The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) on Monday launched its mobile science laboratory for this academic year in Chennai.
Students of Chennai Middle School, Bells Road, spent a whole day experimenting with the equipment of the mobile laboratory on the first day of its launch.
“The mobile unit will cover around 6,000 students of various schools in Chennai from this month to March next year,” said A.Ponnammal, District Programme Coordinator, SSA.
The equipment in the mobile unit include telescope, inverter, laptop, LCD, solar water heater, wind mill working model, blood pressure apparatus, mercury, human skeleton model, distillery set, aneroid barometer and weighing machine.
The experiments would be based on the syllabus of the Tamil Nadu text book. The technical expertise of various departments such as the Meteorology Department, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and the Department of Ocean Technology is also mobilised for the mobile unit. Assistant Project Officer of SSA A.Samadhanam said that the ‘travelling laboratory' would give students of schools without laboratory facilities the opportunity to conduct experiments and learn. Last year, the unit covered 5,423 students belonging to the weaker sections in Chennai, said Geetha Maheshu, the mobile laboratory in-charge. The achievement levels of the students before and after exposure to the experiments were recorded last year. There was marked improvement in the achievement levels, said G. Starlet, a teacher. This also helps in curricular enrichment, she added. These are of significance to improvement in the quality of learning in middle schools as the curiosity of students is stimulated, said P. Kalaiselvi, another teacher.
