The BENG Scholarship Scheme can be framed within the Millennium Development Goals as defined by the United Nations. With their third goal they strive: “to promote gender equality and empower women”. The aim is to: “eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015”.
For girls in many parts of the India, education remains elusive. Poverty is a major barrier to education, especially among older girls. In every developing region except the CIS, men outnumber women in paid employment. Women are largely relegated to more vulnerable forms of employment. Women are over-represented in informal employment, with its lack of benefits and security. Top-level jobs still go to men – to an overwhelming degree. Women are slowly rising to political power, but mainly when boosted by quotas and other special measures. Gender equality is something we also strive after. For this reason, we have chosen to put our main focus on women, and not on men. Our wish is to provide means which women can use to empower themselves. This is why we hand out scholarships to young South Indian women who are intelligent but underprivileged. Also boys who are eligible could receive a scholarship from BENG without any discrimination.
BENG’s main goal of developing the rural poor women’s education in India is being achieved through the bursary scholarship scheme. As per the BENG’s philosophy and belief poor women students have been encouraged and helped to continue their studies. We strongly believe in the quote “If you educate a man it will help a family but if you educate a woman it will help the whole society.” The women students who are brilliant at their studies and who are unable to meet the study expenses are targeted through this scheme of BENG. Through this project the real survival is being given to the women students who will create a better world tomorrow
Promote gender equality and empowerment of women.
Economically backward but talented women. Girls with an academic average of minimum 75% and family income lower than Rs. 25,000/- per year are selected for scholarship.
The bursary scholarship was started in the year 2005 and the project responsibility was given to Dr. S. Narayanasamy, the professor of Gandhigram Rural University [GRI]. A team of BENG volunteers along with professor Narayanasamy were in the selection committee and scrutinized the beneficiaries. Due to some institutional difficulties the scheme was handed over to MERDS in the year 2010- 2011. We decided to provide the scholarship as per MOU and successfully implemented by providing scholarships to 28 individual women candidates from GRI initially. We helped them to create a new account in LinkedIn to get in touch with us.
All the eligible candidates were given scholarship directly as per the prescribed date and time without any institutional blockage. The awareness of the bursary scheme radiated throughout the Gandhigram University and we are able to cover all the candidates. The co-operation of the bursary candidates and the parents during interviews are highly remarkable. The students are highly motivated to secure good marks in the semester examinations and they are proving the same. The friendly network among the students makes them to discuss and share various experiences which is highly appreciable.
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