Dist students trump Kolkata in Vidyasagar Science Olympiad

Students from the district schools excelled in the Vidyasagar Science Olympiad (VSO), the results of which were recently announced.

Twelve students from Bankura and 11 from Nadia made it among the top 100 while only three students from Kolkata could make it to this list.

The number of girl students among the top 100 is 14. The top 100 of this examination will get a scholarship for 24 months and an annual book grant for two years. “Two nurturing camps will be held with these students in which experts from world-class institutions such as Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Bhaba Atomic Research Centre will take special classes,” an official in the Education department said.

VSO is a tri-layered examination system designed to extract and identify the pre-Madhyamik Science Talent of class IX from all corners of Bengal. The examinations are conducted by Jagadish Bose National Science Talent Search (JBNSTS) under supervision of the state School Education Department. It is a flagship project of the School Education Department. The best five students in different schools can take part in the examination.

This year, the Layer I examination of VSO 2023 was held on May 7 at 389 centres in which 36,176 students of Class IX applied and 29,639 students took the examination. The Layer II examination was held on July 23 in which 3113 students appeared. 637 students had qualified for the Layer III examination that was held on September 10.

Due to Covid-19 the first VSO exam was delayed for one year and the students of both class IX and X appeared in the examination in 2022. Debadatta Majhi of Katwa Durgadasi Choudhurani Girls High School in East Burdwan had topped VSO, 2022 for Class X. Majhi also came first in the Madhyamik Examination 2023.