http://www.a2zscholarships.com

STUDY HELP

Students start website to end scholarship woes

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: This is a world away from the cliched picture of raucous boys turning engineering college hostels upside down. Here, they are quietly huddled over a computer search engine. Every hit leads to a loud hurray—for this information could change someone’s life.
This is part of an initiative by students of the Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), who have put together a directory of scholarships on offer from around the world. Named www.A2Zscholarships.com, the website is has been put together by over 200 students, mostly hostelites at the Matunga-based engineering institute. Currently, the site provides details on almost 500 scholarships for various disciplines.
The site went online early this month and in a span of 21 days, it has already benefited 2,200 students. “From the smallest scholarship to the large ones, this website has been designed so that no deserving student is bereft of education because of lack of finances,’’ said final year civil engineering student Mukund Chandak. This 21-year-old from Nandgaon has benefited from the Ratan Tata scholarship, among many others.
Similarly, many from the rural areas of Maharashtra have managed to carry on with their education because of the largesse from various trusts. “There is so much talent in the hinterland but no one travels beyond the cities. This website will provide information to all these left-out people on resources available from round the world,’’ added another student.
The site’s interface has been designed by a third year student, Rameez Pojee. It allows a student to fill up information about the course s/he desires to pursue, the cost of education, family’s annual income and the marks scored by the student. Once the form is submitted online, a list of trusts that would be willing to help the student pops up.
“There are many trusts that provide a helping hand to the needy students. But at present, there is no way for students to know how to contact these trusts,’’ he added.
Students plan to regularly update this site and currently information of 1,500 more scholarships is being collected. There are no marks set aside for this project nor is this a mandatory activity for these engineering students. But the future engineers are already thinking hard and searching for solutions—those that will touch lives.
toireporter@timesgroup.com