Two Kinnaird Primary pupils inspire others as they collect awards at the Scottish Parliament

The Inspire Awards were held at Holyrood on June 6, celebrating the talents of young people between the ages of five and 17 who excel in whatever they do.

The awards are a new initiative from the British Youth International College (BYITC), which was founded in 2015 by academic and educator Dr Rashmi Mantri to help young people learn and improve their abilities in maths.

Seven-year-old Jitendriya Dhinesh, from Larbert, won the Whiz Kid Award. The Kinnaird Primary pupil likes to know about space, planets, numbers, world map, country flags and capital cities. He is a curious and eager learning, always seeking to expand his knowledge in various subjects like science, space and numbers.

Aarush Naik, from Falkirk, received the Rubik’s Hero Award. The 10-year-old has excellent problem solving skills and can solve various shaped Rubik’s cubes within 30 seconds. He can solve a Rubik’s cube with one hand in less than two minutes. Aarush has participated in the competition that is held by World Cube Association (WCA) and also does Scratch programming. He has inspired many family, friends and other children at Kinnaird Primary where he is a Digital Leader and helps other pupils with technology related queries.

As a pianist, Aarush has acived Grades 1, 2 and 3 Practical with Merit and Distinction and Grades 1, 2 and 3 Musical Theory with distinction. Expert in creating various Scratch Programming games, Aarush loves learning new things.

In total 37 awards were given out and afterwards, the winners, their families, judges and all other attendees were treated to dinner at German Donner Kebab.

Dr Rashmi Mantri said: “I am so proud of all these marvellous young people and the range of abilities in the room is truly humbling. We had so many high quality entrants that the judges had a very tricky job picking the winners. We wanted to create a special night to celebrate diversity and inclusion and recognise young people from all backgrounds who are making all of our futures brighter by learning and excelling in whatever they choose to do. Well done to everyone who won as you have set the bar very high for next year’s awards.”

Inspired by the success of the College, the BYITC Inspire Awards recognise young ‘Super Achievers’ from all backgrounds who have excelled in fields including the environment, sports, media, art and creativity, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).