Question 1

What does Educational Trust mean?

Accepted Answer

An educational trust is a type of legal arrangement, wherein the assets, usually money, are set aside to fund education and related expenses. The trust is managed by a trustee, who is responsible for administering the funds as per the terms of the trust agreement.
The purpose of an educational trust is to offer financial assistance for educational purposes, like funding scholarships, supporting schools or educational programs. Such trusts can be established by either individuals, families or by organizations. It may be designed to benefit certain individuals, groups or institutions.

Question 2

Role of Educational Trusts

Accepted Answer

The role of educational trusts is to offer financial assistance, support and resources for educational purposes. They are set up by organizations or individuals with a goal of promoting education and helping students to achieve their academic goals. Following are some of the important roles that an educational trust plays:
Provision of Financial Assistance - They offer financial support to the students or to the educational institutions. They include grants, scholarships and such forms of financial assistance which helps cover the educational expenses and expense on items like books, school supplies and tuition fees. Support certain educational initiatives - They are set up to support educational programs like teacher training programs, refresher’s courses, research projects or other educational programs.
Encouragement of academic excellence - They encourage students for achieving excellence in their studies and offer recognition and rewards for outstanding academic achievement. Advancement in educational opportunities - They help advance educational opportunities by offering funds for the development of new programs or facilities. They even support expansion of existing educational institutions.
Thus, educational trusts have a crucial impact on the career and lives of the students who benefit from them.

Question 3

What are the types of Educational Trusts?

Accepted Answer

There are various types of educational trusts which are set up to support education and offer financial assistance for the students. Following are some of the common types of educational trusts:
Grant Trusts - They offer funding for educational institutions or programs like research projects, educational outreach programs or teacher training programs. They may be established either by organizations or by foundations having a mission, which is to promote education. Such trusts may also be established by families or individuals, who look to support a certain initiative or cause.
Scholarship Trusts - They offer financial support in the form of scholarships to students who meet certain criteria such as showing excellence in studies or coming from a certain financial background which makes them eligible for the scholarship. They may be either established by organizations, families or by individuals. Subsequently, such trusts may be set up for supporting students to pursue a certain field of study from a specific geographic region or with certain personal characteristics.
Charitable Remainder Trusts - They allow persons to make a charitable donation to an educational program or institution. Other than that, they offer them a stream of income during their entire lifetime. Donations are also held in such trusts and are invested too. The income which is later on generated from the investments are paid out to the persons for a certain period of time. Afterwards, the remaining funds are donated to the educational program or institution.
Endowment Trusts - They are established to offer ongoing financial support for educational programs or institutions. This kind of trusts funds are invested and the generated income from these investments are used for supporting the educational program or institution.
Revocable living Trusts - They are established during the lifetime of a person and can be revoked at any point of time. They are used to offer financial assistance to the education of the students or to make donations to educational programs or institutions.
There are however many other types of trusts too which are established for the purpose of supporting education and offering financial assistance to the students.

Educational Trusts In Alappuzha

The Alp Educational Trust

Mahathma Gandhi Education Foundation

Amala Educational And Welfare Society

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