Punjab School Education Minister Mr. Vijay Inder Singla felicitated winners of ‘Ambassadors of Hope’ belonging to five districts of the state with Apple iPads, Laptops and Android Tablets during a brief ceremony in view of COVID-19 pandemic, here at Punjab Bhawan Chandigarh.Exhorting the first, second and third prize winners of district Hoshiarpur, Fatehgarh Sahib, SBS Nagar, Rupnagar and SAS Nagar to achieve further heights in future, Mr. Singla said that one should always have intent of learning and students should not be afraid of mistakes and take them in a positive manner in life to meet the aim. He said that the primary objective of ‘Ambassadors of Hope’ engaging the students in a constructive activity in an atmosphere of abject negativity due to COVID-19, has been achieved.The Cabinet Minister informed that as the threat of COVID-19 pandemic is growing day by day, thus we have decided to honour the winners in a phased manner. As the ‘Ambassadors of Hope’ winners of 7 districts Barnala, Bathinda, Faridkot, Mansa, Patiala, Sangrur and Sri Muktsar Sahib have been bestowed with Apple iPads, Laptops and Android Tablets during the Independence Day function at Sangrur, the winners of five more districts were felicitated today. He said that soon such brief ceremonies would be held to honour the winners of the remaining 10 districts with attractive prizes. The Cabinet Minister said that apart from a total 66 main prizes, as many as 1000 consolation prizes are being given to the winners in all 22 districts under the ‘Ambassadors of Hope’.Divulging further details, he said that as many as 1,05,898 school going students have shared their videos for 'Ambassadors of Hope', the campaign which was launched for students of the state to share their creativity during lockdown.
He categorically said, “Winners have been selected strictly on merit basis.” The cabinet minister said that the campaign created a world record as a record number of students participated in an online video competition which concluded in eight days. He added that currently, Cebu City Commission (a govt body) of Philippines holds the record of highest participation as they had got 43,157 participants.“It is heartening to see the response we have got from the children. For me every child is a winner. I am grateful to all the students who shared innovative ideas through videos on just one call and appreciating the efforts put in by their parents, teachers and school principals in guiding and motivating them," said the education minister, while interacting with the shining-stars and listening to their creativity, which brought laurels for them.The 1st prize winners of 'Ambassadors of Hope' from district Hoshiarpur, Fatehgarh Sahib, SBS Nagar, Rupnagar and SAS Nagar, respectively are; Government Elementary Smart School, Jhans’s 2nd class student Anshuman Arora, Government Girls Smart Sen. Sec. School, Mandi Gobindgarh’s 10th class student Jashan, Babbar Karam Singh Memorial Public Sen. Sec. School’s 12th class student Gurwinder Singh, Mata Sahib Kaur Academy’s 12th class student Jagteshwarjot Singh and Mount Carmel school, Mohali’s 12th class student Koena Sharma were given Apple iPads, while 2nd prize winners; St. Joseph's Convent School, Hoshiarpur’s 8th and 1st class students Bhavya sharma & Ojas Sharma, Delhi Public School, Fatehgarh Sahib’s 5th class students Vinita Bimbra, G.S.S.S. Sarhala Ranaunan’s 12th class student Preeti, Garden Valley International School, Bela’s 4th class student Harsifat Kaur and A.A.R. Jain Model Sr. Sec. School, Dera Bassi’s 10th class student Jasmeen bestowed with the Laptops. Similarly, 3rd prize winners of five district respectively; Govt. Senior Secondary School, Nangal Bihalan’s 10th class student Mandeep Kaur, SNAS Senior Secondary School (Arya) Govt. Aided, Mandi Gobindgarh’s 12th class student Shekh Bahadur, Sadhu Singh Shergill Maple Bear Canadian school, Mukandpur’s 1st class student Gursimrat Kaur, GSSS Bajrur’s 12th class student Monavar Khan and Govt. Model Senior Secondary Smart School, Kharar’s 10th class student Gurleen kaur were given Android Tablets.