VIDYAGYAN, SHIV NADAR FOUNDATION
The journey of VidyaGyan began with 200 students, coming from rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, arriving at the residential campus in Bulandshahr. And in 2016, the founding batch of VidyaGyan students appeared for their CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) Class 12 exams and passed out with stellar marks. The students at VidyaGyan, a CBSE-affiliated school, are not only academically driven but also engage in innovating on possible solutions to everyday problems such as helping make smokeless stoves and water filters from earthen pots. Talking about the objective behind starting a boarding school for underprivileged children, Bishwajit Banerjee, Principal of the school says, “VidyaGyan was established in 2009 to provide a world-class leadership academy to the economically weaker students of rural India and transform their lives by imparting high-quality education.” Students, whose parent’s annual income is less than a lakh annually are eligible to apply. As many as 400 students, out of a total pool of almost two lakh children, are admitted to VidyaGyan each year. Adding another feather to VidyaGyan’s cap, students have also marked their footprints not only in IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) and NITs (National Institute of Technology) but also abroad in schools like the University of Massachusetts, US; Wellesley College, US; and Pennsylvania State University, US to name a few.