A Study on Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for SC Students in Tamil Nadu

Research in collaboration with Ms. Semmalar Selvi, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Loyola College Chennai

Dr. Milind Brahme, Associate Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

The scholarship schemes formulated and implemented by the Central and State Governments are fulfilling the Constitutional mandate, and they address the educational barriers faced by the students belonging to SC and ST. These scholarships are formulated to increase their access, enrolment ratios and to enable them to complete their education. When there is a lacune in disbursal of the scholarship amount on time to the students hampers the constitutional goals. In this scenario, considering poverty and social exclusion which already greatly disadvantage SC students in terms of access to Higher Education, the existing gap in implementation of such an important scholarship scheme further compounds to the inaccessibility of Higher Education. Hence the present study aims to understand the difficulties faced by Scheduled Caste students in accessing post matric scholarships. The retention pattern of SC/ST students in Professional Education will be analysed based on the Enrolment of Students in Engineering Education in Tamil Nadu over the past ten years through conducting in depth interviews with SC students enrolled for Engineering Education in Tamil Nadu.

Dr.S.Ilavarasi

Research Associate of Centre for Social Justice and Equity of Madras School of Social Work has completed her master’s and M.Phil. degrees in women’s studies. She did her doctoral research on ‘Women and Water: Problems and Possibilities of Water Governance – AMicrostudy in Tamil Nadu’ and awarded her Ph.D. in 2019. She has two years of experience as a Research Associate at the State Institute of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (SIRD & PR) of Government of Tamil Nadu in the period of 2018–2020, in which she has engaged with action research projects primarily focusing on gender and Sustainable Development Goals. She has been engaging in gender sensitization training programmes, menstrual hygiene management trainings, and sexual harassment against women. She had teaching experience as guest lecturer in women’s studies at Bharathidasan University and University of Madras for two years. She has published research papers and journals on gender and water governance. She has also produced documentaries on the themes of marginalised communities includes dalits, tribes, and women. She has participated and organised various national and international conferences.