By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Guwahati: The recently announced results of class 12 examination by the state and central boards have brought cheers among thousands of successful candidates in North East. While the students with sound financial background are planning to pursue their academic career according to their choice and realize their dreams, the students with limited financial background are beset with gloom and despair.
Following the announcement of results, the print and electronic media, besides capturing the jubilant mood of successful students, have been bringing into sharp public focus the heart breaking stories of poor and meritorious students about their shattered dreams of pursuing higher education because of poverty. But it is not end of the tunnel for such students with poor financial background. Poverty will not be a bane for brilliant students from North East.
File photo of Mohbubul Hoque (in center) in a program.
Speaking to the media, Mohbubul Hoque, Chairman, ERD Foundation, said Regional Institute of Science and Technology (RIST), run by ERDF, has opened its doors to students belonging to below poverty line with an excellent academic record to help them pursue their engineering dreams. RIST has been implementing a scheme to make higher education accessible to the meritorious poor students from North East.
Under the scheme RIST supports and provides free education to the exceptionally meritorious BPL students. Under the scheme nearly 100 BPL meritorious students are currently pursuing B Tech courses in different branches at RIST. This scheme is in the line of ERDF policy of reaching out to the under privileged and disadvantaged sections of the society as part of its corporate social responsibility.
The admission criteria will be as follows – meritorious students securing more than 70 percent of marks will have entirely free of cost course and the others who are below 70 percent but above 60 percent will be charged with concessional fee.
The ERDF has also been implementing this scheme through all the ERDF institutions including Central Public School Badarpur, Central Public School Patharkandi and Regional College of Higher Education, University of Science and Technology Meghalaya, & Central IT College Guwahati. So far ERDF has offered free admission and fee relaxation to more than 1,000 BPL students in its different institutions.
RIST is situated on a picturesque hill in 9th Mile, opposite CRPF Group Centre, Khanapara, half a km from the National Highway, the Guwahati Shillong Road. It is only 6 km from the capital of Assam, Dispur. RIST at present offers B Tech. Programmes in Computer Sc & Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. All the courses are approved by All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) New Delhi, Ministry of HRD, Government of India and is affiliated to North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, the oldest central university in North East.
Needy meritorious poor students are required only to produce a recommendation letter from the Principal of the school/college last attended or from any head of local religious institutions such as Church, Satra, mosque etc.