ENARADA, Bhubaneshwar, December 6, 2013:
Two Class-8 students of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) – Bhutal Hansdah and Shantilata Murmu – have been selected to attend ‘US Cultural Immersion Institute-2014’ for the teachers and students of English Access Micro-Scholarship Programme. Out of 15 English Access Micro Scholarship Programme run institutes in India and Pakistan, 65 students from seven institutes of India have been selected to attain the course including two from KISS.
Bhutal, who belongs to Shantal Tribe of Athapada village under Khunta Block of Mayurbhanj District, has lost his parents, while his brother and sisters are daily labourers. In such a condition, he came to KISS to study in Class-6. Shantilata is also from a poor tribal family whose parents are daily labourers. She is from Panchugochhia of Keonjhar District of Odisha.
Both students joined English Access Micro Scholarship Programme for last three months. They have been selected by the US Consulate by merit of their good performance in English Language. Bhutal and Shantilata expressed gratitude to KISS and Dr. A. Samanta, Founder, KIIT & KISS for good education, care and motivation they received at KISS.
Expressing his satisfaction, Dr. Samanta said, it’s a matter of pride for KISS as well as tribal community in general that two young tribal students have been selected by US Embassy under English Access Micro Scholarship Programme to visit US, where they will spread the message about Odisha and its tribal community. Stating that all tribal students are gems, he informed, students of KISS have attended UN and many other international programmes in US, South Korea, etc in recent past. It’s a matter of pride for the tribal community and a great achievement for the students, he added.
Relatives and people of their native villages were overwhelmed with joy that two children of their own will be visiting US. For last ten year KISS has been empowering Tribal community through education successfully, they opined.
