As the economy becomes increasingly market-oriented, it begins to mould the existing social values according to some set norms. Education is largely a reflection of what is deemed important in a particular time and place, and the dwindling importance of arts education is a marker of its deficiency in being profitably marketable. However, it is important to keep the ethos of the humanities alive and to recognise it. Many courses have become interdisciplinary and have accommodated the liberal arts.
Nevertheless, if constant financial support cannot be guaranteed, the supply line of quality educators in the arts will be cut off gradually. To do society an honour, financiers, especially from the non-banking sector, have stepped up. Therefore, NBFCs should be your go-to option when you are thinking of personalised loans for your college degree. Let us now see why these financial breakthroughs are important for the survival of the arts discipline.
Financing arts education: keeping an ethos alive
Education per se has to be liberated from the utilitarian values of the market, and an alternative space has to be safeguarded for the future. However, nothing can survive without money, and it is this instrument that has to be utilised to keep the steady inflow of good educators and maintain infrastructure. Not all disciplines can be immediately used for producing industry-ready candidates, but their long-term gains can help society in a million ways.
Arts education suffers from neglect as the market economy encourages a generation of students to opt for courses that would immediately help them get jobs. As a result, very few are interested in linguistics or gender studies. Thus, with the number of students receding, the government cuts the funds.
Private education and private financing
The only possible solution is for private universities to take up these disciplines, which they are. However, private universities, too run on private funding, which runs on the same logic as the market economy. Therefore, these courses become de-facto self-financed, and students genuinely interested in these domains become discouraged way too soon. It is here that the NBFCs can make a difference as opposed to larger corporations like banks. Since NBFCs are not completely bound by the regulatory framework of the Reserve Bank of India, they can afford to be experimental in their approach. The fundamental requirement here is to tap a market that comprises students who are willing to pursue arts education but do not have the financial means to study in private universities.
Furthermore, the market might also consist of students who are half-heartedly thinking of an alternative career but are being dissuaded from it because of the uncertain career that ensues. For instance, a student interested in pursuing a career in law is discouraged by the lack of quality education. The NBFCs can step up here with their customer engagement platforms and persuade this customer base to move abroad for quality education. If that can be done, then the only thing that remains is to sell the financial product to the interested students. Over time, this financing will keep alive a generation of genuinely talented students who would otherwise have been forced to choose a career out of financial need rather than genuine passion.
The impact of private financing
Apart from gifting a good career to the students, good financing can contribute to the overall well-being of an individual. While STEM helps individuals hone their inquisitive self, it is the arts that nurture creativity and sensitivity in individuals. Furthermore, financing can help students who take up arts in their higher studies to
- Have access to a level of education which not everyone in the family had access to. Therefore, financing an individual can have a positive impact on the entire family – not only financially but culturally. Thus, as a domino effect, financing an individual is bound to make a difference to society as a whole.
- Funding an individual is an investment for the future. The arts field inspires creative thinking and thus creates the next batch of thinkers, writers, philosophers or artists. Thus, private financing acts as the social capital that these talented individuals did not have, and that was necessary for their growth.
- Funding by NBFCs can make a big difference to an individual’s confidence when he/she is engaging with peers. The sense of empowerment and the feeling of equality can make a big difference to their academic performance as they would now compete with peers on the basis of merit.
Conclusion
Thus, we can say that the presence of the non-banking sector in the online marketplace has made a lot of difference to the lives of students with weak financial conditions. The more these entities give free rein to innovation and do not let themselves be fettered by conventionality, the more they can contribute to the overall development of society besides their own growth.