“Often one comes across good and talented students, who lose out on world class education because of their poor economic background. So, as a part of our group’s CSR activities, we thought why not give these needy meritorious students the opportunity to have a level-playing field with richer students, so that money is not a constraint for them to pursue their dream career,” said Atul Goel, MD, Goel Ganga Group, at a press conference recently.

Academically sharp students from PCMC schools will have to undergo a rigourous test, after which the top ranking students will be selected for the scholarships.

Sonu Gupta, director, GIIS, Pune, said, “GIIS will give scholarships only to cover the fees of the student, which would be to the tune of Rs 30,000 annually. However, the student will have to incur the costs for uniform, books and school bus which would be quite nominal.” She stressed that the student’s progress would be monitored, to see that he is on par with the other students in his class. This is to ensure that the student does not become complacent.

“GIIS is a school, where students are being imparted Indian education with a global background, with classes from kindergarten, right upto junior collegee,” said Shailesh Temurnikar, director, GIIS.

GIIS Pune, with a network of intelligent campuses in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, New Zealand, Thailand and India, imparts a global perspective and orientation to students and aims to equip them with the knowledge that will make each student a successful Global Indian.

Since children studying in municipal schools mainly come from the slum areas or the lower income group category, this could truly be a turning point in the life of a handful of slum children, transforming them into global citizens. “We aim at creating great Indians,” said Gupta.