By Robancy A Helen
Mettala: Loyola College of Arts and Science, one of the Jesuit institutions in Tamil Nadu, has come forward to sponsor the academic fees of poor students amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The college is located in Mettala near Salem but in Namakkal district in Tamil Nadu. It was started in 2015, affiliated to the Periyar University, Salem.
It is one of the nine colleges the Jesuits manage in Tamil Nadu. The college has 1,075 students, including 442 girls, coming mostly from Namakkal and Salem districts..
The college offers undergraduate courses in English, Commerce, Business Administration, Computer Application, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Computer Science. Special training in Spoken English, Computer and competitive examinations are conducted here.
The college administration has decided to offer free education to orphans, semi orphans and deserving poor students from the rural areas during the pandemic.
Matters India interviewed College principal Jesuit Father Maria Joseph Mahalingam about the work of Jesuit educational institutions in Tamil Nadu.
Matters India: Please introduce briefly about you and your ministry?
Father Maria Joseph Mahalingam: I was born in a Hindu family and embraced Christianity at the age of 17. I joined the Society of Jesus in 1981 for the Jesuit Madurai Province, Tamil Nadu. I completed my doctoral studies in Paris, France. My doctoral research was on the Social Basis of Caste Conflicts between Backward Class and Dalits in Tamil Nadu with a special reference to the violent conflicts between two communities in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. Internationally well-known Sociologist Professor Pierre Bourdieu was my research guide.
Before appointed the principal of Loyola College, Mettala, I was working in the Department of Sociology in Loyola College, Chennai, during 2006-2013 and Department of Rural Development Science in Arul Anandar College, Karumathur from 2013 to 2018 and Department of Business Administration in Loyola College, Vettavalam in Thiruvannamalai district. I am also the CRI ;Conference of Religious India] president for Vellore diocese in Tamil Nadu.
What prompted you to sponsor poor students during the Pandemic?
Our College is situated in Mettala in Rasipuram taluk in Namakkal district. Mettala is surrounded by many poor villages. I went to celebrate Mass in June-July to Rasipuram, Sentharaipatti, Aathoor, Vazhaipadi and Gengevalli.
Loyola College conducts outreach programs in these villages. Before my arrival, the Jesuit community undertook Covid-19 relief work in these villages during April and May. Food materials were distributed to the economically weak and socially vulnerable people. Along with other Jesuit priests when I visited these villages in August and in the beginning of September, I came across some students who had scored good marks in the twelfth grade but could not join a college because of poverty.
This was because of the lockdown. We also came across some orphan, semi-orphan students in the villages and tribal students living in nearby hills. Mettala is also surrounded by Yercaud, Kolli and Servarayan Hills. The gypsies who are called Nari Kuravars in Tamil Nadu also live in these areas. Students from these groups, who passed the twelfth grade, told me that they would join the college next year.
Meanwhile the Periyar University extended the deadline for admission until October 30. Our Jesuit community analyzed local people’s financial situation and made a comparative study of admissions in the previous academic years. We also studied the college’s fee structure. Each semester, a student needs to pay 9,500 rupees for Arts and 10,000 rupees for the Science course. The college’s fee structure covers the expenses of special training for the Union Public Service Commission exams, English coaching and Computer Education. The financial crisis due to the continuing lockdown and the inability of bright students to pay the necessary college fees prompted us to offer the maximum scholarship to the needy.
Is this the first time you are giving free education to students?
Yes. This is the first time our college provides free education to the most deserving students especially to the orphans, semi-orphans, Tribals and Dalits for the academic year 2020-2021.
Some relatives of these children volunteered to contribute a little. We will extend the scholarship to the admitted students under these categories until they complete their studies.
Is it because of the pandemic, the Jesuit institutions decided to offer free education to the poor students?
The main reason for this help is because of the continuing lockdown. The parents of these students could not go for work. They are daily-wage laborers and the lockdown has affected their life so much.
But in general, all the Jesuit educational institutions admit the students with partial admission fee at the beginning and collect the semester fees in due course. We identify the poor, orphan and semi-orphan students during the academic year and give management scholarship in the second semester only.
Loyola College, Mettala, charges only 5,000 rupees from the first year students for the first semester while the semester fee is 10,000 rupees. For the orphan, semi-orphan, differently- abled students, some have paid only 5,000 rupees for the entire year while they need to pay 47,000 rupees including the college, hostel and examination fee for two semesters. For example, Priyanka, an orphan from Salem approached us for help and the guardian said that she could pay just 5,000 rupees. The college waived the rest of the 42,000 rupees. We accept whatever the relatives of an orphan, semi-orphan contribute. The we sponsor. This sponsorship will be carried out until till the end of their studies. Not all Jesuit educational institutions offer this scholarship this year.
How many will benefit from this scholarship program?
In the Jesuit community meeting, we officially decided to extend this help to only 20 students. But the demand is more. We make discernment case by case and the number may reach 35.
What are the criteria for getting the scholarship?
The scholarship is given to the Tribals, Dalits, orphans and semi-orphans, differently-abled and children of differently-abled and mentally challenged parents. It is also for the economically poor whose parents are daily-wage laborers and have no job during the pandemic. Students who have not yet joined any college so far due financial difficulties, we admit them into our college.
Is it only for this year or will it continue?
We are not planning to continue the scholarship next year but we hope that the Indian government and the World Health Organization will find an appropriate vaccine to this dreadful coronavirus and the situation would become better. It may not be possible to continue next year as we have to pay the salaries to our teaching and non-teaching staff.
What message do you have for students, their parents and the general public?
By offering this scholarship, we provide an opportunity to the bright and intelligent students to continue their higher education. Because of financial difficulties, no bright student should be deprived of an opportunity to go the college; they should not be constrained to go to work or remain at home. Providing opportunity to these poor is an expression of our love for Jesus. It is our genuine expression human solidarity to our fellow human beings. By helping the poor we remain committed to teaching of Jesus (Mt. 25: 41-49).
Jesuits are always making a difference. We set a hallmark in all we do and particularly in the field of education. Our aim is not to make money but to stand in solidarity with the poor during this pandemic. We also believe that God will show us the way to get donations from others to support the education of these students.
This message has reached far and wide to Bihar, Rome, Malaysia, and Australia. After coming to know about our scholarship, S.M. Sheela, Health Inspector, CRPF Hospital, Bihar’s Muzaffarpur has sent 10,000 rupees in appreciation of our help to the education of orphan and semi-orphan students. Francis Kulandai, founder and director, IVDP has agreed to donate 10,000 rupees to every orphan and 7,500 rupees to every semi-orphan students admitted in our college. We believe that God will help us to find donors to support the education of all the poor students admitted.