During the pandemic, when children, especially those in government schools, were struggling in the absence of regular classes on campus, several institutes and research organisations stepped in to help bridge the gap.
The digital kids’ zone, an online initiative by the Science for Rural India from the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) that began during the pandemic, conducted science experiments and uploaded clips online. They also conducted competitions to get more children to participate.
“We focus on showing the experimental module with household items. Even during visits to several government schools in Karnataka, we make sure that we use items that are available to them. For instance, we created a rainbow in their classroom using a basic beaker, mirror, glass of water, and measuring instruments,” said Suyog Mahulkar, PhD researcher in IISc., who created the programme.
Another online webinar programme, ‘talk to a scientist’, which commenced during the peak of the pandemic, saw scientists and researchers interacting with children.
“Children should be exposed to the scientific processes, the beauty of science. They should have a questioning mindset. I feel that children at the age of six or seven are not ready to take in high-end, new age scientific processes of coding and robotics. They should be instilled with curiosity first,” said Dr. Smita Jain, Associate Director, Academic and Government Relations (India), Cactus Communications, a technology company that is accelerating scientific advancement.
Most children are glued to their mobile phones, laptops, and other gadgets. While constant exposure to screen time can be detrimental to their health, but the good part is that they tend to show interest in technology from quite an early age.
“Can’t we, as adults, be responsible and make their screen time productive too,” asked Chandrakala B.M., Project Manager at KiddyPi, a Bengaluru-based STEM learning institute for children. “We always try to make learning fun and interactive for the children. We want to use this interest to help them keep their minds sharp and evolve in the fields of science and technology in their near future.”
