NEP-2020 Unlocking Potential of Young Minds by Unshackling Them from Conventional Subject Barriers: Dr. Jitendra Singh

Dr. Jitendra Singh felicitated the student winners comprising the Indian team at the 18th "International Earth Science Olympiad" (IESO-2025) held at Jining, China from 8–16 August 2025.

Team India put up a stellar performance by securing a total of seven medals – 1 Gold, 4 Silver and 2 Bronze – along with a 3rd Prize in the International Geoscience Youth Movement (I-GYM) Reporter category.

The winning students included:• Rayansh Gupta (Sat Paul Mittal School, Ludhiana, Punjab) – Gold, Silver & I-GYM 3rd Prize • Charuvrat Bains (M.G.N. Public School, Kapurthala, Punjab) – 2 Silver, 1 Bronze • Apam Nidhi Pandey (PM Shri K.V. No.1, Jaipur, Rajasthan) – 1 Silver • Priyanshi Ghanghas (MD Indraprastha Sr. Sec. Public School, Delhi) – 1 Bronze

The students were guided by mentors Prof. Devesh Walia and Prof. Hema Achyuthan, with Dr. Jagvir Singh, Scientist-G, as observer.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Jitendra Singh lauded the young achievers for bringing glory to the nation and said the results reflect the new aspirational spirit among youth, particularly from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, after India’s startup revolution in the last decade.

The Minister underlined that the National Education Policy (NEP-2020) has unleashed the creative potential of young minds by freeing them from the limitations of rigid subject streams and enabling them to explore diverse disciplines. This, he said, is encouraging a paradigm shift from conventional courses towards cutting-edge fields such as Earth Sciences, Biotechnology, Space Technology and Start-up led self-employment.

Dr. Jitendra Singh appealed to students to actively leverage opportunities being provided by the Government through initiatives such as Vigyan Jyoti, scholarships, fellowships and research grants, to scale their ideas and make them beneficial for society.

Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr. M. Ravichandran highlighted that the Ministry supports students for IESO every year by conducting the Indian National Earth Science Olympiad (INESO) across 300 centres in India. From nearly 30 shortlisted students, four are selected to represent India at the international level. He noted that in recent years, India’s performance at IESO has been highly encouraging.

Dr. Jitendra Singh also urged the students not to limit their pursuit to winning competitions, but to broaden their horizons and apply their innovations to solve real-life problems for the larger good of citizens.

The International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO), established in 2003 by the International Geoscience Education Organization (IGEO), is an annual competition for secondary school students (Class IX–XII) worldwide. India has been participating since 2007 and hosted the 10th edition at Mysore in 2013.