A 16-year-old student from Cox’s Bazar yesterday beat 121 competitors from across the country to win the prestigious i-Genius Grandmaster Award.
Silma Subah Raisa, who studies at Class X at Cox’s Bazar Govt Girls’ High School, was the fastest in browsing the internet from her mobile handset to find the correct answers.
She received Tk 100,000 as prize money, together with the opportunity to visit Oslo where the headquarters of Telenor, Grameenphone’s parent company, is located.
“I could not believe it. It’s like a dream,” a jubilant Raisa told the audience at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel after bagging the top prize of the second edition of the contest.
The competition, a joint initiative of Grameenphone, Prothom Alo and Channel i, began in September last year. This year, it attracted a total of 500,000 students from schools.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, who gave away the prize, said the new technology has opened a window of opportunity to provide modern education to people.
He said the government has set up multimedia classrooms in 23,300 schools. Besides, 16 microbuses equipped with computer labs are showcasing different computer devices in rural areas to make the people familiar with them.
“The country is moving ahead in education, health and social sectors though we face strike, murder, corruption and many other challenges,” said Matiur Rahman, editor of Prothom Alo.
Allan Bonke, chief marketing officer of Grameenphone, said all the i-Geniuses are the future of Bangladesh. He suggested the winners to work to promote internet among their friends and communities.
Information and Communications Technology Secretary Nazrul Islam Khan said all of the country’s 121,000 educational institutions would send their students to compete in the competition one day.
Faridur Reza Sagor, managing director of Channel-i, proposed a new programme with the participation of young people that would help produce new ideas to solve the various social problems.
Source: The Daily Star
