According to government studies, out of 300 million children of school-going age, only about 180 million of them are in schools. 48% of India’s children are not enrolled in higher secondary school because of financial problems.

Yuva’s Educational Scholarship Programme is a holistic scholarship program aimed at providing financial assistance to students who lack the resources to complete their education. It also provides mentorship to prospective bright yet needy municipal school students. It serves as an incentive for parents to continue the education of their meritorious children and as a motivation for students themselves to keep studying.

We identify students who have scored more than 90 percentile or 9 CGPA in their SSC/10th grade or latest examinations and whose annual family income is less than Rs. 3 Lakhs per annum. After thorough due diligence, these wards are awarded scholarships for up to Rs. 25,000 per year until the time they graduate.

The process of selection begins with applications both online and offline. All the documents, academic transcripts and other related credentials are thoroughly evaluated. The wards are subjected to objective type screening tests based on their syllabus to filter from the list of applications. The Yuva volunteers and the management team then interview the shortlisted students to identify the deserving gems. The final selection is done based on merit, the test results and the interaction with the students and their community members through house visits.

Through its on-going efforts, Yuva has awarded 1000+ scholarships to meritorious yet needy students out of which 25 scholars are studying in 4 IITs i.e. Mumbai, Hyderabad, Gandhinagar, & Guwahati. The aim is to not just support the students to complete their schooling but also aid their higher education needs.

• This is the first time a scholarship is designed to support the students not just financially, but also to motivate them, monitor, and mentor them and ensure their holistic development. Regular mentoring and training sessions are conducted for the students by the donors and various eminent personalities for overall growth and development. Such special interest in the students taken by the donors has proven to be a boon for the students. Additionally, regular career counseling for students is conducted by Yuva to help them make an informed career choice.
• The scholarship programme also encourages the beneficiaries to take this chain of kindness forward by encouraging a pay-it-forward culture wherein beneficiaries pledge to contribute to the education of their successor(s) in the best possible way. These chains of support will one day bring us out from the shackles of darkness and help us move forward as an educated and enlightened nation.
• We not only empower students through this program but also engage their community members through house visits in the initial stage and interactions with their parents thereafter. Verification of all details by visiting applicants’ home, completing house visit forms, collecting all required documents, regular PTMs for tracking & monitoring progress made by students are some of the special features of this program as we believe parents play a key role in child’s education.
• This systematic and transparent process of creating scholarship grants for the underprivileged students has worked extremely well with our corporate partners and benefactors. They get multiple avenues of meeting the students they sponsor and interact with them. It also opens the possibility of creating a well-documented showcase of a transformation of a period of time.