Village youth reach high

Auroville’s college scholarship initiative for village students, Reach for the Stars, is now in its fifth year and has supported 56 students to date.

“I’m the first graduate in my family, and they feel proud of me,” says Vaidegi confidently. As the applicants for the June 2015 scholarship intake mingle in the background at Thamarai community centre in Edayanachavady, anxiously waiting for their interviews with the Reach for the Stars team, Vaidegi is happy to be a role model now she’s graduated and working: “We can encourage by our actions,” she says about the example set by the programme’s first graduates.

Vaidegi, from Sanjeevinagar village, completed her Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Communications last year. She is now working in AuraAuro Design, an electronics company in Auroville, and is determined to climb the career ladder. “Presently I’m concentrating on my work, because I want to grow in that field. I want to do more than what I can do now. I’m in the learning process, so I’m focusing on that.” She is also doing volunteer teaching in programming and electronics in two Auroville schools, and paying back 20% of her college fees – a requirement of the Reach for the Stars initiative. “I want to support Reach for the Stars throughout my life,” she says. She offers her advice to village students aspiring to go to college. “If you love what you’re doing, don’t be distracted!”

Reach for the Stars is an Auroville initiative that finances the higher education of young people from poor backgrounds from the villages surrounding Auroville. Talented students are chosen through a competitive selection process, and are funded to achieve their educational potential through college degrees. Students generally receive funding from one sponsor, who commits to covering the entire expense of a student’s three or four year degree. Once they start studying, the students are mentored throughout their degree by Reach for the Stars team members, who monitor their progress and provide advice.

As the background noise rises from students relieved at having completed their interviews, founder Stephanie says that this year the programme will only be able to accept a maximum of ten students out of 50 applicants, whereas it accepted 16 last year. More funds are needed to deal with the rising costs of degrees, which go hand-in-hand with the rising ambitions of village students. “Engineering costs one lakh [approximately US $ 1600, eds.] per year,” she says. “We have one student who wants to study Aeronautical Engineering, which costs 1200 Euros per year. It’s hard to find sponsors for these expensive degrees. We interviewed six applicants who want to study nursing, and we can only choose one or two.”

Thirteen students funded by the programme have now graduated, and are working or undertaking further study, and the 20% repayment scheme is going well.

Many more students are in their final year, such as Savithri from Edayanachavady who confesses to having been afraid in her first year at college. Now in the third year of her Bachelor of Civil Engineering, she reflects on her early college days. “Mum gave me some advice: ‘Have courage. Don’t depend on others. Be yourself’.” Savithri’s trepidation about starting college was connected to the gender imbalance in her class: 32 boys to 7 girls. “It’s difficult but now I feel comfortable. In the village, students are either in school or watching TV. In college, I entered the city and learnt about society and the outside world. My friends are coming from many cities. I feel proud, happy. It’s my dream. I never expected it would happen.” Savithri graduates next year, and wants to work in Auroville, inspired by the way in which Auroville housing project Sacred Groves avoids using concrete. Her advice to other students: “Go step by step. It gives confidence. Don’t be afraid! Every day we learn a lot.”

Suchitra, also from Edayanachavady, is in her fourth and final year of engineering in computer science. Her first year was the hardest, until she “learnt how to write a test”. She also notes her own personal growth during her studies: “I learnt my boldness,” she says. “Nowadays, we should have boldness and good knowledge.” She also concedes her major project last year was difficult, as it involved complicated data-mining about brain disease. After graduation, she wants to go to Bangalore or Chennai for work. Her mother is happy for her achievements, but also sad that Suchitra will move to another city for work, as her mother will be left alone in the house – Suchitra’s two older sisters are already married and living elsewhere. Suchitra’s advice: “Find your field, study, do your best. Don’t get married too soon!”

Over the five years of the programme’s existence, Stephanie has seen the need for the programme to provide greater support, starting with English classes on Sundays. “We also felt there was a need for a social worker, so a Tamil social worker from Auroville looks after them,” she says. “We discovered that bad results were often the outcome of problems at home, such as an alcoholic father, or parents that want to push them into work instead of studies. There are also lots of health problems, especially for the girls. We decided to conduct a workshop on women’s health, and other workshops are held for the students whenever a need comes up, for example, a two-day workshop on job application and interviews.”

At the time of this article going to publication, the Reach for the Stars team announced that they had initially selected 14 students they wished to fund this year, but that due to insufficient funds only seven students can be helped. This leaves the remaining students to reconsider their options or to ask their families to go into significant debt to fund their studies. “We are very upset that we can’t help those other ones to go ahead and follow their dreams,” says Stephanie.

While the selection process is difficult for the Reach for the Stars team, the success of the graduates spurs them on. “I’m happy they grow so well,” says Stephanie. “They turn into different people, very grown up!”

For more information visit:

http://www.reach-for-the-stars.org