Kanishka Prakash with the trophy at Gulmohur High School in Jamshedpur. Telegraph picture

Kanishka Prakash’s vision on education was way beyond 400 others from India and abroad who participated at Quanta, an international event in Lucknow that pitted the best young brains in science, maths, astronomy and computer science in quiz and debate.

Calm and composed, the 16-year-old girl from Telco’s Gulmohur High School, went about justifying how education and not technology had helped bring about equality in the world, her arguments ringing a bell with the judges and helping her win the first prize in the debate at the international competition.

Hosted by City Montessori School, Lucknow, the 18th year of the global inter-school competition was held between December 15 to 18 last year. Students from 79 schools of the world, including those from Russia, Malaysia, Jordan, Nepal, Czech Republic, Thailand, Singapore, Germany, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Finland, besides host India, pitted their talents at the event.

Apart from Gulmohur, three other city cradles — Vig English School, Valley View School and Sacred Heart Convent School — took part in the event.

“During my time on the stage I cited instances of how education has made the world a better place to live in. For example, Korea’s per capita income has increased ever since they started investing heavily in the education sector. The US, where crime is rampant, however is an indicator of how inequality has gnawed away at its society, despite it being a superpower,” Kanishka, a pure science student, said on her return.

The teen walked away with a certificate, a trophy and a robot as her prize from the event.

She dedicated her win to her principal Sunita Sinha and her parents T.S. Prakash and Uma Prakash, both teachers at her school.