Surencha (Sitapur):
Class IX student of VidyaGyan (Sitapur), Prashant Singh is a happy-go-lucky boy. He was one among eight students selected for the Duke Talent Identification Program held sometime in Sonipat. Here, students did a three-week course in different subjects.
Son of a farmer in Hardoi, Prashant’s mother is a home-maker. “It (the course) was fantastic. My subject was forensic science. We were given to investigate a mock crime scene. The idea was to familiarise us with a crime scene, how to deal with it and what are the duties and jobs of an investigator,” said Prashant who aspires to become a forensic scientist. He, however, is also determined to create awareness in his village on use of fertilizers for enhancing crop quality.
At the workshop, Nancy Kulshrestha and Anupam Mishra studied social entrepreneurship and mathematical problem solving. Dreaming of becoming an IAS officer, Nancy took to social entrepreneurship because she wants to eradicate poverty in her village. On the other hand, Anupam who wants to be an IIT engineer is set to go back to his village and create awareness on the importance of education.
Class XI student Vaishali Dhariwal (along with three others) from VidyaGyan (Bulandshahr) met Usain Bolt after they won the ‘PUMA School of Speed Award’, India’s first national school-level running meet. “There were over 300 teams. We were nervous and excited at the same time. But when we ran, we saw we were better than others,” said Vaishali from Moradabad.
The batch of class X students at Bulandshahr passed with flying colours too. Around 60% students secured above 90% marks in board exams. Of these, 50% achieved 95% and above aggregate.
“We are seeing promising signs already. Our students, who have never stepped out of villages before they came here, are now travelling overseas,” Roshni Nadar Malhotra, trustee of Shiv Nadar Foundation that runs VidyaGyan schools, which run classes from VI to XII affiliated to the CBSE board.
VidyaGyan is the philanthropic arm of HCL promoter Shiv Nadar. Designed by the finest architects, VidyaGyan School campuses at Bulandhahr and Sitapur have sprawling acreage with state-of-art academic and residential facilities for students. The campus also houses an extensive sports complex with a basketball court on the hostel premises.
In all, there are 1,400 students and 92 teachers. This is targeted to increase three-fold and touch 4,200 in the next five years. Students are admitted after a three-tier selection process.
The SNF boasts of conducting one of the largest private selection and admission processes in India covering 75 UP districts. In 2014, it evaluated 2 lakh students for VidyaGyan of which 300 were inducted.
Students come from families of farmers and daily wagers in rural UP whose annual income is less than Rs 1 lakh.
The foundation has so far invested Rs 400 crore in these schools. The foundation has committed Rs 5,000 crore towards philanthropic initiatives, of which Rs 2,900 crore had already been incurred.
Going places
– 8 students selected for Duke TIP program that provides families and educators with an opportunity to identify and support academically talented students
– 2 students selected for an exchange programme with Brown University
– 1 student selected for an exchange programme with Lee University
– 1 student selected for the AFS YES Youth Exchange and Study Programme. The student has been adopted by a US family and is attending Thomas Alva Edison High School in Minneapolis
– 1 student selected for third annual edition of Doha Goals gathering of All leaders in Sport Forum
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Isha Jain, TNN / October 14th, 2014