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Scholarships in the UK
Ready with the scholarships.
ONE OF the great advantages of having a firm grounding in English is that you can have a go at some of the best courses at renowned institutions in other countries, especially in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Especially during the college years, most of the smarter students begin toying with the idea of "going abroad for higher studies''.
For many students, this turns out to be just a phase, because staying alone in a foreign country and studying a competitive course there is not for everyone.
It's not talent alone that counts, there are a lot of other factors: family circumstances, inability to leave parents behind, a dire need to start earning in order to maintain standards of living and, above all, the near impossibility of paying the large sums of money needed for travel, living expenses and fees.
Scholarships that take care of the major portion of the expenses could be the answer, but the sad fact is that there are no takers for several scholarships, simply because it's hard to come by any information on them.
Quite often, youngsters in large urban centres bag the biggest share of scholarships, though there might be worthier candidates in smaller cities.
``There are several funding agencies and scholarships for studies in the UK, but many of the eligible students simply don't apply,'' said A. J. Solomon, Assistant Manager (Education, Science and Governance), British Council Division, British Deputy High Commission, Chennai.
Solomon had sheaves of scholarship application forms in several colours -- mainly white, pink and yellow -- and most of them were for students who had gained admission to a reputed university or institution in the UK, and who were in need of funding to help them through their period of study.
``Chevening scholarships are for young people with potential to become leaders. There are a number of courses in the UK, ranging from short-term ones to full-fledged masters degree programmes. There are also openings for those in industry who want to work in similar industries in the UK. Academics can go abroad on faculty exchange programmes,'' he added.
We looked through the applications, and noticed that Chevening India Scholarships for 2002 entry were open for several prestigious centres of learning: University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, London School of Economics and Political Science, University of Strathclyde, London Business School, and the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine.
That didn't exhaust the list, for there were more: University of Leicester, Cable and Wireless College, Cranfield University, Stirling University, and University of Nottingham. When applying for admission itself, students had to specify that they wanted to be considered for the British Chevening Scholarships Programme.
Closing dates for university admission and closing dates for scholarship applications were different for each institution, as also the place from where you could get the application material. Moreover, there could be changes in the dates and procedures, so you had to be certain that you were up-to-date on all this.
Perhaps the safest and most reliable way was to visit the British Council website itself: `www.britishcouncil.org'' and get up-to-the-minute information. You could also get guidance on finding what you want, and make specific queries through e-mail.
Solomon said that the British Council would soon be establishing a "Knowledge learning centre'' at Chennai. This was basically a place which scholars could use as a workstation, and access information on specialised databases in the UK.
There would be video conferencing facilities, and the centre would help students doing post-graduate studies through distance learning.
Solomon said that the strength of British Council libraries in the major metros was still info-tech, medical and engineering subjects, though there was still a lot of light reading material on the shelves.
They had revived "Junior Junction'', the children's section, and were thinking of holding "UK Education Fairs'' in the "second cities'' also.
By A. A. Michael Raj
Photo: S.Siva Saravanan
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