Asem Bhakta Singh, Special Correspondent North East
Imphal: (Waari Singbul Network) Amid the unceasing conflict besieging Manipur, a class XI student from the state has been selected as a scholarship recipient for the prestigious AFS Global Stem Academy in Egypt.
Aira Thoudam, the brilliant student, is presently reading in Assam Valley School, Tezpur, and notably her mother is well-known Manipuri filmmaker Meena Longjam.
A resident of Imphal West district’s Lamboikhongnang khong , Aira has soared to the group of top 150 scholars of the world selected from a staggering pool of 6000 applicants from 15 nations for the prestigious “AFS global STEM 2024 Academy.”
“I am extremely excited to be selected for AFS Global STEM Academies 2024, it was my first attempt at such a coveted scholarship. I received my selection letter via e-mail yesterday.” a delighted Aira said on Saturday
“I have been preparing for months for this, though I was bit nervous during the interview. I would like to thank my school’s ma’am Raya Mukhopadhyay without whose guidance this wouldn’t have been possible. And I am very proud of my mom who is always very supportive and my inspiration,” she added.
The Stem Academy, run by US-based AFS Intercultural Programs, an international non-profit organization with over 75 years’ experience providing intercultural learning packages, caters full-scholarship programs to high school students aged between 15-17 with a profound interest in sustainability, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) and social impact.
The program has two parts- “Virtual (Online) Exchange Program” starting from March 8 to June 9 (12 weeks) and “Travel to Egypt” from July 18 to August 16 (4 weeks).
The selected scholars will be exposed to take part in community service initiatives by baiting local innovative sustainability focused operations and how STEM skills are harnessed to tackle pressing industry and societal challenges.
The students, upon successful completion of the program, are conferred with the advanced certificate on global competence for social impact, a prestigious accolade jointly conferred by AFS and University of Pennsylvania Centre for Social Impact Strategy.
Aira’s achievement came after her mother Meena’s famous flick ‘Andro Dreams’ opened the non-feature section film of the Indian Panorama at the 54th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on November 20, 2023.
