As many as 10 Government schools of Bokaro district will soon get ‘Atal Tinkering Labs’ (Science labs). “Under the NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), we have selected ten schools across the district for Atal Tinkering Labs,” said NI Toppo, District Education Officer Bokaro.
The selected schools were Bhushan +2 High School Nawadih, +2 High School Paterwar, High School Dantu, Rambilash +2 High School Bermo, +2 High School Chandankiyari, +2 High School Gomia, Upgraded High School Punnu, Upgraded High School Bagda and Upgraded High School Sakhakuri, he informed.
“The tinkering labs are dedicated workspaces in schools aimed at nurturing innovation skills and creative ideas in children studying from classes VI to XII. Apart from the regular computers, printers and projectors, the labs boast of state-of-the-art equipment meant to introduce students to the electronic devices, robotics, sensors, and the Internet of Things (IoT),” Toppo added.
Under the government scheme the school will receive Rs 12 lakh in the first installment, which is spent towards the purchase of equipment would be Rs 7 lakh, the establishment of lab Rs 1.5 lakh and laptop computer and projector Rs 1.5 lakh, besides Rs 2 lakh for operation and maintenance for five years, he said.
Counselors would be deputed in all those schools, will stay through the five-year period to not only teach the students but also train the faculty in handling the new subjects, said Toppo adding “This lab is an attempt to introduce the students to the 21st generation learning systems, with the enhanced focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)”.
Earlier in May this year the NITI announced to setup more than 5000 Atal Tinkering Labs by March 2019 across the country.
The lab has so far been established in 5,441 schools across the country in five phases out of the targeted 30,000 schools. Two periods of 40 minutes each a day will be allocated for the lab, which will be thrown open to the students in batches, he said.
There is aim to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in schools; the students get hands-on experience while preparing models and others, said Toppo.
