India, 15 July 2015
This year four young students have been awarded the Goa Education Trust (GET) Scholarships 2015 by the British Council, to pursue their education ambitions in the UK. With strong academic and professional backgrounds these bright young students will pursue their master’s degree in the UK.
Now in its sixth year, the Goa Education Trust Scholarship is funded by the Goa Education Trust and managed by the British Council – UK’s international organisation for educational and cultural relations. The scholarship over the last five years has supported twenty-three outstanding Goan students to access high quality UK education in varied subject interests ranging from engineering, law, marketing, international relations to astrophysics. This year for the first time, the scholarship was open to all Indian nationals with valid Indian passport.
Four winners namely Uma Damle has completed her Bachelor of Design in Fashion Communications and would be pursuing MA in Fashion Photography at University of Arts London. Wayne Dcruz has completed his BA in Mass Media and would be pursuing MA in Cultural and Creative Industries at Kings College London. Kirti Dahiya completed her BA LLB and will be pursuing Master of Law in Public International Law at Queen Mary University and finally Anushka Desouza has completed her Bachelors in Architecture and will be pursuing MSc in Architectural Conservation at University of Edinburgh. The four candidates were part of nine finalists who underwent a rigorous process of interviewing by the panellists.
Uma Damle, one of the selected candidates mentioned, “The interview was a challenging and mentally stimulating exercise. The questions asked were intelligent, insightful and made one think on their feet.
The realisation that I will finally fulfil my dream of studying in University of Arts London is yet to sink in. I cannot express my gratitude towards GET and British Council for funding an unconventional course like mine.”
The panellists namely Prof D. Shankar from CSIR National Institute of Oceanography Goa, Prof Rakesh Basant, Chairperson – Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at IIM Ahmedabad and Manjula Rao, Assistant Director, Internationalising Higher Education, British Council found the candidates very sound both in academics as well as professional backgrounds.
Announcing the awardees for GET scholarships 2015, one of the panellists Manjula Rao said, “I am delighted that the scholarship programme is supporting 4 young people to study in some of the finest UK universities. A significant number of extremely bright students apply for the Goa Education Trust Scholarships. The field is competitive, and successful candidates stand out from the rest for their passion for the subject they wish to pursue and clarity of post study career plans.”
Prof Rakesh Basant from IIM Ahmedabad mentioned, “The diversity of candidates in terms of backgrounds, areas of work/education and gender was quite impressive. The scholarship seems to be emerging as a source of funding for those disciplines that are under-served by the existing funding options. The existing options seem to be focused more on engineering.”
The trustees met all the shortlisted candidates at Cidade De Goa for an informal interactive session discussing about the purpose of the scholarship and the value they would add to Goa once they come back to India with the experience and knowledge.
Mr. Ambar Timblo, Trustee at the Goa Education Trust mentioned, “The Goa Education Trust (GET) is continuing with its onward journey to provide opportunities to students to achieve their aspirations. It is very heart-warming to learn that our students have come from diverse fields. I am quite confident that the students will gain rich experience by interacting and learning from world-class teachers/ fellow students from different nationalities, who are often the very best in the chosen field. Every year, we see selected individuals who avail of this opportunity to do excellent in various fields. . GET will continue to partner with the student community to produce better individuals and professionals.
Mr. Shrinivas Dempto, another Trustee at the Goa Education Trust said. “Setting up the GET was an experience as instructive as it was satisfying. The initiative jelled with the Dempo business group’s social responsibility profile. My delight was all the greater on the meeting of minds and perceptions on the Trust’s remit with Ambar Timblo of FOMENTO. We were one on the concept of laying of an avenue for young Goan scholars to go on to achieve higher learning in the UK where standards of teaching are exemplary. Besides, we were gratified at having the British Council on board as collaborator to the exercise in terms of its domain expertise and impartiality. More than money, it is perception, passion and professionalism that take you somewhere and leads to good things!
As for the future of GET, we cannot but see it as bright. The initial years have brought forth a rich harvest of Goan talents. I believe that the idea behind GET, its execution, and the results of the scholarship exercise have more than justified our early passion. Our record serves as solid bedrock for times to come, each year bringing a crop as good as, if not better than, the earlier yield!”
- Goa Education Trust Scholarship (GET) has been conceptualized by the industrious Dempo and Fomento groups from Goa. GET is aimed to provide Goans an efficient medium to pursue the best available opportunities in education, in whichever academic fields they desire. It will provide scholarships to eligible students for their post graduate studies in the United Kingdom in all spheres, fields and departments. Both the groups are well known in Goa as also in other parts of India for their contribution towards social causes ranging from education, medical care and child and women development. Both the groups have long felt the need to provide Goans an efficient medium to pursue the best available opportunities in education, in whatever areas they desire. It is with this intention that the seed of forming a channel for higher education was germinated and it is today that the seed is seeing full bloom with the launch of the Goa Education Trust.
- The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunity and cultural relations and is represented in over 100 countries worldwide. We promote engagement and trust worldwide through an exchange of knowledge and ideas. Our work in India focuses on English and UK Qualifications, Education and Society and the Arts. To find out more about our work in India please visit www.britishcouncil.in
- Visit www.educationuk.org/india/ for a comprehensive website aimed solely at the Indian students with a searchable course database of more than 450,000 courses, information on visa procedures, stories from alumni, scholarship information and lots of advice for potential students and their families.