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Higher Education Scholarship Programs

Ujjivan provides Higher education loans to its customers and family members but many of the customers do not match up with the criteria to get a higher ticket education loan, neither is it easy to get loans from the Banks. Hence the Customers are either forced to take high interest loans from the moneylender or other sources to educate their children or just dropout of education. To fill this gap between the poor and the access to Higher Education, Parinaam runs Higher Education Scholarship program.

Parinaam's Financial Literacy Program, Diksha has brought to light that women want to save and understand its significance, their main aspiration being educating their children. Over the years, Parinaam recognized the fact that a lot of beneficiaries 'children, who were academically brilliant, were forced to either drop out or take high interest loans from moneylenders and burden their families' financially. Parinaam had to fill in the gap for very poor children who wanted to pursue their higher education.

With the support of Citi Foundation, we piloted a unique 'Matched Savings Incentive Program', which integrates financial planning for education into the Diksha training whereby women set a savings goal and save a fixed amount each week towards payment for their children's Higher Education. Parinaam incentivized 108 mothers, who adhered to their savings plan and demonstrated positive financial behaviour, with a scholarship amount to help their children pursue Higher Education. This program has had a ripple affect amongst our beneficiaries and we had an overwhelming 694 applicants apply and mothers start to save for their children's education during the last financial year.

Parinaam through this program not only helps the students with scholarship but also through its Diksha Financial Literacy program teaches the customers on how to save for children's education and be relieved of last moment hassles.

Parinaam provide 60% of a student's total tuition costs up to a maximum of Rs.10000 or matches with the savings of the customer towards children education. Till Parinaam since launch of this program in 2010 has helped around 114 students with scholarship to the tune of Rs.7,92,602/-.

Case Study

Shylaja, hails from a village near Nanjangud, Karnataka and is the youngest of 6 children studying BA, aspires to be a lecturer and is prepared to work hard towards her dream. But her father's earnings as a small farmer were insufficient to put her through College. That's when her mother, who also works as a laborer on neighboring farms, learnt about Diksha and started attending the Program. She understood that regardless of how meager one's earnings, one must save and borrow judiciously. Her one, significant learning was "Save small, but save". This led her to put away Rs. 10 a day, regardless of circumstances. As soon as she heard about it she applied for the Higher Education Scholarship Program. 'I wanted for at least one of my daughters to pursue her dream', says Shylaja's mother. Parinaam is supporting the duo's dream by providing Shylaja with her full College fee.

Parinaam was conceived because monetary services are not the only way out of poverty and the poor are entitled to good health care, quality education and a fair chance to create a better life for their children. Parinaam uses Ujjivan's distribution network, facilities, and dedicated staff to help their customers and families avail social benefits that they could otherwise never have had access to. Together we work to accomplish one ultimate goal, "to provide the urban poor with multi-dimensional services, to attain basic human rights, whether it be a lifesaving surgery or starting a bank account."

In December 2013, Parinaam Foundation received global recognition for its Urban Ultra Poor Program. Parinaam was the Asia-Pacific winner for the 2013 Financial Times and Citi Ingenuity Awards: Urban Ideas in Action program (Read coverage here). The Award is for the most innovative solutions to urban challenges that benefit urban communities.