Mobile Science Lab – A step towards quality science education

Science is one of the subjects taught to every grade which requires practical knowledge and hands on experience. Teachers can provide a good enough explanation of the science experiment but unless the students can practice that in a science laboratory, they cannot 100% understand the experiment. So, do our schools (government) have science labs?

To my surprise, I had seen a team of youngsters performing experiments at the Govt. Girls High School Red Cross. This team was from Mobile Science Lab. They were carrying experiment kits related to chemistry, biology and physics. Students were excited to participate in executing the experiments and had immense fun in learning what would have been just a theoretical class.

Mobile Science Lab (MSL) is an initiative of Sahayata Trust, supported by Tech Mahindra Foundation. MSL, established in 2011, works for quality science education in India. As most schools are unable to afford and maintain a science laboratory, MSL is a perfect solution. The team moves from school to school educating children in Physics, biology and chemistry. MSL focuses on gaining knowledge through research. Scientific learning is tied directly to state learning standards (essential knowledge and skills) and is scheduled so that teachers have time to take up new concepts and design ways to transfer the essential concepts to their students on a regular basis.

“Schools in Hyderabad, regardless of whether they are private or government based are running without science laboratories. Schools are busy inducing the syllabus to the little brains, how can they spare time for science experiments”, says the founder of Mobile Science Lab, Mr. Lateef Atear.

According to NKC (National Knowledge commission) majority of Indians prefer to work in multinational companies relating to IT industry, finance etc., Research is topic chosen by only a few. The problem starts at schools as chalk & talk method do not create an interest in subjects like science. Science is a lively subject which requires experiments and field trips for proper understanding. Unfortunately, our education system is concerned with cognitive skills with little or no importance given to the application.

MSL has currently tied up with 18 government schools in Hyderabad. They make nine visits to each school in an academic year. Each visit has a team of 4 to 6 postgraduates accompanied by a professor to monitor. They show experiments in physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy etc. Startups like these nurture the little scientist in every student. Govt. should take up this initiative in a big scale, and ensure the service for more schools.

For more information about MSL visit: http://www.mobilesciencelab.in/

Comments

comments