Shimla: Students of Government Boys Senior Secondary School Mandi brought laurels to Himachal Pradesh and India after winning the “Innovator Award for Out of the Box Idea” at the international-level Codeavour International held in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Students Rishabh Thakur and Shivank Kashyap secured the top honour for their project titled “Smart Dam Monitoring and Alerting System” during the competition hosted at BINUS University. The project was developed under Samagra Shiksha’s “Inspiring Creative Minds (STEM)” initiative.
The achievement earned praise from Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Education Minister Rohit Thakur and Samagra Shiksha Director Rajesh Sharma, who congratulated the students, teachers and parents.
A total of 266 teams from 22 countries participated in the competition across three tracks. Team “HimTech” represented Himachal Pradesh and India in the senior category of Track-1 and emerged victorious.
The students had earlier qualified at the state-level competition held at Portmore Government Girls Senior Secondary School on April 7 before advancing to the national-level contest at GITAM University on April 11 and 12. Their performance at the national stage earned them a place in the international finals.
Quality Coordinator Sonia Sharma and mentor Hemant Kumar from Government Boys Senior Secondary School Mandi guided the students throughout the competition.
Rajesh Sharma said the success of government school students on a global platform reflected the growing focus on STEM education, robotics and innovation in Himachal Pradesh. He added that the achievement would inspire more students to pursue science and technology-driven innovation.
During their visit to Jakarta, the students also explored Taman Mini Indonesia Indah and attended special hand-holding sessions by STEMpedia experts to further enhance their project. The entire expenditure for the international participation and travel was borne by Samagra Shiksha Himachal Pradesh.
