Namya Joshi of Sat Paul Mittal School, Ludhiana wins the Prestigious Diana Award

Ludhiana: Namya Joshi, aged 14, of Sat Paul Mittal School, Ludhiana, Punjab has been honoured with the prestigious Diana Award for going above and beyond daily life to create and sustain positive change. The Diana Award is the highest accolade a young person can achieve for social action or humanitarian efforts. Established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, the Award is given out by the charity of the same name and has the support of both her sons, The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex. 

There were 12 Diana Award Judging Panels representing each UK region or nation and a further three panels representing countries outside of the UK. Each panel consist of three judges; one young person, an education or youth work professional, and a business or government representative. Nominations were judged using the Criteria Guide and Scoring Guide which had been created to measure quality of youth social action. 

Tessy Ojo, CEO of The Diana Award, during the Virtual Award ceremony held on 28th June, 2021, congratulated the Diana Award recipients from the UK and around the globe who are changemakers for their generation. She said that by receiving the honour they would inspire more young people to get involved in their communities and begin their own journey as active citizens.  For over twenty years, the Diana Award has valued and invested in young people encouraging them to continue to make positive change in their communities and lives of others. 

Namya shared that technology could be used to benefit mankind, but it was not until she started playing the computer-based game Minecraft, she realized how tech could be a powerful tool for learning. Namya has now trained more than 1,000 teachers and students on how Game Based Learning can be used in education. Namya has been applauded for her ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ and her ability to ‘step into other people’s shoes ’as with her motto #EachOneTeachTen she shares her message of gaming for good. Namya Joshi had also won Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar earlier this year. 

Ms. Bhupinder Gogia, Principal, Sat Paul Mittal School,  congratulated Namya Joshi, her grandparents, her parents,  all the teachers who have taught her for this remarkable achievement.