TAHDCO to help SC/ST students pursue degree programmes

The Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation (TAHDCO) is partnering with HCL Technologies and IIT-Madras in two separate programmes to support undergraduate education of students from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities.

Students who secured at least 60% marks in Class XII can apply for the B.Sc Data Science offered online by IIT-Madras, for which clearing the IIT-JEE entrance examination is not a prerequisite. Students should instead clear an examination to be conducted at the end of a four-week training to be offered jointly by TAHDCO and IIT-Madras.

The degree programme has multiple exit options with either diplomas or the degree. If selected for the programme, TAHDCO will fund the fees as an educational loan. If the family income of the selected students is within ₹5 lakh, they will be eligible for scholarships.

The other programme offered in partnership with HCL will provide an opportunity to pursue degree programmes in BITS Pilani, SASTRA or Amity University while working at the company.

Students who passed Class XII in the last two years with at least 60% marks will be chosen for this programme after clearing an examination to be conducted by HCL. TAHDCO will offer coaching for this examination through other training institutions.

The fee of ₹1.18 lakh to be paid to HCL will be offered to students by TAHDCO as a loan. For the first six months, HCL will train the students online. They will be trained in one of HCL’s facilities in Chennai, Madurai, Vijayawada, Noida, Lucknow or Nagpur. During this second phase, HCL will offer a stipend of ₹10,000 per month.

Once the students successfully complete this one-year training, HCL will offer them a job with a salary of ₹1.17 lakh to ₹2 lakh per annum. While working for HCL, eligible students can pursue selected online degree programmes in one of these three educational institutions. Interested students can apply at www.tahdco.com.