VidyaGyan Hosts its 2nd Graduation Ceremony
New Delhi: VidyaGyan, a leadership academy for economically underprivileged, meritorious students from rural Uttar Pradesh celebrated its second graduation ceremony today. The ceremony marked a milestone, as this year the first batch from VidyaGyan’s Sitapur campus (established two years after the Bulandshahr campus) joined the pool of students graduating from the Rural Leadership Academy. Mr. Umang Bedi, Managing Director, India & South Asia at Facebook and India’s only solo Olympic Gold medalist – Mr. Abhinav Bindra, were the guests of honor at the ceremony, which was attended by VidyaGyan students, teachers, parents and other dignitaries.
A total of 380 students passed out of the Academy this year with a whopping 259 students scoring above 80%, out of which 93 students scored above 90%. Most of the students have gained admission in prestigious institutions like IIT Guwahati, National Institute of Technology (NIT), the National Defense Academy, National Institute of Fashion Technology etc. Seven students have gained admission to prestigious international institutions like Purdue, Virginia Tech, Pennsylvania State University and University of California, Davis.
The other students of the second batch of VidyaGyan have secured admission in some of the top colleges of Delhi University including Lady Shri Ram, Hindu, Ramjas and Gargi College and other top Universities and Colleges like –Shiv Nadar University, SSN Institutions, Lucknow University, Chandigarh University etc.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, and highlighting the students’ stellar performance, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Trustee, Shiv Nadar Foundation and Chairperson, VidyaGyan said, “2016 marked the graduation of our first batch of students and the results were great, but this year we aimed for greater success and set the benchmark higher. I am proud of what our students have achieved. They have successfully participated and won accolades at both national and international platforms. Imagine how these students will transform the lives of their families and their entire communities when they start their professional careers. Today we give 380 future change agents to the nation who have the potential to transform India’s social and economic fabric.”
VidyaGyan provides underprivileged, meritorious students free, world-class education to help them transcend the disadvantages they face and compete with their urban counterparts. VidyaGyan students come from families of farmers, daily wage earners, among others in rural Uttar Pradesh with an annual family income of less than Rs. 1 lac. Every year, VidyaGyan handpicks approximately 200 meritorious students from a pool of 250,000 children who apply from across 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh (UP).