An 18-year-old student from Champaran, Bihar, Adarsh Kumar, has been named among the Top 10 finalists of the Global Student Prize 2025, an international award recognising exceptional student impact. Chosen from over 11,000 applicants across 148 countries, Adarsh is the only Indian to make it to the final round of this prestigious $100,000 award by the Varkey Foundation in partnership with Chegg.org.
Born and raised in a village with limited electricity and internet access, Adarsh’s journey from a government school classroom to a global finalist has been powered by grit, resilience, and a strong sense of purpose.
Early Struggles and a Leap of Faith
Growing up in a modest household, Adarsh saw his mother work as a domestic helper to pay his school fees. He attended a Hindi-medium government school where basic facilities like benches, toilets, and regular teachers were luxuries. Despite these setbacks, Adarsh remained determined to learn and grow.
“I was born in Champaran, Bihar, a region known for Gandhi ji’s satyagraha but where opportunities remain scarce,” he recalls. His earliest schooling was in a Hindi-medium government school with “no benches, no toilets, and absent teachers.” Later, when he shifted to a private school, the financial strain deepened. “I remember my mother struggling to pull together school fees and the quiet humiliation of being reminded of what we could not afford. Those years were not just about poverty; they revealed to me how systems can fail children.”
At the age of 14, he left his home for Kota with just ₹1,000 and a second-hand laptop. Unable to afford coaching, he self-studied using free public libraries and online resources, often relying on public Wi-Fi to access educational content. His initial startup attempts failed, but they laid the foundation for his future success.
“The hardest moment was in Kota, when I realised I could not even take admission into a coaching institute. Relatives who had promised to help refused, telling me outright that I would fail and never be able to repay. It felt like society had already decided my future,” he says. “If the usual path was closed, I had to create a new one. What kept me going was not blind hope but the refusal to let others’ limited expectations become the ceiling for my life.”
“Failure was my first mentor. Every collapse taught me what passion alone cannot achieve, that ideas need execution, persistence, and listening. I began to see failure as feedback, not defeat,” he says.
“I do not chase perfection; I build environments where people can experiment, learn, and improve. Leadership is not about having answers, it is about creating the conditions where answers can emerge,” says the Global Student Prize 2025 finalist.
“The gap was not just skills, it was belief. Students are often taught to memorise, not to imagine. Even when they learn something new, they rarely get to apply it. Skillzo was built to change that by pairing learning with opportunity,” he explains.
Creating Change at the Grassroots
In 2020, Adarsh launched Mission Badlao, an initiative focused on improving education, healthcare, and environment in rural Bihar. The mission led to a survey of over 1,300 households, helped establish a new government school, facilitated vaccine drives for 2,000 people during COVID-19, and contributed to the plantation of 3,000 trees.
He also founded Skillzo, a mentorship and education platform that has supported over 20,000 underserved students so far. His platform connects rural youth with educational resources, career guidance, and scholarship information.
In recognition of his work, Adarsh was awarded a full scholarship worth ₹30 lakh to study at Jayshree Periwal International School (JPIS) in Jaipur.
Global Recognition and Future Plans
Now a finalist for the Global Student Prize 2025, Adarsh is among 10 youth leaders recognised for making a real difference in their communities. The prize offers $100,000 to the winner, which Adarsh hopes to use for expanding his work through an upcoming project SkillzoX, an AI-powered, low-bandwidth mentorship platform tailored for rural India. He also plans to launch the Ignite Fellowship, an accelerator program for young changemakers worldwide.
Adarsh Kumar shares the global spotlight with nine other exceptional students who are driving change in education, science, technology, policy, and advocacy. The Top 10 finalists represent diverse countries and causes, from accessible tech to girl empowerment and inclusive STEM education.
Bihar Teen Breaks Barriers
Champaran’s Adarsh Kumar is the only Indian among the top 10 finalists for the $100,000 Global Student Prize 2025. From rural Bihar, he built Skillzo and Mission Badlao, mentoring 20,000 students and creating grassroots impact. Once living on ₹1,000 and public library Wi-Fi, Adarsh is now a national inspiration.
Top 10 Finalists: Global Student Prize 2025
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Fatma Deniz Aydin
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Omar Ahmed
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Adarsh Kumar
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Adama‑Finda‑Borway
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Grace Liu
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Gastón Diaz
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Shohail Ismail
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Dalia Zidan
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Krishiv Thakuria
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Valeria Corrales