India · 15 January 2020 · 2 min
The Platinum Jubilee High School in Warangal and the Aga Khan School in Sidhpur have been selected by the Government of India to set up State of the Art Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) on their premises.
These maker-spaces for education create an environment of scientific inquiry, innovation, confidence and creativity amongst students. The labs are meant to be places to play and learn science beyond school textbooks, through application-based self-learning that foster solutions to community problems.
The students presented projects that ranged from Smart Cities to automated watering of dry lands for farming. Students were able to use a variety of equipment, as well as computers for programming. The development of the socially relevant projects also increased the students’ confidence, as evidenced by the quality of their presentations.
Farhad Merchant, the CEO of the Aga Khan Education Services in India, said: "This is a great platform for children to develop their twenty-first-century skills of creativity, collaboration, communication, critical thinking and problem-solving. The projects, completed by the students, showcased these qualities and reassured me of the ability of these students to confidently take India into the next century. Their enthusiasm and learning through the journey, which took them through failures before they could see success, gave them a taste of real-life".
The recently launched Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL), at the Platinum Jubilee High School Warangal, ensured that other schools in the region could benefit from this, through the annually hosted AKESI ISARD (Innovation, Science, Analytics, Research and Development) event. The ISARD ATL Fest, held recently, drew participation from 27 schools, from 8 districts, and showcased 113 scientific models/projects. It saw many young innovators exchange ideas at this platform – The solutions presented on these platforms, help to broaden the thinking of the hundreds of participants/attendees. The improved quality of the technology-enabled, innovative solutions can positively impact society at large. These conversations among the student fraternity will also help build bridges and better collaboration among these young, future leaders.