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IGNOU
felicitates 41 South Asian students
Sunday November 14, 2010 07:35:17 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi: Dressed in
crisp school uniforms, as also traditional attire, winners of the IGNOU-UNESCO Science Olympiad had a gala of a time Sunday at their
felicitation ceremony at the Indira Gandhi National Open
University (IGNOU) campus here.
The Olympiad was held in August at 102 centres in South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations like
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka, including
83 in India.
A total of 4,384 students of the 11th grade participated, of which
41 were selected for their outstanding performance. Twenty-nine
prize winners were from India and 12 were from other SAARC
nations.
"This is a first of a kind Olympiad that was held in the
university and the response has been overwhelming. We have been
actively supported by UNESCO in our effort to nurture young talent
and we will make this an annual event," IGNOU vice chancellor V.N.
Rajasekharan Pillai told IANS.
The winners were happy that their hard work paid off. While some
of them came with their parents, others were accompanied by their
teachers.
"It was a great experience, with so many students from different
countries getting together. The test was difficult but I enjoyed
doing it a lot as it challenged and raised my standard of
intelligence," Minhazul Islam from Bangladesh told IANS.
Sonam Drukpa from Bhutan found the syllabus tough as it was quite
different from what they are taught back home.
"I got the syllabus from IGNOU's website and got a bit worried as
it was not similar to our school syllabus. So, I started studying
in a library for three weeks patiently and was prepared for the
exam," she said.
"I prepared on my own and completed the syllabus in one month. It
was good test of my ability and I liked the whole experience,"
Saeed Mohammad Agha Arif from Afghanistan told IANS.
The authorities too were meticulous in their preparations.
"We made the necessary arrangements and paid for their trip to
Delhi and also helped them in procuring the visas. We made sure
that all the students participated in the ceremony," added Pillai.
The winners received medals, awards, cash prizes and merit
certificates. Further, five were declared overall toppers and
received an 'Award of Excellence'. They also received laptops from
Intel.
"This Olympiad is an added milestone to popularize science in
south Asia. There is a need to demystify science and technology so
that everybody can access it," said UNESCO General Conference
president Davidson L. Hepburn.
The function coincides with India's first prime minister
Jawaharlal Nehru's 121st birthday, 25th anniversary of IGNOU and
65th anniversary of UNESCO.
IGNOU is one of the world's largest open universities which
provides education to 1.5 million students.
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