Rahul Agarwal moved to Singapore from India after completing grade 10 and enrolled as a CBSE student at Global Indian International School (GIIS), Singapore. Now a grade 12 student Rahul, like many youngsters, dreams of a successful future and has ambitions of becoming an aeronautical engineer. Supporting him in this endeavour is GIIS’ valuable and extensive scholarship programme, designed specifically to help push its students towards successful futures.
“By coming to a country like Singapore and a school like GIIS, my future prospects have definitely widened. This scholarship has opened the world of international universities for me. I am a lot more confident about getting into top universities across the world,” says Rahul, who is under GIIS’ Global Citizen Merit Scholarship.
CBSE Grade 11 student Devansh Shah tells a similar story. Studying at GIIS since kindergarten, Devansh has plans to pursue higher studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the school’s Global Citizen Merit Scholarship is helping him work towards that goal. “This scholarship is not only about financial assistance, but also the fact that a school like GIIS sees worth in me and recognises my potentials,” says Devansh.
GIIS believes that scholarships can be a stepping stone for students to make their mark in life and offers a number of scholarships to outstanding students in different categories. The school not only equips its students with future-ready knowledge and skills, but also puts in the “heart-work” by ensuring that there are equal education opportunities for students from all backgrounds.
“GIIS Scholarship Programme aligns with our principle of giving unbiased attention to students from diverse backgrounds,” explained Atul Temurnikar, Chairman of GIIS. “Our wide range of scholarships ensure that no talent is left behind. They also give students an edge as they approach prestigious universities for higher studies.”
Besides financial support, the scholarships also provide students with opportunities to reach out for greater successes in the future. Many of their former students have availed of these scholarships and have gone on to fulfill their career dreams thanks to the support received from GIIS and its scholarship programme.
One such GIIS alumna is Adyasha Debahuti Mohanty, who joined GIIS Singapore on a fully-funded scholarship which included lodging, boarding and a stipend for her final year. Wanting to take her passion beyond the classroom, Adyasha completed a year-long project on mass mechanical production methods of graphene at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and visited NASA’s Goddard Space Center. The visit got her interested in the field of aerospace and motivated her to pursue aerospace engineering as her Undergraduate course.
Since their introduction in 2008, scholarships have been offered for more than a decade to students from Grade 1 to 12 each year.
“By providing a wide range of scholarships, GIIS ensures that real talent does not have to compromise on the standard of education and can avail the best learning facilities irrespective of their financial status,” said Pramod Tripathi, Assistant Director, Academic.
Samvid Kurlekar is another former student whose career ambitions were given a jumpstart by the guidance and opportunities accorded to him by GIIS. Thanks to the school Samvid got the invaluable opportunity to liaise with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and shadow a PhD student. The exposure gave him access to a top class research environment and the wings to pursue his passion. The support and opportunities provided by GIIS saw Samvid qualify not only for a PhD program at the prestigious Harvard University, but also admission into the Master of Biochemistry (MBiochem) course at Trinity College at the University of Oxford, which is where he chose to pursue his research.
The GIIS scholarship programme attracts applications from hundreds of high-scoring students for entry into the IB Diploma, IGCSE or CBSE programme every year.
Scholarships Offered
- Mahatma Gandhi Universal Values Merit-cum-means Scholarship – Offers up to 80% scholarship to students of any grade with family income up to 60k per annum.
- Dr APJ Abdul Kalam NextGen Global Skills Scholarship – Offers up to 40% scholarship to students with family income of 80k and above per annum
- 9GEMS Holistic Development Scholarship – Offers 60% scholarship for students who represent Country/National Teams and have played international level competitions and 40% scholarship for students who have participated in State/County/ Prefecture Level Competitions
- GIIS Global Citizen Scholarship – Offers up to 100% scholarship to overseas residents (Grade 9 and 12), up to 25% for local residents (Grade 9 to 12) and up to 15% for local residents (Grade 6 to 8)
In recent years, the Singapore education system has worked tirelessly to shift its focus beyond grades to foster a real love of learning. GIIS’ repertoire of scholarships are in line with the push, rewarding students who perform well in various fields – with categories including academia, sports, and merit-cum-means.
The GIIS scholarship applications for the coming academic year has began and will run till October 27.