After acquiring international exposure and advanced skills in subjects like Data Science and Artificial Intelligence for one week at Durham University in the United Kingdom (UK), 25 skilled students from Tamil Nadu came back to Chennai with new confidence. They were back on Monday, June 17. 

The experience was made possible for them as a part of the Scholars for Outstanding Undergraduate Talent in Tamil Nadu (SCOUT) under the Nan Mudhalvan programme launched by the Tamil Nadu government, a collaboration between the British Council and the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation (TNSDC), as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.

Over a week in December 2023, 100 students, out of 1,267 applications from undergraduate (UG) students received from across Tamil Nadu, attended a 24-hour online course provided by Durham University.

After this, 20 government college students and five private college students were selected for the trip to Durham University, which was held from June 9 to 16. Moreover, ten were from arts college and 15 were from Engineering colleges. 

"The teaching was interactive and mostly based on teamwork. We were engaged in several activities related to Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and the professors there were pleased with our performance," said M Satheesh Kumar, a student from Tiruchy who was part of the group.

It may be noted that most of these students are from middle-class and financially backward backgrounds.