11 Students from Pune’s Zilla Parishad and Municipal Schools Selected for Robotex International 2025

Momentum is building in Pune’s education community as 11 students from Zilla Parishad and Pune Municipal Corporation schools prepare to represent India at Robotex International 2025, one of the world’s leading robotics and technology festivals taking place on December 5 and 6 in Tallinn, Estonia. Their selection marks a proud moment for both rural and urban government schools that have been steadily strengthening their STEM capabilities.

These young innovators earned their place after showcasing exceptional talent at the Robotex India National Championship 2025, held on September 20–21 at MIT ADT University in Pune. The event drew over 5,000 competitors from across India, with more than 1,000 participants from government schools alone. Despite the scale and intensity of the challenge, the selected 11 stood out for their creativity, coding skills, strategic thinking, and teamwork across categories such as entrepreneurship, water rally, folk race, girls’ firefighting, and line follower events.

Their project work reflects both ingenuity and social awareness.

According to Gajanan Patil, CEO of the Zilla Parishad, the children created models and systems addressing real-world issues.

“For this competition, these children have made projects on topics like firefighter, folk race, smart device for the disabled, recycling assistant, battery health monitoring system, girl firefighter, and suicide alert system,” he explained, spotlighting the depth and diversity of their ideas.

The selected students are:

Uday Gawai, Swara Bathewara, Arohi Ramchandra Ujgare, Sourabh Sharad Padadune, Devesh Nitesh Kadam, Sakshi Jamuna Sonar, Shahid Mohammad Ismail Khan, Aarti Chavan, Sharanama Hosakrub, Anushka Waghmare, and Rudra Garase.

Their educational roots span several schools across Pune, including:

Zilla Parishad Primary School, Hinjewadi

Zilla Parishad Primary School, Lonikand

BT Shahani Navi Hind High School, Bhavani Peth

Rajaram Bhiku Pathare School, Kharadi

Dr Cyrus Poonawalla English Medium High School

Gurunanak School

What makes this milestone even more significant is the diversity of the students’ backgrounds—rural, urban, and economically varied—demonstrating the growing impact of accessible STEM opportunities. This achievement also marks the fourth consecutive year that Pune Zilla Parishad students have qualified for international participation at Robotex, reinforcing the district’s emerging leadership in grassroots robotics education.

Consistent investments in digital classrooms, future-ready skills training, and structured mentorship initiatives have helped elevate government-school students to a global level. Their success is widely seen as evidence of a strengthening educational ecosystem that nurtures innovation from an early age.

The Pune Zilla Parishad captured the spirit of this accomplishment in a press note, stating that the students embody the potential unlocked when every child receives access to quality, hands-on science and technology learning.

“Their journey embodies the transformative power of inclusive STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education,” the note emphasized.