, plans to do B-Tech and specialise in electronics engineering. “It’s not like my rank was too bad but I will have to take up evening classes,” he said, responding to his friends’ jibes on his marks.
The camp saw 63 stalls put up by various institutes, colleges and even private banks offering educational loans. Options were plenty: from coaching classes to armed forces, hospitality sector, technical education and even medical courses in a Turkish university. “We provide diploma programmes in automobile engineering, electronics and communication engineering which students who have completed Class X are eligible for. We also have a 50 per cent reservation for Sikh students,” said Gurpreet Kaur from Guru Tegh Bahadur Polytechnic Institute. “In fact, students can even look at lateral entry into second year of a B-Tech course after opting for this diploma,” she added.
Interestingly, the Ministry of Minority Affairs too had set up a stall to educate parents that scholarships and loans are available to students from the Sikh community. “Not many people knew that we offer specific scholarships and loans. For instance, loans are available for as much as Rs.10 lakh for professional courses if completed within India and as much as Rs.20 lakh if the course is taken at a college abroad – all at a 3 per cent interest rate,” said P. S. Pawnikar from the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation.
