A Dalit student from a village in Bihar has received a scholarship to study at a prestigious college in Pennsylvania, United States.
Prem Kumar, who hails from Gonpura in Bihar and is the son of a daily wage worker, aspires to study Mechanical Engineering and International Affairs at Layfayette College.
Kumar attained the scholarship through the Dexterity Global Group, an organisation that has won wide praise for connecting students from the most remote parts of India to opportunities for education.
“Dexterity alumni have won major national and international awards, started their initiatives and received over 720 million INR in scholarships from topmost colleges of the world,” the LinkedIn page of Sharad Vivek Sagar, the founder of Dexterity Global, says. “With Dexterity’s pioneering financial aid model, more than 85% of these children come from low-income families.”
Sagar announced on social media that Kumar, an alumnus of Dexterity, had received a scholarship worth Rs 2.5 crore.
“He (Kumar) is likely the first Mahadalit student in India to achieve this feat,” he said in a LinkedIn post.
Users on the social network sent congratulatory messages to Kumar.
“You have been a true inspiration to me and many, you set up a great standard of what imagination and hard work could achieve, no matter who you are,”
“Excellent. Congratulations to Prem and TeamDexterity for finding a diamond,” a user named Hitesh Bhatt commented. “Well done.”
These stories indeed inspire an entire generation to do more and achieve more,” wrote a student named Ankit Aakash. “Many Congratulations to Prem!.”
Meanwhile, Kumar gave a shoutout to Dexterity Global.
“My parents could never go to school,” he was quoted as saying by ETV Bharat. “This is incredible. The Dexterity Global organization which is working for the Mahadalit children in Bihar is very commendable. It is because of them that I have got this success today. I am happy.”