With prizes like NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and USA (United States of America), Europe tour, etc which 15-year old would not want to participate in the race. Around 35,000 aspirants from all over the country appeared in the Student and Talent Reward Test (STaRT) in October 2016, organised by Resonance Eduventures, Kota.

Though the prizes are enough to attract students, such competitions might come in handy for coaching institutes to target who will be their top JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) candidates in future. Managing Director of Resonance Eduventures, RK Verma, said, “STaRT provides an opportunity to students to assess themselves, and identify their inner talents.”

STaRT is a knowledge and aptitude test conducted in order to reach out, spot, reward and nurture talented students from across the country and aid them in fulfilling their career aspirations.

Students from class 6 to 11, appeared for STaRT, for which Resonance gave prizes worth Rs 1.40 crore. The top 800 students of the institute’s in-house national level test were felicitated in Kota on December 30, 2016. Toppers were segregated in eight categories, where the first rankers received NASA/US tour worth Rs two lakhs, second rankers were awarded Europe Tour worth Rs 1.50 lakhs, and third rankers got Singapore Science Centre tour worth Rs one lakhs.

First rankers across the eight categories are Lay Jain (class 11, Mathematics), Aditya Kumar Singh (class 11, Biology), Spandan Garg (class 11, Commerce), Nishant Abhangi (class 10), Aporva Verma (class 9), Rishit Shrivastava (class 8), Pratyush Sharma (class 7) and Yash Mishra (class 6). Medals and Trophies were also awarded to successful students.

Chief Guest for the occasion, IPS Officer, Kunal Dundawat, said, “Along with studies, students should also participate in extra-curricular activities.”

Where parents and coaching institutes are trying to keep children away from electronics like computer, television etc, and get them to go outdoors. Goodies like laptops, smart watches, Kindle tab, mobile phones, and other prizes were given to other successful aspirants on the occasion.