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Pragnya (Post Graduate Studies)
About the Programme
We believe that students showing academic promise deserve the chance to pursue their scholastic ambitions, regardless of their backgrounds. The Pragnya Loan Fellowship Programme has been initiated in the loving memory of late Mr Suresh Neotia, former trustee of Udayan Care, to ignite academic aspirations in needy students to pursue higher education. The programme provides flexible loan scholarships for post-graduation studies to selected students from Udayan Ghars and Udayan Shalini Programme.
The Fellowship was launched in 2015 to empower meritorious students from prestigious institutes by providing them with the needed financial assistance to pursue higher studies. However, since 2017, the Fellowship is only being offered to Udayan Ghar and USF fellows, such that they may have the advantage of continuity and monitoring. The programme scope caters to Master’s programmes including degrees and diplomas across all disciplines, such as business administration, science, engineering, technology, law and computer science. Students may elect any subject as per their preference.
The programme is devised to nurture scholastic excellence in disadvantaged students and promote their overall growth. Each Fellow is matched with an appropriate Mentor who becomes a role model for the young Fellow for years to come. The youngsters are prepared for future hurdles by their Mentors and imbibe humanitarian values from them. Additionally,industry-specific mentoring is provided by connecting Fellows with successful professionals in their field of interest.
Fellows are mentored and supported till they become well settled professionals. This facilitates better employment and quality of life for our young adults.
The word Pragnya means ‘a dignified scholar’. Pragnya Fellows have compassionate spirits; they are committed to their academic excellence whilst continuing to do their bit to benefit society. Our Fellows graduate from the programme as enterprising members of the community.
Programme Objective
Uplifting students from low-income backgrounds
Pragnya programme identifies and supports students from disadvantaged backgrounds who show academic promise. A thorough screening process allows us to select appropriate candidates amongst the Udayan Ghar and USF fellows.
To be eligible for a Pragnya Fellowship, a student must be pursuing a full-time postgraduate course at one of our partner institutes. Additionally, the family income of the student must not exceed INR 300,000 per annum. EMI plans start only 6 months post course completion, allowing Fellows time to find suitable employment. The programme is specially structured to destroy any barriers faced by needy yet deserving students, in their pursuit of to higher education.
Maintaining extraordinary scholastic standards
The first measure taken to maintain academic excellence across the programme is to ensure the selection of the best candidates by analysing applications across all parameters.
Subsequently, our Fellows are constantly encouraged to do their best. To ensure that our students work hard towards their goals, Pragnya has several checks and balances in place. Scholarships are renewed at the completion of every academic year based on academic performance and conduct. Students must score 60% or more marks or the quivalent GPA aggregate for two preceding semesters, trimesters or annual examination. Different criteria of promotion or ranking in different institutes impacts renewal.
Delivering flexible loan scholarships to bright students
The Pragnya Fellowship provides loans at a comparatively low interest rate of 4 percent to eligible postgraduate students that have successfully cleared the screening process. Previously, these students were referred to us from a partner institute/university, but now only Udayan Ghar and USF children—after securing admissions in postgraduate courses—may apply. The payback schedule is flexible, depending on the employability and financial circumstances of the student borrower. This allows students with aptitude to be unconstrained by their economic circumstances.
Sensitizing our Fellows
At Udayan Care, we believe that it is essential for Pragnya Fellows to realize their responsibility towards society. While signing up for the programme, our Fellows pledge to give back to the community. We enable our students’ overall growth by motivating them to devote a certain number of hours to social causes over the period of their academic study. We also encourage senior Fellows to mentor and provide necessary support to their juniors. Our Fellows blossom into versatile, independent and balanced scholars.
