The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Think about the future, young Anglo-Indians told

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Saturday, Dec 23, 2006
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Think about the future, young Anglo-Indians told

Special Correspondent

Ivan Nigli — Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

Bangalore: The flagging educational aspirations of young Anglo-Indians are a cause for concern to Ivan Negli, MLA who represents the Anglo-Indian community in the legislature. It worries him that the young men and women of the community are not making full use of the CET quota for entering professional colleges. "Two engineering and one medical seat has been reserved for Anglo-Indians. Last year, there were 18 applicants. This year, we received just enough applicants to fill the seats. Our boys and girls need to look beyond 10+2 and an immediate career," he says.

What apparently is behind this lack of enthusiasm for higher education is the lure of the BPO/call centre sector that offers relatively good salaries and eagerly absorb Anglo-Indians who have good English-speaking skills. "A family with two children in a call centre can live comfortably now. But what about the future? If they acquire technical skills, they will be set for life and the entire socio- economic status of the community can change," Mr. Negli feels.

As a legislator he has fought for retaining the full fee reimbursement for Anglo-Indian children in schools, but finds the amount too low, if they are to attend top schools. "Fortunately, many schools provide scholarships to our children and take in orphans of the community as free scholars." There may be no separate quota for them in many courses, but Anglo-Indians can benefit from the minority quotas to get into well paying lifetime professions like airline pilots. Nursing is another profession where scholarships are available.

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