Five underprivileged students from Rajasthan secure multiple admissions in prestigious US Universities

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Jaipur, 26th March 2022.



Sitare Foundation, a not-for-profit organization aiming to “Transform fifty thousand lives through education by 2050,” has entered the final phases of its annual entrance exam for selecting bright underprivileged students for middle school this year in Jaipur and Jodhpur. This year’s entrance exams have received over 65,000 applications. The entrance exam has already been held in Bhopal and Indore in the initial stages earlier this month.


The Rajasthan entrance exams will be held on 27
th March and 3rd April in Jaipur and Jodhpur, respectively. The Foundation works towards empowering children from impoverished backgrounds by assisting them to enter middle school (through an aptitude test and an interview for admission in Class VI) and providing them with quality education for seven years and preparing them for admissions into prestigious universities in India and in the United States Sitare Foundation has also announced the names of its first batch of talented underprivileged students who have secured admissions in renowned universities in the US to pursue their graduation in Computer Science. All these five children hail from the state of Rajasthan.


Milan Ramdhari will be joining Virginia Tech, and Tanisha Nagori will join Case Western Reserve University. Kusum Choudhary, Mahendra Kumar, and Nisha Choudhary have received multiple admissions from universities including University of Minnesota, Ohio State University, University of California - Santa Cruz, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Arizona State University. Many more admissions for these students are expected over the coming weeks. 


Shilpa Singhal, Founder, Sitare Foundation said “I have personally witnessed the transformative power of education in my studies from Cornell University (Master of Engineering, Computer Science) and Binghamton University (MS, Physics). My deep involvement with my children’s education, and my volunteer work in schools led me to realize the advantage privileged children have over the underprivileged just because they won the birth lottery. This led to the start of Sitare Foundation. The challenge of educating underprivileged children might seem daunting, but that does not, and will never, deter us from our mission.” 


“Rajasthan has been an integral part of our endeavour so far as this is the state from where we started journey and I feel immense pride in saying that this state provided us a great foundation and has motivated us to expand our reach to other parts of the country,” she added.  


Alongside academics, Sitare especially focusses on building children’s social, emotional, and language capabilities to prepare them for a successful future as a world class professional, starting with preparing them for admissions into prestigious universities in India and in the United States. Sitare’s unique style of one-on-one mentorship, led by its founder Shilpa Singhal, has been pivotal to the success Sitare students have achieved in securing admissions in top US universitiesFor this year’s entrance exams, the NGO recorded over 65,000 applications. Owing to the overwhelming turnaround of students, Jaipur’s entrance exam will be hosted at two different venues with one being the Agarwal PG College, Jaipur and the other one being Kids Club Senior Secondary School, Jaipur. The timings for the Jaipur entrance exam will be 09:30 AM onwards.  


Details of Sitare Scholars from Rajasthan who have secured admissions in US Universities:

 

Sitare scholar Kusum Chaudhary is the daughter of a farmer who works on someone else's farm. As a middle child and the older of the two daughters in the family, Kusum did not have the luxury to avoid work. Although illiterate, Kusum’s mother believed that education is the only way out of poverty. Kusum took the Sitare entrance exam and qualified for the scholarship. Her dreams took flight when she wrote her first computer program and imagined herself as a software engineer. Now Kusum will pursue a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science in a renowned US university.


Sitare scholar Mahendra Kumar is the youngest of five boys in his family. He comes from a family of generational barbers with a humble background. His father, the only person in his family who finished high school (10th grade), works in a sheet metal factory rolling stainless steel sheets. With the support of Sitare Foundation Mahendra has been admitted this year to the Ohio State University to pursue a degree in Computer Science.


Sitare scholar Milan Ramdhari comes from a backward community. His father is an auto-rickshaw driver who works both day and night shifts to make ends meet. Milan’s life changed when he qualified in the entrance test for the Sitare Foundation. He joined Euro International School, a partner school for Sitare Foundation’s education initiative in Jodhpur. He is ready to pursue his undergraduate education in Computer Science at Virginia Tech. 


Sitare Scholar Nisha Chaudhary never imagined a life outside her village. Nisha is the second oldest daughter in the family of four children. She took care of her siblings while her mom, aunts and uncle worked the fields. Nisha aspires to become a software engineer and wants to work with leading technology firms. She also plans to help Sitare Foundation and carry the organization’s mission forward in helping underprivileged girls with opportunities that could aid in lighting up their future.


Born into poverty to a tea-stall owner, Tanisha Nagori has overcome every obstacle that has come in her way to get here today. In her community girls are actively discouraged from going to school. Her mother was married at an age of fifteen, and Tanisha was born when her mother was just sixteen. Once Tanisha was selected into the Sitare program, her mother ensured that the community doesn’t get in the way of Tanisha's education.


Currently over four hundred bright underprivileged children are enrolled in the Sitare’s educational program in Jodhpur, Jaipur, Ajmer, Bhopal, and Indore. The Foundation has partnered with some of the best private schools through which they are able to impart quality education to their bright children.