'Interest-free loans for minority students for higher education'

Students should repay loan to help other needy: KDMC chairman

Karnataka Minorities Development Corporation (KMDC) Chairman Masood Foujdar, on Sunday, said that the corporation was all set to support the education of minority students.

Addressing the students, aspirants of professional courses through Common Entrance Test (CET) during an awareness programme, organised by the corporation at St Philomena PU College, here, he said, “The corporation is providing interest-free loan for PUC students, who are willing to take up CET.”

Highlighting about Arivu scheme, Foujdar said, “The minority students, who want to pursue professional courses like medicine, engineering, dental, postgraduation, diploma courses, nursing, BEd, BBM, BCA and ITI, will be provided with a financial assistance of Rs 5,000 and above.”

Foujdar urged the students to repay the loans promptly once they landed jobs. “The repayment helps the corporation to extend the support to other needy students. The corporation has identified 907 minority students in Mysuru district pursuing PUC. The aim of the corporation is to push at least 800 students to pursue professional courses,” he said.

Study material
The District Officer Puttaraju, said, “The Mysuru branch of the corporation is providing free CET coaching and has distributed study materials to 405 students of four institutions in the city. The Minorities Department has been supporting the students to crack CET from past three years, but, cracking the CET is useless without passing PUC. Last year, 63 students who had cleared CET, had failed in second PUC and all the efforts of the department and students were in vain. The parents and teachers should ensure that the students pass in PUC also.”

Former vice-chancellor of Yenepoya University Syed Akheel Ahmed said, “We are in a knowledge-driven economy and knowledge plays a dominant role to achieve success. Even an ordinary man can achieve success with knowledge. Passive teaching should be limited to primary education. The students should cultivate the habit of understanding the subject and avoid memorisation.”

Former mayor Ayub Khan, expressing his displeasure over the present education system, said that education institutions had become business enterprises and many talented students are not getting a platform to hone their skills and hence are deprived of higher education.