Afghan computer science and software engineering student Mohammad Halim Danish has won a gold medal at a computer science contest in India.

The 24-year-old software engineer beat contestants from 37 countries to win the award.

Halim is currently working as a software engineering lecturer at a private university in India but after getting  a scholarship, in recognition of his research on Artificial Intelligence, from the Spanish Polytechnic University, he will now be able to do his Ph.D.

This is the second time Halim won gold at such an event.  

“I was honored with the MCITP title by Microsoft which is a degree in information technology. I also obtained a professional title from the Oracle Company after my successful exam. I also obtained highest marks among students from 37 countries and I was awarded a gold medal by the Indian vice president,” he said.

Meanwhile some university professors in Afghanistan have blasted government for not paying enough attention to the country’s top students.  

“We have a lot of cadres in our country, our elite makes Afghanistan proud every day, unfortunately we have failed to keep these elites,” said university lecturer Mohammad Naeem Azimi.

According to some academics, there are extremely bright students in the country but many of them have been forced to look for work outside of Afghanistan because of a lack of opportunities.