Three students and two teachers from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) school in rural Maharashtra, who are here to participate in a programme at Pembroke and Somerville Colleges, University of Oxford, were hosted at the Indian High Commission.
The students were here as part of The Karta Initiative -- a non-profit initiative that works in collaboration with the Tata Trusts to connect brilliant low-income Indian students with world class higher education.
Founded by Ranjita Rajan and launched this year as a pilot, the initiative brought the students and teachers to participate in an intensive two-week programme at Pembroke and Somerville Colleges.
Indian High Commissioner Navtej Sarna welcomed the initiative and had a long interaction with the young students where they shared their experiences and takeaways from the programme at the event held on August 8. They also discussed their future plans and aspirations of serving their communities, said a statement from the High Commission.
Sarna encouraged them to make the most of this unique opportunity of learning and interaction, and asked them to share this knowledge and experiences gained at the UK institutions with their fellow students and teachers back home.
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Later, senior officials at the High Commission conducted a roundtable session with the group and explained to them, inter alia, the role of the various wings of the High Commission.
The 16 to 17 year old students were fascinated by the sheer variety of backgrounds -- veterinary sciences, medicine, economics -- of the officers representing India in the UK.
The visit culminated with the students joining young Indian entrepreneurs at the High Commission where individual presentations were made by the visitors.
Many participants present undertook to extend support to the Initiative in the form of scholarships, mentorship, summer programmes, laboratory visits and knowledge sharing.
Chair of Trustees of the Karta Initiative, Vindi Banga, outlined future plans of the Initiative and has thanked the High Commission for its support, the statement said.
--IANS
in/rn