Eleven-year-old Anoop A. Rao, studying in Standard 7 at St. Aloysius English Higher Primary School, Mangaluru, has been selected as Junior Ambassador to participate in the 28th Asia-Pacific Children’s Convention (APCC) to be held from July 10 to July 24 in Fukuoka city, Japan.
He is among the six children selected as Junior Ambassadors from the country by the Junior Chamber International (JCI) India. Chaperon Meenakshi Bhatnagar would lead the children to the event in which children from 44 countries participate every year, said a release.
While respective governments select junior ambassadors in other participating countries, it is the Junior Chamber that selects participants in India, according to J. Anil Kumar, Anoop’s father. Mr. Kumar had been the President of JCI, Mangaluru. The event would be supervised by the Fukuoka Junior Chamber Inc., and supported by the Fukuoka Prefectural Government, the Fukuoka Municipal Government and many other organisations.
Mr. Kumar said the aim of this convention is to have inter-cultural exchange, make the children “Global Citizens,” wherein they learn to respect different races, people, culture and beliefs, and make them think of the world beyond national boundaries and foster “peace and co-existence.”
Though there is no selection criterion, students skilled in classical dance, singing, sports, sociability, inter-personal relationship and other extracurricular activities, apart from their academic performance, are chosen.
Anoop is a hobby magician and an avid stamp collector with a collection of over 1,000 stamps. Japanese families will host the children for home stay during the entire programme.
Aspiring students have to submit the required proof of their talent in different fields and also their academic records to the selectors, as the selection process takes nearly a year.
