25 Pune ZP students leave for NASA tour

The tour is one of the flagship initiatives under the Pune Model School Project, implemented by ZP in collaboration with the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics

In a landmark initiative aimed at transforming the educational exposure of rural children, the Pune Zilla Parishad (ZP) on Saturday sent 25 meritorious students from government schools on a 10-day educational tour to the United States to visit covering places like NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, major global science institutions, and top technology companies in San Francisco.

Stating that the opportunity to visit NASA is a matter of immense pride, Pulkundwar urged the students to follow discipline, stay united, care for their health, and use the tour to broaden their scientific and global outlook. (HT PHOTO)

Divisional commissioner Chandrakant Pulkundwar attended the special send-off ceremony organised at the Pune divisional commissioner’s office on Friday.

Stating that the opportunity to visit NASA is a matter of immense pride, Pulkundwar urged the students to follow discipline, stay united, care for their health, and use the tour to broaden their scientific and global outlook.

ZP chief executive officer (CEO) Gajanan Patil, additional CEO Chandrakant Waghmare, District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) project director Shalini Kadu and accompanying teachers, scientists, and parents attended the event.

The tour is one of the flagship initiatives under the Pune Model School Project, implemented by ZP in collaboration with the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA).

Of the 17,000 rural students shortlisted, 25, including nine girls and 16 boys from Classes 6 and 7, were prepared through a three-stage evaluation process conducted by IUCAA. They will be accompanied by IUCAA scientist Sameer Durde, along with teachers Maya Langhe (Haveli), Pramila Jori (Ambegaon), Sunita Khalate (Baramati) and Daund taluka health officer Ujwala Salunke.

Meanwhile, 50 students from Pune Zilla Parishad schools visited Rashtrapati Bhavan on the occasion of Children’s Day and President Droupadi Murmu interacted warmly with them. The students also Parliament House, Nehru Planetarium, National Science Centre, Jantar Mantar, Red Fort.