In a path-breaking program, 25 students from rural Pune’s Zilla Parishad schools are going on a 10-day educational trip to the United States to visit NASA. Of them, many will board a flight for the first time and travel outside their village for the first time.
A total of 75 students from over 13,000 applicants from Pune ZP schools were selected after a rigorous three-stage screening process by IUCAA. Of the final 75, while 25 are leaving for NASA, the remaining 50 will be travelling to ISRO facilities within the country.
The 25 NASA-bound students were given a formal flag-off in Pune in the presence of local officials, including Zilla Parishad CEO Gajanan Patil and the Divisional Commissioner. They will fly from Mumbai and will attend exclusive sessions at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, go on a visit to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and meet scientists.
One of them is 12-year-old Aditi Parthe from a village in Bhor taluka. Her father is a porter and there is no computer or smartphone at her home. Yet, she cleared all stages of the selection process and will now experience international travel for the first time.
It forms part of the Pune Zilla Parishad’s “Model School” initiative to encourage scientific talent among underprivileged rural children. The idea, says Patil, is to expose students from a deprived background to some of the finest science institutions in the world and to give them confidence in their STEM abilities.
Earlier this year, another 50 students from the same program visited ISRO’s Thiruvananthapuram centre for a space science tour. Forum officials say they plan to continue and expand this program, balancing exposure to both domestic and international scientific environments.
