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.... Letters & Opinion

31st August 2010
Pass them on, Expand the scholarships

The handing over in recent weeks of a substantials number of scholarships to needy students not only benefit the students themselves but is guaranteed to alleviate some of the stress which their parents experience when the long book list arrives and the funds with which to purchase them are not available.
Starting from the top are scholarships awarded by government, from private sector organizations, from service clubs and from a variety of other individuals who recognize the need and have come forward to contribute as concerned citizens should.
On calculation, the numbers of recipients are quite substantial and expected to increase in future.
Do these recipients truly understand the value of these “gifts” or are they just taken for granted? The question that comes to mind is, what happens to, especially the books at the end of the school year? After all those books are just used for one year as the recipient students are expected to advance to another form.

 
 

Call me suspicious but when I see the large number of secondhand books being sold by “Young Entrepreneurs” on the streets I wonder how many of these were formerly “free” to begin with and have now become the means whereby their former owners have become financially and unconscionably beneficial from the sale of these books.
On presentation of scholarships, it should be impressed upon individuals that there should be no feeling of entitlement and that these scholarships are given only because of the generosity and civic mindedness of individuals.
In the case of text books, I have often wondered why books are not labeled on the inside front cover similar to that of library books where the names of each individual using the books signs his name and returns the books to the teachers at the end of the term.
Should they not be returned in satisfactory condition then that individual either pays a fine or the cost of replacing it. When these books are passed on they will also not only benefit the students and their families who receive them but it will also extend the generosity of those who made the books available free of charge in the first place.

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