How UPES Shakti scholarship is changing lives

Over 5000 scholarships have been announced and offered since the UPES Shakti initiative was launched in 2020. It is a step towards achieving ‘Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow’

Yashasvi Tiwari was scrolling through her social media feed when she came across the UPES Shakti scholarship program. “I read about Shakti and realised that this could be the gateway to my higher education. The process was simple. I applied and was able to avail of the scholarship without any hassles,” she says.

Yashasvi recounts how the monetary assistance helped her considerably and made it easier for her to achieve her higher education dreams. “The scholarship provided support to my family by taking some load off their shoulders,” she says. Currently, she is doing an internship in a Software Development role at Pocket FM, a popular audio streaming platform.

Stressing the importance of educating women, Yashasvi says, “My experiences at the university have helped build my confidence. I think it is crucial to empower young women. It helps us believe that we can do anything that we put our mind to, if we receive the necessary support. So, when you get that opportunity, you must be able to recognise the moment and seize it without delay.”

For Deeksha Deepak Kaushik, it was her father who told her about the Shakti scholarship at UPES. She says, “My father has always been my strength. He wanted me to study at the best possible institution. While looking at various universities, he came across UPES and its Shakti scholarship initiative. When he told me about it, I was thrilled and decided to pursue my higher education here.”

Shreya Roy Chaudhary was preparing for entrance exams at a coaching centre when she got acquainted with the UPES Shakti scholarship through a webinar. She says, “I was extremely happy to hear that the university was supporting female students. I gave the entrance exam, cleared it, and got the scholarship.”

These are a few of the several beneficiaries of the Shakti scholarship at UPES. Through this initiative, the university provides a concession on tuition fees to all girl students for the complete program duration. It is a step towards achieving ‘Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow’, which was also the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day.

This year, too, UPES has announced scholarship for meritorious students. The scholarship is applicable for all the students appearing for UPES entrance exams. Around 2000 scholarships will be awarded for the academic year 2022-23. Apart from this merit scholarship, UPES will also be offering an additional domicile scholarship of 33% to all students who are residents of Uttarakhand.

There has been an overall increase of over 18% in female enrolment in higher education from 2015-16 to 2019-2020, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20. Even so, of every 100 college graduates in India, only 38 are women. The numbers indicate that the road to parity in education is still long. Lack of financial resources is a major barrier to quality education, especially for female students. Endeavours such as the UPES Shakti scholarship enable young women to complete their higher education and acquire the knowledge and skills to succeed in life.

As a premier institution of higher education, UPES will continue to work towards overcoming the hurdles that prevent girls from enrolling and completing their higher education.