“We would like to congratulate your daughter for having been selected for [the camp] ‘Empowering girl students’ success through motivational guidance in science, technology and culture’, funded by the Department of Science and Technology, from May 16 to June 5. The aim of the camp is to create awareness among girl students about possible careers in science, culture and technology.
Eminent faculty from IISc, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, national research laboratories, IITs, research institutes, and cultural academies have been invited to interact with the students.”
Parents of select school students in Chennai and Dharmapuri received this note from Dr. G. Kalpana, Programme Officer, recently. The free camp, funded by the government, is residential — the girls stay in the hostel on Anna University (AU) campus.
Awareness
“It is an outreach programme for girl students called ‘Vigyan Jyothi’. It is being held at the Institute for Ocean Management, AU,” says coordinator Prof. Hema Achyuthan, IOM, AU. A pilot study, it is for girl students entering Class XII. The objective is to inform them of career opportunities in science, technology, humanities, art, and culture. The programme was inaugurated on May 16 by Dr. M.K. Soorappa, VC, Anna University; Prof. T.V. Geetha, Dean, CEG; Prof. S. Ganesan, Registrar, AU, and Prof. S. Srinivasalu, Director, IOM, AU.
Why girls? “Quite often because of severe competition and inability to get into prestigious engineering/medical institutions, even bright girls face frustration and stress,” says Prof. Hema. The programme will be a window to several other challenging career options, and ways to contribute to the society.
More importantly, it will help them identify their own areas of interest outside engineering/medical courses. Invitation for participation was sent to schools, and girl students ranking first and second in the class were nominated by the school principals.
Eminent women, successful in their chosen fields of art, music, crafts and literature, have been invited to interact with the students and provide motivation and guidance. Faculty members include experts from CLRI, JNAS, IISc, NIAS-Bengaluru, Centre for Mathematical Research, IIT-M, Kalakshetra and other leading institutions. “If this programme is able to motivate at least a few of the students to follow their passion it will be considered a success.”
Enthusiasm for the camp among the students is palpable. ‘Great’, ‘super’, and ‘wonderful’ are words used to describe it. “It’s a journey of discovery about the opportunities in science research and the many steps in the research process,” says one student. “Before I came here, I had no idea what I wanted to do after school. Now I know there are several exciting options even in engineering. There are streams that we did not know existed.”
For another student, leather technology is a revelation. “So many prospects in it!” They are unanimous that the hostel stay is a huge learning curve. “Valuable experience,” they say. “It teaches us how to manage personal life while pursuing academic work.”
On completion of the course, each student will be awarded a certificate of participation and an honorarium of ₹5,000.
