Editorial: For the Future

Three years into the scheme, there are now 350 students from across Sikkim [primarily from rural schools] who have benefitted from another scheme unique to Sikkim – the Chief Minister’s Merit Scholarship Scheme. This is a scheme all Sikkimese should be proud of, and with the State investing Rs. 6.85 crore to sustain it this year, it is time that the scheme was celebrated more widely and beyond the circle of families which now have their children studying in schools they would never have been able to afford otherwise. Admittedly, there were few who would have taken the scheme seriously when it was first announced and the water tested with the first batch of 50 students taken under the scheme. Such reservations can now be safely put to rest because the number of students has doubled for two successive years, with the 2012 scholarship roll boasting a staggering 200 students. 40 of the students selected this year will be admitted to public schools outside Sikkim, while the rest will be enrolled in the better schools in the State. Apart from being a visionary scheme, this is also the best investment Sikkim has made in the otherwise ignored segment of the young. Picking up students on merit after class V, and then rewarding the best among them with admission in some of the best institutions outside and within Sikkim, sets them up for life. While most of these students hailing from rural Sikkim [the topper this year is from Lower Bermiok JHS in West Sikkim] undoubtedly go through some adjustment problems in the culture shock that greets them, being as young as they are and buoyed by a sense of achievement [having been selected on merit after a state-wide test], they will overcome these teething problems and the grooming and exposure they receive will create an asset that the State can be proud of in the years to come. One does not expect these students to come back and work in Sikkim when they come of age, but even as they make careers, hopefully successful ones, outside the State, they will reflect pride on Sikkim and what is even more important, inspire more to work hard and follow them. It can also be safely vouched that they will remain grateful for the openings created for them by the State and when they are of an age and experience to help and assist and the State needs them, they will deliver. But that, as mentioned, is not how this scheme should be seen because it is really about more than that. In a State where mediocrity ends up being celebrated more often than merit, this is one initiative which not only seeks out excellence, but also rewards it with a handsome investment. Also, every child selected under this scheme inspires more in his/her immediate circle to aspire for the same opportunity and this requires hard work and preparation, aspects of formal education now lost in the well-meaning rules of the RTE Act. Hopefully, those who do not make it to the merit list will not lose the habit of hard work to disillusionment and will continue to respect education through their years in school. In fact, it would not be a bad idea to institute some form of reward – even a book or a magazine subscription – for every students who takes the scholarship exam to give them a sense of achievement and to encourage them to become more competitive.