Students from 150 schools across India, Bangladesh and West Asia submitted 739 entries for the Institute for Career Studies’ International Painting Competition & Art Exhibition 2021. The contest is an annual event and top entries get featured in the yearly signature ICS Calendar.

This year’s theme was ‘The Colours of Life’. The stunning paintings, displayed against the lush, floral beauty of ICS lawns, created a multihued artwork of their own!

“This is a unique initiative to nurture budding artists in the early stages of their lives and provide them with a global platform to showcase their creativity,” said Dr Amrita Dass, Founder Director – ICS, career-consultant and educationist.

The panel of judges comprised art connoisseurs Amrit Abhijat, Principal Secretary, Vocational Training and Skills; Pankaj Gupta, an eminent artist who works to create social impact; and Prof Kalpana Choudhry, Founder Imagination Art and a professional artist.

The top three winners were Shifa Shafique of Lucknow, Neha Kumari of Varanasi and Shivani Somani of Gwalior. There were several other categories of prizes, including those for differently-abled students.

Students, parents, art teachers, educators and well-wishers attended the event in large numbers.

Student Awarded Scholarship

Nazia Bano (a Grade 7 student from the city) was presented with a laptop and a smartphone by Swami Muktinathananda, ‘Adhyaksh’ of the Ramakrishna Math, Lucknow.

This award was given as part of a scholarship announced by Niloufar Pourzand, former Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Uttar Pradesh, in memory of her mother Susan Mosadeghi Pourzand – an ardent supporter of girls’ education, women’s economic independence and human rights. “I am very pleased to know that Nazia will have a better chance at completing her education and fulfilling her aspirations,” wrote Ms Pourzand in a message. 

Nazia had been nominated as the Ambassador of Happiness at the first-ever ‘Happiness Conclave’ organised by Global Lucknow in 2019 in association with the Lucknow Management Association.

ICS Impact Survey Released

On the occasion, Rishi Bagla, Promoter Bagla Group, released the ICS Pan-India Student Survey 2021, which analyses responses of more than 15,000 students from 223 schools. The survey highlights the guiding factors in students’ decision-making process regarding subject selection at school and higher education plans – especially in the backdrop of the pandemic. “It contains valuable insights to enable schools, colleges and universities to design meaningful programmes and offerings for Indian students. The findings clearly indicate the requirement of timely educational and career guidance and counselling from Grade 8 onwards,” said Dr Dass.