A Model of Directorate of Students Welfare Scholarship that integrates Higher Education among the students of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat

Abstract

The Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda\'s flagship programme is the Directorate of Students\' Welfare (DSW). It was established by the then Vice Chancellor, Prof. Yogesh Singh, and higher authorities to provide financial aid to the University\'s economically disadvantaged students. The primary goal of DSW is to provide financial assistance to \'genuine but economically disadvantaged\' future assets of the country who are pursuing their studies at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. DSW was established in the academic year 2012-13 with the goal of putting the haves and have-nots on an equal footing. Students who apply for a scholarship must have a family income of less than 3.5 lakh rupees per year and have received 55 percent in their previous year\'s exam. The online application can be made on the Maharaja Sayajirao University website (https://msubaroda.ac.in/dsw) with all the supporting papers such as Aadhar card, Bank Account details, Electricity bills, and so on. The DSW collaborates with members of its Core Committee and Faculty Coordinators. The Faculty Committee, which consists of the Dean, three professors, the dean of students, and the dean of sports, conducts the initial examination. The core committee then verifies the qualifications and assigns Recommendation, Strongly Recommendation, or Not Recommended ratings based on the students\' merits. Each academic year, the committee meets to debate the agenda, make plans, and act in accordance with the Vice Chancellor sir\'s instructions. Every year, needy and genuine students are discovered through a methodical process that culminates in a personal interview in which the students are asked for personal information and all documents are verified. If during the interview the committee feels the need to go for home visit for further verification. After they are shortlisted, the funds are directly transferred to their bank accounts. For educational year 2020-21 the method was completely online due to Covid situation. Total 2925 students had done registration out of that 2621 application was completed with necessary documents. A total Rs. 90, 40, 490 Lakh has been given to 2004 students this educational year. If we see the data we have helped 1662 Grant in Aid students and 342 Higher payment students as they have received the scholarship. Also gender wise distribution is seen it is 1181 boys and 823 girls were benefitted with DSW scholarship.

Introduction

I. ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE MAHARAJA SAYAJIRAO UNIVERSITY OF BARODA, VADODARA

The idea of creating a University at Baroda had engaged the eye of the govt. of the previous State of Baroda and its instructional advisors long before the question of regional universities and decentralization, reorganization and reconditioning of upper education to suit the cultural instructional desires of areas had taken root within the country. The thought was First  pictured by Dr. Jackson, when, as Principal of the Baroda faculty within the 1908, he advocated the institution of a Science Institute at Baroda on associate improved and freelance basis. it had been a homogenous policy of the govt. of Baroda to subject its instructional system to periodical inquiries of associate searching nature by instructional consultants of international fame, thanks to that the primary Commission was appointed in 1909. The principal recommendation of that Commission was to expand the activities of the Baroda faculty by establishing further chairs in new branches of data. As a results of this policy of chalking out inaccessible methods in education and thereby evolving a university atmosphere in Baroda, chairs of Comparative Region and unit Science were instituted. Prof. Widgery and Mrs. sturdy were appointed to carry these chairs.  (https://www.msubaroda.ac.in/)

A. The Rules and Regulations

The university has its origins within the Baroda faculty, established in 1881 by Baroda State. the most building, that homes the college of Arts, was designed by Henry Martyn Robert Fellowes Chisholm in Indo-Saracenic design vogue, during a fusion of Indian and Byzantine arches and domes in brick and polychromed stone. The most dome on the convocation hall was modelled when the good dome of the Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur. Pratap Singh Gaekwad of Baroda (1908–1968) (the last prince of the erstwhile Baroda State) supported The prince Sayajirao University of Baroda in 1949 on the needs of his gramps, prince Sayajirao Gaekwad III (1863–1939), and settled the Sir Sayajirao jubilee and Memorial Trust, that exists up to now, line of work to the education and alternative desires of the folks of the previous Baroda State.

B. What is Scholarship ?

Scholarship is the application of systematic approaches to the acquisition of knowledge through intellectual inquiry. Scholarship includes the dissemination of this knowledge through various means such as publications, presentations (verbal and audiovisual), professional practice and the application of this new knowledge to the enrichment of the life of society.

C. Why scholarship is so important for students in India

The Indian education system has a lot of issues in it. One of the major issues is the poor quality of education in government schools and colleges. where there is a majority of underprivileged children who go to take education. Regardless of allocating Rs. 94,800 crores for the education sector. which is in the previous Union Budget and Rs. 99,300 crores in the budget of 2020-21. But still, there is no prevention in the high level of dropout rate in the schools, especially for intermediate classes.

(source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/educationnews/why-scholarship-is-so-important-for-students-in-india-21135/)

Another factor is the high number of dropouts. Apart from the budgetary situation, there is a lack of quality education at government institutions. This forces a student to consider their options and career chances in the informal sector in order to earn money sooner than anticipated. Scholarships have become an important tool in achieving quality education in private universities. Scholarships are essential for everyone. This is true not only for college programmes, but also for school and post-college success.

Here’s a list of top few reasons explaining the importance of scholarship in today’s education world.

1. Increasing Cost: The rise in the cost of college, school, and university fees is the most common reason students need scholarships. Every year, the tuition fee increases by at least 5%, with overseas students paying the highest percentage. As a result, enrolling in fully financed programmes is incredibly advantageous because it relieves a student of any financial worry.
2. Student Loan Rate is shooting up:  According to recent studies, a large number of metropolitan families have mortgages and loans. Which is to send their students to universities for further education. Furthermore, the bank loan rate rises every year, emphasising the importance of scholarships.
3. Basic Living Expenses:  Students at colleges and universities must additionally pay for food and transportation. These expenditures accumulate over time and often result in a great deal of annoyance. If the student and their family have already overpaid for tuition, it becomes even more difficult to deal with. Receiving a scholarship that covers all of these expenses, on the other hand, is extremely beneficial.

D. Directorate of students’ welfare   

One of the foremost exemplary product and noble thought behind the first motive to grant aid to ‘genuine however economically disadvantaged’ future assets of this nation following their studies at The maharajah Sayajirao University of Baroda started manner back within the school year (2012-’13) by the Honourable Vice Chancellor Prof. Yogesh Singh.  Which resulted in bringing the haves and the haves not on equal footings . This is how Directorate of Students' Welfare came into existence.

Directorate of Students’ Welfare with the aim to plan and organize the co-curricular activities for the students at the University and College level.

E. Constitution of Directorate of Students’ Welfare

As the name implies, the objective of the office is to ensure the welfare of student community. It will work as an agent between students and the administration of The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara. The responsibility of the Directorate is of two-fold. i.e. to guide and assist students to overcome their problems and on the other hand not to compromise on the Rules and Regulations of The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara.

The DSW has these three major activities-

• Giving freeship and scholarship to the deserving students.
• Conducting students centric workshops and seminars.
• Temporary class III/ Class IV employees fee refund for those children studying in campus school

F. How Directorate of Students’ Welfare operates?

The maximum fee waiver limit of 25% for the Higher Payment Programme. (HPP)   15% of total collected fees under Directorate of Student’s Welfare Should be kept as corpus for providing financial assistance in exceptional cases.

G. Faculty Level Scrutiny Committee

1. Dean
2. 3 Head of Department
3. 2 Senior Permanent Teacher
4. Dean of Sports
5. Dean of Students 

II. METHODOLOGY

A. Application Process

Application form is online for financial assistance/scholarship/free ship/ free waiver for the respected academic years. Students has to paid Rs. 200 for form fees of DSW Scholarship.(Sample)

C. Procedure Followed For On-Line Application

1. A notification is  put forward at the initial point with this regard
2. This year forms for DSW scholarship were uploaded and students could apply between 30.11.2021 (Tuesday) to 31.12.2021 (Friday)
3. Issuance and submission of application forms
4. A preliminary round of online Scrutiny is conducted
5. Further classification of the eligible candidates before final disbursement was done by core committee and verification of documentations is done.

D. Procedure for selection of candidates for Scholarship

• Until the year 2015, the forms for Directorate of Students’ Welfare were filled up manually by the students. Due to the efforts of the University, the entire procedure has been digitised. Since the year 2016, the forms for the Directorate of Students’ Welfare scholarship can be availed and filled online with ease by the students. The cost of the form is Rs. 200/-
• Several meetings are  held for the online form facility of Directorate of Students’ Welfare where demonstrations regarding filling up the forms and procedures are  explained. Suggestions and feedback from the committee members aregiven regarding the online form to make it more users friendly and easy in operation.
• During these meetings, it was decided  that if any student had no facility of a computer or a laptop to fill up the form, the computer centre Director, with the help of his volunteers would put up a help desk so that the students can be facilitated for filling up the online form from the University computer centre.

The committee recommended the following:

• Online application should be invited from Students for Scholarship under Directorate of Students’ Welfare.
• After receiving the online application from the students, the following procedure be recommended for disbursement of Directorate of Students’ Welfare scholarship:
• Faculty level screening committee constituted for Directorate of Students’ Welfare, Faculty level would check and verify all the documents submitted by candidates for more action.
• These parameters need to be incorporated for Faculty level online scrutiny with remarks:

• Strongly recommended
• Recommended
• Not Recommended

E. Directorate of Students' Welfare organized Seminar and Workshops

Academic year 2018-19 Students Centric Seminars and Workshops were organized. The Workshop “Performance and Professional Skills” was conducted by Mr. P.S.Chari who is an Educationist, Theatre Director and Corporate Trainer.   The Workshop concerned various tenets of Negotiation Skills, Leadership quality and Performance Skills. The Workshop was designed to help participants to overcome their fright and inhibition, discover physical, mental and creative boundaries

 Second Seminar under the Banner of DSW was conducted Seminar was based on a Book “Exam Warrior” . The Seminar was very interactive and interesting as students were given advice to focus by keeping mind cool and calm as it helps in thinking, recall and to concentrate. expert gave demonstration of Yoga Exercise, Pranayama, Mudra and Meditation so that they can implement in their routine life to fight against exam anxiety. The main objective was to encourage healthy habits among students along with healthy attitude towards examinations.

 Third Seminar in the sequence of series of Seminar was “Being Future Leaders” was organized for the students

Expert also mentioned that it is not necessary that every one succeeds in the very first attempt, and one has to keep trying and making attempts till they succeed. According to expert  only those who dare to dream and work to fulfil them can be potential leaders.

Fourth Seminar in the series of Seminar/Workshop for the year 2018-19 was conducted Science Faculty on 14th March, 2019. The Coordinators for the Seminar on “Amazing Approach to refining Memory” were Prof. Ashutosh Bedekar(Senate Member) and Ms. Shilpa Gupta-Shah (Coordinator). The Seminar was organized in the Department of Maths were more than 110 students from different Departments of Faculty of Science participated.

The expert speaker Mr. Sumit Ghosal who is a well known Psychologist, conducted this Seminar. The speaker enthralled the students by his powerful and captivating words regarding the types and functioning of human memory, ways to increase its efficiency and its application in various studies.

Fifth Seminar was conducted by the Directorate of Students’ Welfare (DSW), The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara on Friday, 24th January, 2020, under the guidance & mentorship of Prof. (Dr.) Rameshwari Pandya, at Shri Aurobindo Hall, Faculty of Arts from 1-4.30 pm. The participants were mostly students of the Faculty of Arts, yet few students were present from Faculties of Science, Medicine, Commerce etc. A total of 153 students had registered for the seminar.

The Guest Speaker was Mr. Deepak Meghani, IPS, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone-1, Vadodara, an eloquent orator full of rich experiences of going through the whole turmoil of facing competitive examinations & interviews. He deliberated on all the aspects-(micro and macro) of attempting, preparing, facing and qualifying for such prestigious cadres. A-Z of every feature comprising the in-depth, exhaustive sequence of examinations was touched upon- the preliminary(objective) test followed by the main examination (descriptive & lengthy), in turn followed by personality test (interview), physical & medical tests, clearing of which, confirms admission of the candidate.

Sixth Seminar Was Conducted By The Directorate Of Student’s Welfare (Dsw), The Maharaja Sayajirao University Of Baroda Under The Guidance Of Prof. Rameshwari Pandya, Director Dsw And Dr. Kavita Sindhav, Dsw Co-Ordinator, On “Being A Brand” By Shri Nandak Pandya,

For The Students Of The University, On 4th February, 2020 At The Golden Jubilee Hall, Faculty Of Social Work, The Maharaja Sayajirao University Of Baroda. The Seminar Was Conducted By The Expert Shri Nandak Pandya, Corporate Mentor, In Presence Of The Director DSW, Prof. Rameshwari Pandya, Prof. (Dr) Jagdish Solanki, Dean, Faculty Of Social Work, Dr. Kavita Sindhav, DSW Co-Ordinator, And Also The Senate And Syndicate Members Of The M.S. University And The Staff Members Of The Institute. The Seminar Was Attended By More Than 200 Students Of The University.

Shri Nandak Pandya started his session by quoting “what do you understand by a brand” to get on the attention of audience and created an involving environment. He exclaimed that a brand is:

• A person living inside a product
• A promise
• Safety
• Excellence

He gave 5 key features of a brand

• Brand purpose is the reason or the brand to exist beyond making money.
• Brand positioning refers to “target consumer’s” reasons to buy your brand in preference to others. it ensures that all brand activity has a common purpose.
• Brand promise is a statement made by an organisation to its customers stating what customers can expect from their product and services.
• Brand personality is a set of human characteristics that are attributed to a brand name.
• Brand identity is the visible elements of a brand that distinguishes the brand in consumer’s mind.

The main objective of this seminar was to enhance personality development of the students and their capacity building. The seminar ended with Vote of Thanks and the National Anthem.

Seventh an Expert talk was organised by Directorate of Students Welfare (DSW), The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda on “Challenges and Opportunity in the Field of Performing Arts” on 18.02.2020 at Play Box Faculty of Performing Arts by Dr. Trilok Sing Kulwant Singh Mehra as coordinator under the guidance of Prof. Rameshwari Pandya, Director of DSW and also with the support of Shri Sandeep Gokhle , Dy. Director of DSW.

The speaker of the Expert Talk was Mr. Rahul Bhole , Eminent Film Director and Recipient of National Award for Best Director for his Film REVA. Mr. Rahul Bhole is an alumni of the Department of Dramatics Faculty of Performing Arts. The response of the students was overwhelming. Shri Rahul Bhole talked on the challenges faced by the artists today on the ground. He said today scenario has changed because of digital era. Today opportunities are more than the challenges. He also accepted that theatre education has helped him a lot in the field of cinema. He also discussed about his journey from making a short fill to become a full-fledged film director. He advised students to be a passionate about their work and also conviction towards the work. He said Conviction towards his work is the key to become a successful artist.

Shri Rahul Bhole suggested to the young artist that they should not be rigid towards his work but should be always flexible. At the beginning of the career we should accept the assignment which come across during the professional career. And when get the right opportunity should mould his interests towards his passion.

Eighth seminar was conducted by the Directorate of Students Welfare ( DSW ) ,The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda under the guidance of Prof. Rameshwari Pandya , Director D.S.W, Dr. Harjit kaur Sandhu I/ c Director Physical Education Department , Mr. Gokhale Sandeep. S. Dy.Director D.S.W. on “ Career Counselling in Armed /Paramilitary Forces by Col.Falnikar Vinod. For the N.C.C. Cadets on 3RD March 2020 at Practice Hall , Union Pavilion Building.

The seminar was conducted by the expert Col.Falnikar Vinod in presence of Dr. V.H.Kher Principal Polytechnic & Syndicate Member , Mr. Chetan Somani Senate member , Lt. Commander K.S.V.Kaushik , Group Captain Hemant Singh Chauhan ,Col. Rahul Shrivastav . “SENA MEDAL ”.

Ninth an Expert talk on “Kar Har Maidan Fateh” by Shri Deval Shastri, a Corporate Trainer and Motivational Speaker, under the guidance & mentorship of Prof. Rameshwari Pandya on Thursday, 12th March, 2020.

He talked about how students these days are looking forward to their bus timings to go home rather than concentrating on the lectures and asking questions, which would keep the teachers occupied on constantly reading. He spoke about students willing to get all the information’s on the mobile phones rather than working hard on reading and getting experiences. He gave examples of corporate sectors wanting to have peons who should also make profit for company in some way. He also talked about King Sudan who changed his advisor, from Vishwamitri to Vashishtha; and how Vishwamitri being enraged fought the King multiple times and still lost.

Directorate of Students' Welfare provide facilities of  Reimbursement of 312 children’s fees of Rs. 13,17,368  the wards of temporary Class III and Non – Teaching class IV staff of the University studying in the University in the Experimental School and Chetan Balwadi.(Campus School)

Conclusion

1) The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda is the first University has started scholarship in 2012-13, in Gujarat. From last ten years total boys and girls 18,714 get benefited of DSW Scholarship. 2) For Academic year 2020-22 100% scholarship was provided to those students who had lost their parents. A total amount of Rs. 13,46,760 has been provided to 66 such students under the special cases. 3) Directorate of Students’ Welfare Offers scholarships to all the students according to the need and economic status. 4) Each student of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda get equal opportunity to apply and get the scholarship. 5) Home Visits, Personal Counselling and Personal interviews are conducted to give scholarship 6) The amount of Scholarship is directly deposited to the account of the students for faster benefit to reach direct

References

[1] https://www.msubaroda.ac.in/Offices/105 [2] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/educationnews/why-scholarship-is-so-important-for-students-in-india-21135/ [3] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258380545_The_Relationship_between_Scholarships_and_Student_Success_An_Art_and_Design_Case_Study

Copyright

Copyright © 2022 Prof. Rameshwari Pandya , Mr. Sandeep Gokhle, Dr. Pooja Shah . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.