Innovative Methods of Financing Higher Education: A Study of PM s Special Scholarship Scheme for Jammu & Kashmir Dr. Vetukuri P. S. Raju NUEPA, New Delhi, India vetukuripsraju@gmail.com
About the Scheme The Scheme was introduced in 2012-13 for Jammu & Kashmir students Total 5000 fresh scholarships annually to Jammu & Kashmir students. Of these scholarships, 4500 are for general degree courses, 250 for engineering and 250 for medical studies 2
Eligibility State Board of J&K and from Central Board of Secondary Education affiliated schools located in Jammu & Kashmir Seeking to pursue general degree courses, engineering and medical studies in Govt. colleges/other non-govt. institutes, recognized by AICTE or UGC, The family income ceiling will be Rs. 6.00 lakh per annum 3
Scholarship amount per annum Annual tuition fee of Rs. 30,000 for general degree courses Rs. 1,25,000 for engineering courses Rs. 3,00,000 for medical courses Rs. 1,00,000 for hostel fee and incidentals to all scholarship holders 4
Utilization Pattern of the Scholarships Year No of Scholarships 2012-13 3783 2013-14 4585 2014-15 3035 2015-16 3967 5000 4500 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 No of Scolarships 4585 3783 3967 3035 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 No of Scolarships 5
Caste-wise award of the Scholarships Year 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 open 3315 2870 1566 2575 SC 97 838 546 244 ST 150 185 622 246 SEBC 221 205 301 717 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 open SC ST SEBC 500 0 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 6
Program wise distribution of Scholarships Year 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 Engineering 2232 2314 1965 1764 General 1174 1853 1014 2155 Medical 377 418 56 47 2500 2000 1500 1000 Engineering General Medical 500 0 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 7
Course wise admissions 8
Gender-wise allotment of students in counseling(2015-16) 16) The following table and chart depict the gender-wise allotment of students in counseling during 2015-16 Gender No of students Female 741 male 2998 other 1 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 2998 741 1 Female male other No of students 9
Category-wise allotment of students in counseling(2015-16) 16) The following table and chart depict the category-wise allotment of students in counseling during 2015-16 Categories No of students Open 2544 SC 241 ST 242 SEBC 713 3000 2500 2000 2544 No of students 1500 1000 713 No of students 500 0 241 242 Open SC ST SEBC 10
Region-wise admission of students The following table and chart depict the region wise admission of students for the period 2015-16 Regions No of Students Jammu 1969 Kashmir 1676 Laddakh 95 No of Students 95 1676 1969 Jammu Kashmir Laddakh 11
Family income of students attending counseling The following table and chart depict the performance of family income of students attending counseling during2015-16 family annual income No of Students Upto Rs50000 1079 Rs 50001-Rs100000 971 Rs 100001-Rs150000 320 Rs150001-Rs250000 359 Rs250001-Rs350000 413 Rs350001-Rs450000 304 Rs450001-Rs600000 294 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 No of Students 12
Impact of the Scheme The scheme was very useful for the financially weaker students to pursue their studies after Class XII There has been an equal representation of all the caste from all the regions which shows that this scheme has a positive outreach to each and every caste and religion The students belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category families benefiting under this scheme 84 per cent of the institutions agreed that it has enhanced the employability chances of the students
The attitude of scholarship holders regarding education changed after getting this scholarship which were not known to them earlier It was also found that these student beneficiaries were academically brighter than the other students Many beneficiaries and institutions wanted the scheme should be extended to Master s level as well The scheme helped in improving access to education for J&K students out side the state which was not possible for many
Problems faced by implementation agency Students not submitting required documents in time for disbursal of scholarship amount students residing in far-flung areas of the State face problems in online submission of application as no internet facility is available The remoteness of allotted colleges from J&K State and colleges without hostel facilities were among the disadvantages faced by girls The supernumerary quota is not available in Medical colleges
As no supernumerary seats are available in Medical Courses, students have to clear some entrance examination to qualify for admission in courses like MBBS, BDS etc., consequently, the number of seats in the Medical Stream may be reduced Apart from tuition fee, students have to pay other academic fees to the institute, with tuition fee being only one component of the Academic Fee paid by the student The academic fee is much higher than the tuition fee of Rs 30,000/- prescribed in the existing guideline of the scheme, like- Nursing, Pharmacy, Hotel Management etc
Problems faced by the Institutions/Colleges The institutions were skeptical about the fact that scholarship amount disbursed into students account Misuse of amount if transferred to students account Students had the misconceptions that their full fees would be reimbursed as scholarship Timely disbursement of the scholarship amount within 3-6 months of admission Tuition fee for drop-out students not being paid along with other incidental charges
Issues and Challenges Inadequate information about the scheme Lack of inter-departmental coordination Regional language as a medium of instruction in other States Lack of internet facilities in remote areas Inadequate guidance for getting admission Non-cooperative attitude of the colleges Problems to attend the counselling centers 18
Suggestions for Improvement of the Scheme State administration should take necessary steps to send the circulars/pamphlets to senior secondary schools to generate awareness More centers for counseling for making the counseling system accessible to rural and remote area students State Government should popularize the scheme take initiative to A provision for the students to submit the applications offline in order to make it convenient The J&K state government and AICTE must come out with the names of the entire colleges, courses, hostels and other facilities, grade of the institutions, list of teaching faculties and their qualifications on their web portal
UGC/AICTE has to take necessary steps to streamline the total number of courses of a particular college and ensure that no course is discontinued in the middle so that every student gets the chance to complete the course regularly Certain institutes have their own selection criteria which are different from that of AICTE guidelines for these scholarship holders. Students not getting admission and losing their academic year The academic fees amount for professional courses i.e. 4/5 years programme, Integrated programme under General Degree Courses may be revised
The allocation of scholarships for engineering students must be more than the general students as students who prefer to study outside the state opt for engineering, medicine and other professional courses rather than the general courses Some of the private institutions are not showing much interest to merely admit two students and DBT to students bank account Grievance cells may be created at AICTE, Leh, Jammu and Srinagar All issues related with this scholarship must be sorted out in association with the students, colleges and AICTE/UGC
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