Students can avail loan under govt scheme to study outside the Capital
Delhi students, who want to pursue higher education in government-run institutions outside Delhi, are now eligible to avail loans under the Delhi government’s ‘Higher Education and Skill Development Guarantee Scheme’.
Till now, the scheme was restricted to funding for city students willing to pursue higher studies in government institutions in the capital. The decision to extend the ambit of the scheme was cleared in the Cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday.
Under the scheme, students from Delhi who wish to pursue higher education are given ₹10 lakh without any collateral or third-party guarantee. They will also be given a moratorium period of the time required to finish the course and year thereafter to find a job, before they start repaying the EMIs.
Earlier the loan was available to only those students who wanted to study in government institutions in Delhi.
“Now, if a student of Delhi studies in any government college or government-run institution, be it IITs, IIMs, or any other institution, even other state government institutions, they will also get the loan,” deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who also heads the education department, said at a press conference post the Cabinet meeting.
The Cabinet also took the decision to give another chance to students who had failed the class 10 patrachar exams.
Almost 62,000 students who failed class 9 twice in the last few years were allowed to take the CBSE patrachar (correspondence) class 10 exams last year and almost 55,000 students failed to clear the exams.
The Cabinet has decided to provide extra classes to these students. They can retake the exams through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), which is a “simpler programme.”
“They will be taught like ‘regular’ students. There will be centres in different places, so that students don’t have to travel far. There will be more centres for girls. The difference is that NIOS students will get credit,” explained Sisodia.
According to the credit system, a student has to appear for only those exams that he has failed to clear previously. Even if you cleared a subject under CBSE patrachar, the credit will get carried forward.