Ranchi, Feb. 6: Two students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) in Ranchi from humble backgrounds are raring to fulfil unrealised goals of two of their predecessors — earn a prestigious, two-year scholarship programme in the United Kingdom.

Tenth graders Sumit Kumar and Aman Tirkey from the state capital are two out of 32 meritorious students from across the country, who will have a final crack at the Pestalozzi International Village Trust Scholarships.

After proving themselves in English, mathematics, science, leadership skills and commitment to the poor, enduring a rigorous selection process, Sumit and Aman will appear for the final phase involving interview, group discussion and a pre-test in March in Delhi.

Sixteen of the shortlisted students will be finally selected for the scholarship.

The students are battle-ready.

“Barely a month is left, but we are trying hard to get selected at the national level,” said Sumit. Echoing him, a confident Aman Tirkey said, “Although competition would be tough, with hard work and dedication, I am going to be part of team who will get the UK scholarship.”

Principal of JNV, Ranchi, Poonam S. Bara said, “Two days back, the school was informed by the JNV Samiti in Delhi that two of our students have been shortlisted.”

Bara pointed out that the duo has to appear for tenth board exams soon after the final round for the scholarship.

Bara said she had proposed the names of 10 students from JNV, Ranchi, with excellent academic record. “We are proposing names of our students for the second consecutive year. Last year, two of our students failed to qualify at the national level. This time, we are pinning hopes on Amit and Suman to bring laurels for the entire state,” she added.

The assistant commissioner of JNV, Patna region, P.S. Rana told The Telegraph that four children from the region were shortlisted (two each from Purnea and Ranchi) for this coveted scholarship. “The entire selection process is scheduled in March and the session would start in September,” Rana said.

He pointed out that students of Class X between 16-18 years of age from a low-income group with no relatives residing in UK were eligible for the scholarship, which is offered by a England-based charity trust.

Notably there are eight regions of JNV-Patna, Shillong, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Pune. From each region name of four students have been shortlisted.