IITs, varsities to mentor schools: HRD minister Prakash Javadekar

Calling for a need to create curiosity among primary school children to lead towards innovation, Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday said that the teaching pedagogy of primary teachers needs to be changed. While acknowledging the fact that there are some teachers, driven by their passion, have introduced innovative methods of teaching math and science, Javadekar said, “To innovate, there is a need to develop curiosity among primary school children. Once a child lags behind in math and science, the gap increases. Hence it becomes important to focus on how to teach these subjects, using interactive ways. And for the same, big equipment is not needed, only big ideas are needed. Some teachers find out innovative ways to teach, we need to bring them together to share their practices.”

We have also decided to seek help from IIT’s, ISER or top universities to mentor 10-15 nearby schools and train the teachers in innovative ways of teaching these subjects. At the roundtable, we had experts from all over to discuss on the same”, he said while attending a seminar on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as part of the 9th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit.

Apart from the seminar held at Science City, two unique exhibitions on futuristic technology and space are also held.

Terming STEM carrying immense importance in the coming years, Javadekar said, “Any country’s success depends on innovation and new discoveries. We have also decided to incubate start-ups from hostel rooms. We have already built 2000 Atal Tinkering Labs and caters to class 6 to class 12 children where they use robotics, artificial intelligence and 3D printing to bring solutions.”

FOR STUDENTS, TEACHERS

The exhibition has been produced by American Museum of Natural History, New York in collaboration with MadaTech: The Israel National Museum of Science, Technology, & Space, Haifa, Israel. The exhibition is divided into amazing sections, including Solar System Theatre, Returning to the Moon, Exploring Asteroids, Voyaging to Mars, Reaching the Outer Solar System and Beyond Our Solar System.

Interestingly, the event will also have a display of new age and future technologies like Microsoft Halo lens, IBM Watson, Google Li-fi, Amazon Alexa, lifesaving U-Safe that can drive itself around in the water by remote control to save any life, Smart Home Automation, Mixed Reality/Augmented Reality, Inventor Robotics– Mitra, Holographic Technology, Companion robot, indigenous space suit and supercomputers and so on. Multiple firms like Microsoft, IBM, Amazon, Corning etc., with advanced technology in terms of AI, IOT, robotics and drones to mentor the students as well as faculty with world-class technological advancement. There will be around 55 different companies presenting their products including national and international.