The Indian education system is vast, but there is insufficient funding to include everyone: More than 500 million people in the country are under 25. There are great differences between states, cities, and rural regions, as well as in gender roles and castes. While all children attend school in the state of Kerala, for example, there are 30 million kids in India who do not go to school, despite mandatory attendance. Half of all children drop out before their fifth year of school. The situation for vocational training is no better: Only two percent of young people between ages 15 and 29 have a formal training, and a further eight percent claim to have had “some training”.

The Indian government wants to increase funding for education fivefold by 2012. This effort alone calls for creating 6,000 schools and 1,500 colleges and universities, ambitious plans. Nonetheless, nearly 13 million Indians completed high school in 2007 — four times as many graduates as 15 years ago.

Several of the Indian institutes are among the world’s best in their disciplines: the 13 technical and management colleges, IITs and IIMs, the Indian Institute of Science, IISc, and the National Law School of India University. But they are just far too small to accommodate demand.
The Merck foundation wants to prevent talented young people from abandoning their education due to poverty, and it is doing so by relying on its overarching corporate principle: “We want to be a company that is active worldwide, one that benefits people, our market partners, and our surroundings.” The professional training that young people receive shapes their individual perspectives on life. “I want to begin earning an income as soon as possible,” says the future IT specialist Omkar. His big dream is to be able to get his sister married off without taking any financial assistance from his relatives for the wedding expenses. Alefiya also wants to take on responsibility and “help children and adults who suffer from hearing and speech handicaps, people who otherwise would be unable to afford treatment.”

Dr. Dziki cites yet another reason for establishing the foundation: “Merck needs outstanding employees.” But it is too early to recruit young personnel from among the MICT students: All 104 of the scholarship recipients are still fully dedicated to their studies. “If the possibility arises in the future,” concludes Dr. Dziki, “we will be delighted to receive applications from suitable graduates.”