Indian-American Sikh teen’s family questions scoring in Trump-era civics contest | World News

4 min readUpdated: Jul 23, 2026 08:58 AM The family of a 15-year-old Indian-American Sikh student has questioned the scoring of the Trump adminration’s Presidential 1776 Award civics competition after he narrowly missed a top-three finish, according to a report the US digital news platform NOTUS.
The report said the family of Aangad Singh, a high school student from Milford, Connecticut, believes errors in judging may have cost him a place among the winners of the national civics contest organised the US Department of Education as part of celebrations marking America’s 250th anniversary.
The competition included an online civics test, regional rounds and a national final held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on June 30. The winners received scholarships and a visit to the White House.
Aangad, the son of Indian immigrants Ramandeep Singh and Bhalindar Singh, was among the 20 finals.
According to the NOTUS report, the controversy centres on the final rounds, where contestants answered questions on the US Constitution before a panel of judges. The Singh family said some of Aangad’s responses, including one on the jurisdiction of federal courts under Article III of the Constitution, were marked partially incorrect despite, they claimed, matching the constitutional text.
The family also disputed the marking of a lightning-round question asking which constitutional amendment abolished slavery. They said Aangad answered “the 13th Amendment”, but the response was marked incorrect, possibly because of pronunciation. They also pointed to auto-generated subtitles from the broadcast, which they said reflected the correct answer.
According to NOTUS, the family created its own score sheet after reviewing the broadcast and concluded that correcting even one of the disputed answers would have placed Aangad among the top three contestants. They also questioned the absence of a consent live scoreboard during the televised final.Story continues below this ad
The report said the family’s concerns grew after an Education Department official declined to release detailed scores, citing proprietary reasons.
While Aangad and his father reportedly attributed the outcome to possible judging errors or differences in interpretation, other members of the family questioned whether his visible Sikh identity, including his turban, may have influenced perceptions. However, the NOTUS report noted that no evidence has emerged to establish intentional bias.
According to the report, some fellow contestants and parents believed Aangad had performed strongly, with one contestant reportedly telling him that he “clearly knew everything”.

In a response shared with the family after the report was published, Deputy Chief of Staff Chase Forrester, writing on behalf of Education Secretary Linda McMahon, said the judges had exercised “independent good faith judgement” and that their decisions were final under the competition rules. The department also said the broadcast graphics accurately reflected the judges’ scoring. The judging was handled independently the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, the report said.Story continues below this ad
The Presidential 1776 Award forms part of the Trump adminration’s broader push for what it describes as “patriotic education”, an initiative that has drawn both support and criticism in the United States.
According to NOTUS, the Singh family said they were seeking transparency and accountability rather than a change in the contest results. Ramandeep Singh told the publication that if there had been bias or errors, the issue should be addressed “on behalf of every kid”.
The controversy has since drawn attention in sections of the US media, though no formal inquiry into the competition has been announced.