Seventeen-year-old Bushra Parveen, Rufiya K. and Mizba are happy that they can now realise their dreams of becoming professionals. These girls are among the 3,613 students who were awarded an educational scholarship by the Bazm-e-Niswan Charitable Trust in Bengaluru on Thursday. These girl students are happy that they can now pursue courses in medicine, engineering and accountancy, which they are aiming for.
The all-woman charitable trust distributed scholarships worth ₹1.32 crore to the 3,613 deserving girls from poorer sections of society. While 1,731 beneficiaries are PU students, 1,722 are pursuing undergraduate courses. As many as 65 are diploma students and 95 post-graduate students.
According to the organisers, the trust, which has been funding the education of poor girl students in 1971, has given scholarships to over 63,000 girls so far. These girls are now successfully qualified as teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, government officers, business women, engineers, journalists among other professions.
“The purpose is to encourage women from the deprived sections of the community to pursue higher studies. Eligibility for the scholarship is based on academic merit and economic need. Any girl wishing to apply must have scored an average of at least 50 per cent in her exams and must also have documents proving her financial status,” said Husna Sheriff, president of the trust.
“We received 4,505 online applications this year as against 3,200 last year. This 40% increase in the number of applications can be attributed to the fact that many students who had dropped out of their higher education in 2020, came back this year,” Ms Sheriff said.
Pointing out that lakhs of students dropped out of higher education during the pandemic, she said: “Realizing the dire need to support the poor and needy girls, we decided to go ahead with the scholarship program despite many uncertainties.”
